Genovasi Malaysia training for more to improve efficiency: Najib

PETALING JAYA: The government will send more personnel for training under the Genovasi Malaysia programme to master design thinking to improve the efficiency and productivity of government departments and agencies, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said today.
He said Genovasi, through its Design Thinking Innovation Ambassador (DTIA) programme, had trained 4,000 people from the public and private sectors using the Stanford d.school and Hasso-Plattner-Institute (HPI) Design Thinking model.
"I have heard very positive feedback from participants who attended the Design Thinking Innovation Ambassador programme over the years. These are administrative and diplomatic officer cadets and in-service personnel from around the nation.
"They told me how design thinking has been applied to improve work processes in various government units like the Works Department (JKR), Wisma Putra, Fire and Rescue, and the Police Force," he said at a ceremony to mark the 5th anniversary of Genovasi, here.
Genovasi, which was launched on Aug 1, 2012, aims to have Malaysians youths foster the culture of innovation using the Design Thinking methodology as a skill to create community-centric projects, which is the new wave of wealth and solutions to improve public service delivery.
Najib said the police, for instance, came up with an idea which they piloted as an initiative called "Talk to Us", aiming to improve community engagement, which received a very positive response from the public.
He said the creation of that programme was a direct result of the police participation in Design Thinking courses provided by Genovasi.
Najib also announced that Sarawak would be the first to commit to the implementation of Design Thinking training.
"I suspect Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri has quite a bit to do with this. I congratulate Sarawak for this forward-thinking move and hope that other states will also move to do the same soon," he said.
Najib said he was proud of Genovasi's journey over the last five years, and hoped that it would continue unrelentingly in its effort to get Malaysia to adopt a more future-proof way of thinking.
He also announced that Genovasi would also conduct its programmes in Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin, partnering with Kumpulan Media Karangkaf and Oriental Press Group, so that participants were better able to absorb the learning experience.
"The idea is that we want as many people as possible to be part of this Design Thinking movement, to be ready to face the challenges that an ever-changing future will bring and I am hopeful that having these modules available in Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin will allow more people to undergo the Genovasi courses," he said. — Bernama