UMPSA Staff Attachment Programme Strengthens Data Analytics and Machine Learning Competencies at DOSM
Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) continues to strengthen staff development through its Staff Attachment Programme, which provides opportunities for academic staff to enhance their knowledge, technical skills and professional competencies through direct exposure to government agencies and industry. As part of the programme, Dr. Siti Zanariah binti Satari, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, UMPSA, participated in a one-month staff attachment at the National Big Data Analytics Centre (NBDAC), Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) from 1 to 31 August 2026.
The programme focused on strengthening competencies in Data Analytics, Data Visualization, Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning. One of the key activities involved contributing ideas for improving the visualization of Malaysian Bumiputera data, including the exploration of official statistical communication principles, data pre-processing, data integration, data quality assessment and interactive dashboard development using Power BI. The programme also provided an opportunity to strengthen skills in Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning through a study on House Rental Price Prediction in Malaysia. One of the key outcomes was the preparation of a manuscript entitled “Comparative Analysis of Machine Learning Regression Models for House Rental Price Prediction in Malaysia.” The work involved data preprocessing, development and comparison of machine learning regression models, model validation and performance evaluation.
According to Dr. Siti Zanariah, the attachment provided valuable practical exposure to real-world data analytics practices and enhanced her understanding of how statistical information can be effectively communicated through data visualization. The knowledge and experience gained throughout the programme are expected to contribute to the enhancement of teaching and research at UMPSA, particularly in the areas of Data Analytics, Data Visualization and Machine Learning. The programme also opened opportunities for knowledge sharing and future research collaboration between UMPSA and DOSM.
Overall, the Staff Attachment Programme at NBDAC, DOSM has provided meaningful professional development and strengthened competencies that can be translated into teaching, research and data-driven initiatives at UMPSA.
Author: Dr. Siti Zanariah Satari