Malaysia’s first 12-month Social Enterprise programme aims to shape a Sustainable Future using Digital and Technology
 
 
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- Social Enterprise Education Lab (SEEd.Lab), a programme developed by Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), marked its first Open House on Wednesday, 23 September to showcase the journey of the teams in the first cohort.

Dedicated to addressing youth unemployment whilst leaving a positive impact on communities through social entrepreneurship, SEEd.Lab also supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by forging sustainable solutions to manage community pain points and bridge youth employment gaps in Malaysia.
 
“We have seen a large gap on social enterprise initiatives for job creation in emerging markets like Malaysia, and this is now further intensified by the impact of COVID-19. In line with PETRONAS’ sustainability agenda, SEEd.Lab aims to empower budding leaders and changemakers to address this rising issue and shape a more sustainable future for a better tomorrow,” said Datuk Md Arif Mahmood, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Downstream, PETRONAS.
 
“Our partnership with TCS demonstrates our commitment to build on our efforts towards nation-building whilst enhancing partnerships to deliver sustainable value creation. It is our hope that SEEd.Lab will expand through collaborations with other players in supporting the social and economic development of the nation,” he added.
 
SEEd.Lab is the first initiative of its kind in Malaysia, which incorporates an end-to-end journey that spans over the essential stages of a start-up’s growth. Established in January this year, the programme takes the participants, aptly named SEEd.lings, through the process of ideating their vision and plans, incubating their ideas to build the solutions, and commercialising their social enterprise to scale and grow across the target market. Through PETRONAS and TCS, SEEd.lings can tap into learnings and insights from a panel of industry experts to develop their business models.
 
“TCS is very happy to be partnering with PETRONAS to develop SEEd.Lab, an open social innovation centre modelled around the TCS Digital Impact Square (DiSQ) that encourages innovation using digital technologies to address social challenges prevalent in the community. SEEd.Lab is the first iteration of DISQ outside of India that will be effecting and affecting change by accelerating the changemakers' journeys from being ideators to entrepreneurs, researchers or corporate leaders, for the betterment of the Malaysian society,” said Girish Ramachandran, President of TCS Asia Pacific.
 
From more than 1,000 potential candidates, SEEd.Lab shortlisted 200 applications from graduates and budding entrepreneurs across Malaysia. Three social enterprises have been established to date; Teman, Solvnex and Foodlab that address specific community pain points using digital and technology solutions. Since its inception, the social enterprises were given insights to develop their skill sets through a series of master classes and workshops led by recognised coaches and subject matter experts.
 
“All around the world and at our home ground, the power of the young is rising, with so much potential and capability to be tapped into. SEEd.Lab wants to be proactive in nurturing these talents through entrepreneurship and creating employment to get ahead of the future challenges in the job market, and there are no better experts to solve this national issue than the young people themselves. The solutions that come out of SEEd.Lab are the results of the passion and perseverance demonstrated by the SEEd.lings in realising one common goal: to enrich lives and give back to the community,” said Aidonna Jun Ayub, Programme Manager of SEEd.Lab.
 
Currently in its incubation phase, the three social enterprises are expected to achieve commercialisation by Q1 2021.
 
 
About Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS)

Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) is a global energy and solutions company, ranked amongst the largest corporations on Fortune Global 500®.

We seek opportunities in energy investments both in hydrocarbon and renewables across the globe and maximise value through our integrated business model. Our portfolio includes conventional and unconventional resources as well as a diverse range of fuel lubricant, and petrochemical products. This is further strengthened with a successful product delivery track record. Our customers are at the heart of everything that we do, and our businesses are anchored on meeting their needs. 

Our technology is our differentiator and the key to ensuring excellence in all that we offer – energy, products and solutions, as well as unlocking new business frontiers. Sustainability is at the core of everything that we do, as we believe in harnessing the good in energy to add quality to everyday lives. People are our strength and partners for growth. We believe in progressing with our partners in addressing the evolving needs in today’s changing energy landscape.
 
About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for the last fifty years. TCS offers a consulting-led, cognitive powered, integrated portfolio of business, technology and engineering services and solutions. This is delivered through its unique Location Independent Agile delivery model, recognized as a benchmark of excellence in software development.

A part of the Tata group, India's largest multinational business group, TCS has over 450,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 46 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $20.9 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019 and is listed on the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock Exchange) in India. TCS' proactive stance on climate change and award-winning work with communities across the world have earned it a place in leading sustainability indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), MSCI Global Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com.
 
About SEEd.Lab

SEEd.Lab is a sustainability programme by Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), targeting youth unemployment by promoting self-sustaining enterprise that forge solutions to pain points in their communities by leveraging the power of technology and innovation.

To find out more, visit www.seedlab.my.  


Caption:
 
Photo_1: 36 participants from the start of Cohort 1 in January 2020 with the SEEd.Lab team.
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rc7w3q5lzh87i3w/Photo%201.JPG?dl=0

Photo_2: SEEd.Lab Open House guests, including President & Group CEO PETRONAS, Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz (fourth from right); EVP & CEO Downstream PETRONAS, Datuk Md Arif Mahmood (first from left); Country Head of TCS Malaysia, Jeevan Rajoo (back, white shirt) and CEO of MaGIC, Dzuleira Abu Bakar (second from right) being briefed by a representative from Foodlab Venture on how their social enterprise helps the local foodpreneurs grow their business.
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5ugsqxj67c1ms36/Photo%202.JPG?dl=0
 

SOURCE : PETRONAS

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name : Tunku Putri Nur Asma Tunku Ja'afar
Email :  tunkuputrinurasma.t@petronas.com   

--BERNAMA