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Sunway University is Malaysia's leading, not-for-profit private university that is dedicated to quality education. With a research-focused aspect on key global problems under the umbrella of Planetary Health and the Sustainable Development Goals, the university supports innovation and entrepreneurship.
Sunway University is based in Sunway City, a thriving green resort and digital smart city that is built on reclaimed former tin-mining land on the western side of Kuala Lumpur in the heart of the Klang Valley. The University was established in 2011 and is relatively young by the global standards, but is already ranked within the top 2% of universities in the world (QS World University Rankings), in the top 1.5% of universities in Asia, as well as in the top 150 universities in the world under 50 years old. Sunway University has a 5-star "excellent" rating by the Malaysian government (in the latest Setara assessment exercise) and is one of just eleven universities in Malaysia to be awarded the special "Premier Digital Technology University" status. It has developed a close collaboration with many leading international universities including Harvard University and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. These are named after the founder of Sunway City and of the University, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, who is also the Chairman of Sunway Group, one of Malaysia's leading industrial conglomerates and the developer of Sunway City. The university also has a very close relationship with Lancaster University in the UK, enabling students on many programmes and qualifying them for Lancaster degrees.
Sunway University's vision is to be a 'World Class University' and its mission is to nurture all-around individuals and devote them towards the discovery, advancement, transmission and application of knowledge that meet the needs of the society and the global community. Sunway University will carry out its mission with integrity and unwavering dedication to excellence, enterprise, professionalism, financial self-reliance, innovation, mutual respect and team spirit.
Ts Dr Angela Lee Siew Hoong is an Associate Professor at Sunway University. She introduced, developed, and is currently teaching Analytics and Data Science programmes at Sunway University. Angela has been developing a data science curriculum since 2009. She prepares her students to enter the analytics workforce by staying up to date with the industry needs and considers herself an "advocate" of data science. Angela is the key person to introduce the Analytics and Data Science degree at Sunway University. She was recognized by the SAS Institute as the 2021's 'Distinguished Analytics Educator of the Year' and regularly speaks at data science and analytics conferences. Angela has developed many innovative ways to use analytics and data science tools from the most elementary level to advanced analytics. She teaches Social Media Analytics, Visual Analytics, Advanced Analytics and Business Intelligence and has authored many published articles in the area of churn analytics, sentiment analysis and predictive analytics.
Angela says that the development of the analytics curriculum at Sunway University started off in 2009 by embedding four analytics subjects into the university's existing Information Systems degree programme. In 2016, the University launched its full fledge and of its kind Analytics degree programme to become the first and only private university in Malaysia to have this full-fledged analytics undergrad degree. In this programme, Sunway University has 11 subjects related to analytics. She adds that the University's teachings and the curriculum were built along with the concept of making sure that their students know how to leverage data and how to generate actionable outcomes for future tech companies. They need to identify areas in the company where data science expertise might be put to good use. The ultimate outcome of this programme is to allow the student to learn about the many data science algorithms that are utilised to produce outcomes.
Angela claims that Sunway University Analytics and Data Science programme offers the students the diversity of applying analytics to many different industries. The programme is designed in such a way that it allows the learners to apply their analytics knowledge to solve multiple different industries with real-world problems. The curriculum is up to date with the latest technology and tools that are being taught in the programme to close off the gaps between the needs of industry and the graduates' skills. She highlights that the University has embedded SAS, Alibaba, and AWS syllabus into the programme to empower students with the competencies and capacity to contribute back to the fast-changing economic, social and technological world. Sunway University prepares graduates to be career-ready to lead a productive, fulfilling and meaningful life with integrity and, by being ethical, accountable, resilient, caring and responsible members of the society. Angela reveals that at Sunway University, a multidisciplinary approach has been adopted with regard to data science. Its students are taught to be flexible and creative and they are genuinely immersed in data science. So at its core, one will find that it's comparable across all industries and it is believed that one of the reasons the university has been able to collaborate with so many firms in the region and successful in partnering with many companies to provide students with the edge in analytics and data science. Angela adds that Sunway University has a very high employability rate since the students would have already gotten their job before they even graduated from the programme.
Angela mentions that students at Sunway University Bachelor of Science (Hons) Information Systems (Data Analytics) are required to complete both an internship and a capstone project. This internship usually takes place over 3 months for the final year student. At this point in the programme, the student would have taken courses including Social Media Analytics, Data Mining, Linear Algebra, Big Data in the cloud, and Analytics Engineering and they would have learned to program with Python, SAS, R and Java and familiar with SQL and relational databases. She adds that on top of the internship programme, the capstone project also plays an important role as the analytics industry project will be tied to the student capstone project. These projects allow students to take part in solving real-world analytics problems and work closely with companies that provide them with the data. They get a chance to formulate the problems, propose the methodological process and analytics solutions to the companies. Angela claims that this programme allows the companies to temporarily extend their resources to tackle short-term projects and the students will be supervised by the Sunway University Professor and a corporate sponsor. Over the years, to name a few the sponsors of the capstone projects include Sunway Berhard, Sunway Medical Hospital, Sunway Property, Coway, DHL, BonusLink, Citibank, SAS, UOB, RHB, Carsome and Royal Commission Medical Centre, Saudi Arabia. This equips the students to manage a large-scale data science and analytics project from the moment they arrive at work.
Angela opines that by 2025, Malaysia's big data analytics industry is anticipated to be valued at US$1.9 billion. Malaysia has big intentions to grow its digital economy, with initiatives like the 'Malaysian Digital Economy Blueprint' indicating that data and digital technology would be a big part of the future. In this environment, it's apparent that data science expertise will be in great demand and one that is already seeing a significant rise in both demands for personnel and prospective remuneration. Industry 4.0 is predicted to generate between 3.3 million and 6 million employment in Malaysia. As new and developing data-driven positions fuel connected employment future, data science and analysis will continue to be a primary career growth potential in this landscape, she says.
Angela highlights that the Master of Data Science and Bachelor of Science Information Systems (Data Analytics) at Sunway University is designed to develop the data scientists of tomorrow by combining great academic achievement with real-world experience to help students to grow their data abilities and open doors to new possibilities. The university's programme also appeared in the Top 10 degree in Graduates Tracer studies, having 97% of graduates getting a job after they graduate.
Sunway University has proven to be the best in many areas and hence it has received many awards and accolades for its immense effort to exhibit excellence.
Angela says that it is not so much about the challenges that the university is facing in delivering the programme but it is more about the overall analytics ecosystem and community. Talking about the challenges that data analytics faces, she mentions that every sector of the globe, including the emergency services, health care, research and space, as well as the business sector, has seen a significant change in the way they manage and operate their activities on a daily basis as a result of data science. All of these sectors now have the ability to forecast future outcomes by making more appropriate crucial decisions and by taking more effective actions. Thanks to big data analytics. They're using big data analytical tools to get their users' data and access their personal information, such as their interests, behavioural patterns, ideas, security details, personal interactions and so on to their advantage. Angela believes that this is the primary source of ethical concern among various leaders and experts that is concerning the scope of personal information that can be accessed, as well as their safety. Many corporations may now theoretically manage their consumers' wants, needs and actions with big data analytics innovation and execution; hence this can lead to intellectual property and organisations right on their ideas and creations. "While big data analytics has an immense promise, it also raises serious ethical (security and privacy) challenges that, if left unresolved, might become substantial hurdles to the realisation of projected benefits and the long-term success of big data," says Angela.
Angela believes that the big data industry will continue to grow so long so asserts that there is a dire need for data being used in companies. "The global big data analytics in the education industry grew significantly with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because governments in the majority of countries have implemented lockdowns, there has been a large increase in the acceptance of online teaching culture among students and teachers. This, in turn, has a favourable impact on the global market for big data analytics in education. Furthermore, measuring students' performance, identifying students' main areas and tracking the students after they graduate from college are just a few of the many important benefits of big data and business analytics in education, all of which contribute to market growth and which this will lead to more university/institute in implementing analytics curriculum to support the needs that arise due to the pandemic," concludes Angela.
