Maxis Communications Bhd’s education programme is a fine example of how corporations can help bridge the digital divide. It leverages on communications technologies to create fresh learning experiences in the community.

To date, Maxis training programmes have impacted more than 2,000 teachers and close to 5,000 children. Some RM15 million has been invested in this programme, initiated in 2002, which focuses on education, ICT and youth.

Maxis making a difference through education
Maxis believes that its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme contributes to societal development as advances in technology can bring direct benefits to communities. As Malaysia’s leading mobile telecommunications operator, the organisation is committed to supporting national aspirations in the area of technology, education and youth.

In 2002, it launched ‘Maxis Bridging Communities’ (MBC) with the purpose of enriching communities with access to education opportunities through Information Communication Technology (ICT). MBC has made a firm commitment to ensure stronger and sustainable programmes for the betterment of the community by developing key initiatives under four main categories:

Bridging the Digital Divide
Maxis firmly believes that ICT should be available to everyone. Even to those who might find it out of reach. Therefore as part of its CSR initiative  “Bridging the Digital Divide”, it has targeted to take ICT education and infrastructure straight to rural communities.

Utilising a series of long-term and wide-ranging programmes, we aspire to teach and enrich rural communities borderless knowledge of ICT to aid and improve their quality of life and that of their communities.

The Maxis Cyberkids Programme was introduced in 2002 with the aim of promoting the usage of ICT to children and empowering them with skills to explore, share and propagate the knowledge within their community. The programme also aimed to increase the levels of self-confidence among the students while at the same time enhancing their leadership qualities.

Since its launch, the camp has successfully touched the lives of more than 7,000 school children and teachers from over 1,000 schools across the nation. The Maxis Cyberkids Programme encompasses a progression of the following activities:

• Cyberkids Camp
• Cyberkids Challenge
• Cyberkids Portal

The Maxis Cyberkids Camp is a 5-day residential programme structured with a mix of interactive classroom and outdoor activities. These activities are based on a “train-the-trainer” concept to enable participants to effectively use computers and Internet. Participants of this camp subsequently become knowledge-sharing catalysts in their respective schools and communities.

Each camp is attended by seven schools, each represented by two teachers and six students. Participants between the ages of 13-14 years are taught fundamental ICT skills including Microsoft Office applications and the use of multimedia.

The Maxis Cyberkids Challenge is a national contest for the schools that have participated in Maxis Cyberkids Camps. The challenge allows participants the chance to feature and promote their ‘school projects’ which were part of the Cyberkids Camp activities. During the challenge, the students are encouraged to elaborate on ideas that will benefit either their school or community, or both.

The Maxis Cyberkids Portal was developed to allow continuous learning and networking among Cyberkids Camp participants. This portal also gives them the ability to keep abreast of ICT knowledge and developments after the camp. The portal is a one stop interactive avenue for the Cyberkids community, which comprise of students, teachers, schools, volunteers, Maxis and Ministry of Education personnel to communicate and share information, ideas and resources with each other.

Education and Development of Malaysians
To support Malaysians with the passion to excel, the Education & Development of Malaysians initiative was conceived to promote and support students in their pursuit for academic excellence.

Maxis Scholarship for Excellence
For young and outstanding Malaysians who strive to set standards for themselves as well as others, Maxis Scholarship For Excellence presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to embark upon a journey that will lead them to the realisation of their greatest goals.

Allowing the best and brightest graduate students to pursue courses in a selection of programmes at the world’s top universities, Maxis Scholarship For Excellence promises academic excellence and broader personal horizons.

Mobile Content Challenge
Initiated in 2007, the Mobile Content Challenge directly supports the Government’s MyICMS886 strategy by empowering young developers to grow their skills, introducing them to new development techniques and delivering powerful tools to build their local content.

A joint initiative between Maxis Communications Berhad, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) and the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications (KTAK), this programme focused on cultivating an innovative and creative young mindset in students and thus nurturing a community of future entrepreneurs.

University and College students with the most innovative content concepts are given opportunity to prototype and commercially launch their winning applications with assistance of Maxis’ panel of Malaysian content developers under the Maxis Developer Programme.

With guidance from industry experts and select Maxis Developer Programme (MDP) mentors, the teams are mentored on aspects of technology, application development, commercial strategy and business development.

Maxis Developer Programme
As part of our industry development initiatives, the Maxis Developer Programme (MDP) was crafted to provide a solid foundation for understanding end-to-end mobile applications development. This ranged from guidance, equipment, funding and training to local content developers to generate creative new solutions and applications for the mobile devices that will be useful for Malaysian.

Seeking to bring out the best in people and to harness greater potential, MDP aims to provide a vast support network of knowledge sharing, mutual learning and also interdependency to fuel the growth of the mobile industry.

EMPLOYEE VOLUNTARISM

In order to initiate a difference in the community, we believe that the change must first start with us, at Maxis. The Employee Volunteerism programme aims to spark this change by encouraging employees to embrace the spirit of volunteerism, through our Maxis Volunteer Brigade (MVB).

Established in 2002, this initiative provides the grounds for Maxis employees to work together on community projects by reaching out to the underprivileged communities. Since its inception, over 600 employees have banded together from Maxis offices nationwide to participate in various activities.

ENVIRONMENT

Securing the environment for the future of our children. With this goal in mind, we have strived to adopt responsible business practices with considerations to the environment.

In our responsibility towards the environment, we focused on minimising our carbon footprint. As such, Maxis is in a strategic partnership with Malaysia Airline Systems in projects to reduce our impact to the environment, as well as an internal recycling campaign. At our work place, efforts are taken to reduce wastage and disposal, reuse existing resources and recycle fully exhausted materials.