BUKIT JALIL, 11 Apr 2017 – The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) today stressed on the necessity for digital assessment technologies as the country moves into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Its minister Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau said as the country pushed itself further into the digital economy, more traditionally-manual operations should be digitised, citing human resource management as one example.
Bringing Digital Assessment
“In today’s volatile world and complex environment, the role of psychometrics has become more and more vital. Organisations must recognise that the need for research-backed assessment is real, and cases of such needs are occurring daily around us. Twenty-first century complexities call for 21st century solutions,” he said.
“With integrity and transparency getting more spotlight in the country’s administration, digitisation of selection processes becomes even more crucial,” the minister said at the launch of the Digital Assessment Technology for Industry 4.0, here. Present at the event, which was held in conjunction with the Malaysia Psychometrics Symposium 2017, were MOSTI Secretary-General Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Azhar Haji Yahaya, MIMOS Chief Executive Officer Datuk Abdul Wahab Abdullah, Standards Malaysia DirectorGeneral Datuk Fadilah Baharin as well as scores of academia and industry leaders. Wilfred said digital assessment was no longer an option but a necessity in building an engaged and effective workforce for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
He said that with the adoption of international standards as MS ISO, the ecosystem for digital assessment in the country was now complete and the local industry was steps away to be global players. 2 Meanwhile, Abdul Wahab said 21st -century skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, teamwork and cultural adaptability would be crucial to the nation’s progress, but these skills were not well measured by traditional academic qualifications. “
No doubt the techniques of psychometrics that were practised in the past century could measure the skills, but this was done imprecisely. Proper evaluation of 21st century skills will rely on the use of advanced digital assessment techniques, such as those that are being researched and developed at MIMOS today,” he said. During the event, two international standards were adopted as Malaysian Standards (MS ISO).
The event also saw the inauguration of the Malaysian Psychometrics Association and exchanges of MoU documents between MIMOS and a number of collaborators.
Thirteen MIMOS technology strategic partners were also recognised during the event. Fadilah said the two new standards provide criteria of good practice and guidance for the professional test developers and administrators, which potentially would enhance confidence in the fairness of assessment sound tests and making the public less susceptible to spurious claims made based on unscientific testing.
These standards would provide important guidelines for government and private agencies that intend to use assessment methods for various purposes, such as recruitment, promotion and staff placement in the future, she sa
