JOHOR, Malaysia – ICDL Asia is delighted to announce that the inaugural Hussein Digital Skills Competition (HDSC) organised by the Student Development Centre (PBP) at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) has concluded with resounding success.
UTHM, an ICDL Accredited Test Centre, is a leading public university (IPTA) in Malaysia. ICDL Asia is honoured to support the UTHM PBP team as a strategic partner for HDSC, which was one of four prestigious competitions organised by the Centre as part of the Hussein Innovation and Talent Symposium (HITS) 2025. This annual event aims to empower students in nurturing their potential to be recognised at a global level, across multiple fields from digital skills to cultural artistry.
Based upon the annual ICDL Asia Digital Challenge student competition, UTHM PBP developed a framework for HDSC. This inaugural edition involved 15 students from 5 public tertiary institutions, comprising universities and polytechnics across the states of Johor, Melaka, Pahang, and Kedah.
The preliminary round of HDSC was held online, with participants completing the ICDL Spreadsheets module, whereas the Grand Final was held on 30 October 2025 at the UTHM Parit Raja (Batu Pahat) campus. Having completed their ICDL certification test for the AI module, participants engaged in a career coaching session on ‘Digital Skills for Employability’ conducted by Mr Nigel Ngiam, Market Development Manager of ICDL Asia.
The 5 grand finalists of HDSC 2025 are as follows:
1st place: Lee Zhi Hua – Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT), Johor Branch Campus
2nd place: Ahmad Fareez Zulhaqeem bin Ahmad Zahadi – UTHM
3rd place: Katherine Ng Kai Qing – TAR UMT, Johor Branch Campus
4th place: Angerin Liew Pei Qing – Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah (POLISAS), Kuantan
5th place: Nurayna Aneesa Azman – UTHM
The awards were presented during the closing ceremony of HITS 2025 by Prof Ts Dr Asmarashid bin Ponniran, carrying out the duties of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & International), and Assoc Prof Ts Dr Khalid bin Isa, Director of UTHM PBP. In addition to the internationally recognised ICDL digital skills certification received by all participants who successfully passed the respective modules, the top 3 winners received cash prizes generously sponsored by UTHM.
Prof Ts Dr Abdul Rasid bin Abdul Razzaq, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Student Affairs and Alumni) shared his views on the significance of such initiatives: “This event brings together outstanding students from across the country, providing a major arena for the showcase of intellectual potential and all-round excellence across various fields. It also acts as a transformative platform which encourages critical thinking and strategic collaboration among students from diverse academic backgrounds. I hope that it will create a lasting impact in producing holistic talent for the future development of our beloved country.”
ICDL Asia is proud to collaborate alongside UTHM in equipping the future leaders of Malaysia with digital skills that are aligned to both national and global standards.
Acknowledgment is extended to UTHM for providing the photographs used in this article.
About Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)
Established in 1993, the university was formerly known as Pusat Latihan Staf Politeknik (Polytechnic Staff Training Centre), jointly administered by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and the Ministry of Education. Its core business then was to upskill academic staff in Malaysian polytechnics, across various fields of engineering and technical education.
Three years later, as an acknowledgement of the institution’s excellence, it was upgraded to Institut Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (Tun Hussein Onn Institute of Technology). In 2000, it achieved another milestone when the Malaysian government awarded a University College status to the Institute. This served to recognise its contributions in the development of science and technology graduates, playing a key role in helping the nation achieve its aspirations.
Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (Tun Hussein Onn University College of Technology) continued to progress and produced knowledgeable and competitive graduates. Consequently, in 2006 the Malaysian government awarded the institution a full University status, reflected in its current name, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.
For more information about UTHM, please visit https://www.uthm.edu.my/en/
About ICDL
ICDL is a global social enterprise dedicated to raising digital competence standards in the workforce, education, and society. Our certification programmes, delivered through an active network in over 100 countries, enable individuals and organisations to assess, build, and certify their competence in the use of computers and digital tools to the globally recognised ICDL standard.
As a not-for-profit social enterprise, ICDL Foundation benefits from the unique support of experts from national computer societies and partners worldwide to develop vendor-independent standards, defining the skills and knowledge required to use digital technology effectively. We work with education and training partners, local and regional authorities, national governments, international development organisations, as well as public and private sector employers in all sectors, in the delivery of our programmes.
The quality and reputation of ICDL are built on almost 30 years of experience in delivering certification programmes to over 17 million people in more than 40 languages worldwide, with more than 2.5 million ICDL tests taken annually. Our success is maintained by our ongoing innovation in certification programme development, our commitment to rigorous test design methodologies, and consistent adherence to our quality assurance standards.
For more information about ICDL, please visit https://icdlasia.org/about-us/