Start With the Workforce: What Malaysia Can Teach Us About Building for Growth

Why bringing workforce development into the conversation from the beginning can change the role universities play in economic growth.

Imagine building a university because you’re building an industry.

I recently spent time in Malaysia meeting with university and business leaders, and that idea stuck with me.

We talk constantly about aligning higher education with workforce needs. Usually, though, we’re talking about making something that already exists more responsive. A new skill is in demand. An employer can’t find enough talent. An industry is growing. Then we get to work.

What I saw in Malaysia made me wonder: what if we started the workforce conversation earlier?

Malaysia: Starting With the Workforce Need

Multimedia University (MMU) is a great example.

When Malaysia was developing the Multimedia Super Corridor in the 1990s, attracting technology investment wasn’t enough. Someone had to develop the people who would actually do the work. Telekom Malaysia was tasked with establishing a university in Cyberjaya, and MMU’s campus became part of the country’s larger technology ambition.

Think about that sequence. The economic strategy and the talent strategy weren’t separate conversations.

I saw that mindset again at Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU). Founded as the Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology, APU has technology, industry relevance and employability deep in its roots.

Malaysia certainly hasn’t solved every workforce challenge. No country has. What interested me was the starting point.

Workforce wasn’t the follow-up conversation.

The United States: We’re Really Good at Responding

The United States has terrific examples of universities and community colleges working alongside employers and regional industries. I’ve spent much of my career working in and around those partnerships.

But I’ve also seen the other version.

An employer can’t find people with a particular skill. A new technology changes the job. A region attracts a new industry. Then everyone scrambles to close the gap.

And we’re good at it. Maybe too good.

Because being good at responding can keep us focused on the question immediately in front of us: How do we close this skills gap?

Maybe the better question is: How do we get there before the gap opens?

Get to the Table Earlier

That’s what I brought home from Malaysia.

What if higher education and workforce leaders were at the table when regions were thinking about the industries they wanted to attract and businesses were deciding where to invest?

That changes our role. We’re no longer just building programs in response to economic development. We’re helping create the conditions that make economic development possible.

For higher education leaders, I’d ask one simple question: when your institution talks about regional growth, emerging industries and economic opportunity, when does workforce development enter?

I didn’t leave Malaysia thinking we should copy its model. I came home questioning our sequence.

If we’re waiting for the skills gap to tell us what to build, we’re already playing from behind.

Dan Cavalli Senior Director, Academic Partnerships at ISACA and will be appearing at the 2026 Convergence conference with Louisiana Tech University & University of Canada West, & University of Texas Dallas. ISACA helps colleges and universities embed globally recognized IT credential content into IT and non-IT degree programs. With credential-ready content, built-in support, and global credibility, ISACA’s academic partnerships help institutions prepare students for careers, not just graduation. Learn more at www.isaca.org/academic