KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Banking Group (RHB) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) are aiming to accelerate knowledge in digital technology for financial services via their RHB-UKM Endowment Fund.

       In a statement yesterday, RHB said the fund was set up in late 2018 and has a total fund size of RM8mil as at June 2021.

       “The funds will be channelled towards creating opportunities for academicians and students of UKM to build capability and accelerate knowledge in digital technology, promote and enhance quality research and innovation in financial services and to enhance the competitive advantage for both RHB and UKM.”

       In the same statement, RHB group managing director and group chief executive officer Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said the fund would provide the group with an opportunity to play an important role in creating knowledge foundations in digital technology through research and development for the next level of breakthrough or marketable new findings.

       “It also enables us to play a role towards future-proofing our next generation of leaders at the source and eventually talent identification as well as acquisition,” he said.

       Through this collaborative initiative, Khairussaleh said RHB’s team of specialists in data analytics will work closely with UKM in sharing real life experiences, key notable achievements and providing practical input from a banking and finance perspective.

       “This complements UKM’s design process for research programmes focusing on the importance of digital technology, among others covering big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing and chatbots towards driving customer-centricity within a fast-evolving political and economic landscape.”

       As part of its long-term plan to meet its objectives, the RHB-UKM Endowment Fund has appointed Ujwal Kayande, a professor of marketing and director of the Centre for Business Analytics, Melbourne Business School, as chair and visiting professor at the UKM Graduate School of Business.

       Ujwal has over 20 years of experience and is renowned globally in areas of research specialisation covering marketing analytics, marketing strategy and business analytics.

       Thus far, more than 300 participants consisting of academicians, alumni members, postgraduate students, researchers and RHB senior leaders have benefited from various programmes and lecture series conducted by Ujwal.