Identification of Digital Skills for the Petrochemical Industry in Malaysia

A Research Framework

Abstract

Digital economy presents a distinct evolution from the traditional “pre-digital” industries, where business is run anywhere and anytime, leading to new market segments and business process. Digital transformation has become the focus of organizations all over the world where "born-digital” organizations compete with pre-digital competitors. One of the challenges for pre-digital organizations in digital transformation is finding the talent with the right skills or ‘digital talent’. Although it is generally agreed that digital talent would provide competitive advantage to organizations in digital economy, there is a yet consensus on what constitutes digital talent, leading to various interpretations of what it is and what it does. This paper proposes a research framework for the identification of digital talent for the Chemical and Petrochemical industry in Malaysia. There are six main phases in the framework namely Identification of Digital Competencies; Preparation of Questionnaire; Distribution of Questionnaire; Development of a New Digital Talent Model; Development of Support Tool; and Validation. Expert reviews and questionnaire will be used as the research tools. Expected results include a set of digital talent skills, a new digital talent model, and a digital talent support tool for the petrochemical industry.