Introduction of FSKM ICT Week 2010

Come join over 1000 participants from future knowledge workers in Malaysia and users in the IT carnival which concentrate on green technology which will be held on 24th March 2010 to 27th March 2010 at Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematical, University Technology MARA, Shah Alam Selangor.

IS AND IT GOING GREEN CARNIVAL is heralded as the platform for “gathering of tribes” of IT communities, as well as businesses, academicians and its’ communities to share and show off their thoughts, experiences, ideas and projects. By end of the event, it will create awareness to the meaning and importance of “IS and IT Going Green” and also cultivating individuals and organization towards the same direction. As the meat of the event is its presentations and discussions, we have allocated 6 speaking slots opportunities. Drawing on a huge community we will discuss some of the most current and poignant topics in the industry today.

IS AND IT GOING GREEN CARNIVAL is organized by an Executive Committee comprised of volunteers from FSKM student UiTM. As such, it requires support through strategic partnerships that will assist it in fulfilling its role.

IS AND IT GOING GREEN CARNIVAL offers a dynamic opportunity to strengthen your organization’s exposure to your key target markets!

UMP Lancar ICT Business Centre Tingkat Pengetahuan IT

Naib Canselor Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Prof. Dato’ Dr. Daing Nasir Ibrahim semalam  melancarkan ICT Business Centre sebagai usaha meningkatkan perkongsian ilmu pengetahuan dan kemahiran dalam bidang teknologi maklumat (IT) untuk masyarakat setempat.

Dengan penubuhan pusat ini UMP akan terus memacu kecemerlangan universiti  dalam bidang teknologi maklumat sebagai salah satu inisiatif UMP untuk meletakkan  universiti ini di persada antarabangsa.

Dato’ Daing berkata, penubuhan ICT Business Centre ini akan  mengkomersialkan produk dan perkhidmatan ICT termasuk semua sumber yang ada di Pusat Teknologi Maklumat dan Komunikasi (PTMK) dan Fakulti Sistem Komputer dan Kejuruteraan Perisian (FSKKP).

Selain itu, pusat ini akan dapat melaksanakan pencapaian Pelan Strategik UMP dalam merangka  bidang keberhasilan utama universiti bagi menjana kelestarian  kewangan.

“UMP mempunyai tenaga pakar IT berpengalaman lebih 10 tahun dan usaha  ini    membolehkannya berkongsi ilmu dan kemahiran dengan organisasi lain khususnya institusi pendidikan dalam dan luar Negara,”

“Sumber ICT ini termasuk pelbagai jenis server, jaringan (network), CCTV dan pelbagai peralatan IT yang terdapat di UMP,” katanya semasa merasmikan majlis pembukaan ICT Business Centre di Dewan Astaka, UMP.

Beliau juga mengharapkan penubuhan pusat ini akan merealisasikan  hasrat universiti bagi   menjana pendapatan universiti selaras dengan Pelan Stategik UMP 2011-2015.

Di antara perkhimatan yang ditawarkan termasuklah  khidmat konsultansi dan produk ICT kepada organisasi luar melibatkan IPT, pusat latihan dan jabatan kerajaan serta menjayakan konsep ‘outsourcing’ yang diperkenalkan Kerajaan.

Manakala menurut Pengarah Urusan ICT Business Centre, Prof. Madya Dr. Wan Maseri Wan Mohd berkata, penubuhan pusat ini pastinya  bukan sahaja memberi manfaat kepada staf di jabatan PTMK  malah melibatkan semua  warga universiti.

Secara tidak langsung ianya akan mewujudkan budaya kerja korporat kepada staf PTMK dan dapat melahirkan lebih ramai perunding mengikut  kepakaran pensyarah yang ada di universiti.

Katanya, pelajar juga turut mendapat manfaat dengan memberi peluang untuk menjalani latihan industri dan sama-sama terlibat dalam memasarkan produk ICT.

Hadir sama Dekan Pusat Bahasa Moden dan Sains Kemanusiaan,  Professor Dr. Abdul Jalil Borham, Dekan Dekan Fakulti Kejuruteraan Kimia & Sumber Asli, Prof. Dr. Jailani Salihon dan  Pengarah Urusan UMP Holding, Nasirudin Nasrun

Cisco, MDeC and University of Malaya Collaborate on SME-Focused Training Program

Cisco today announced a collaboration with the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) to develop the Cisco® Industrial Training Programme (CiTP). The parties, together with the University of Malaya, hope to establish a unique undergraduate internship programme to identify and train skilled information and communications technology (ICT) networking specialists for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

CiTP will offer on-the-job training opportunities for computer science undergraduate students at the University of Malaya. The interns will be selected from a group of students currently undergoing the Cisco CCNA® curriculum with an excellent academic record. Cisco will prepare the interns through an intensive two-week training programme where they will learn business soft skills to complement their technical knowledge. At the end of this training, students will be assigned to an SME in the MSC Malaysia (formerly known as the Multimedia Super Corridor) to manage and maintain the company's ICT and networking environment for six months. These participating SMEs would be appointed by MDeC.

"Cisco has consistently contributed to the development of skilled ICT networking specialists in Malaysia through the Cisco Networking Academy® programme. CiTP is yet another important initiative centred on a holistic model that delivers true value for students and SMEs," said Anne Abraham, managing director of Cisco Malaysia.

SMEs constitute more than 90 percent of businesses and employ some 65 percent of the total workforce in Malaysia. This market segment is also expected to contribute 37 percent to Malaysia's gross domestic income by end of this year, making them significant to local economic growth.¹ SMEs are always on the lookout for technologies that enable them to focus on business priorities, increase productivity for their business.

"CiTP provides SMEs with the opportunity to realize and reap the benefits of having qualified networking interns and the right talent managing the organisations' network, systems and business. The interns, on the other hand, will be exposed to and work on resolving real situations in a live work environment, often regarded as unique in IT requirements and challenges. The programme would certainly accelerate their learning curve and experience, and eventually cultivate a higher-quality talent pool for the ICT workforce," added Abraham.

As networks continue to transform the way people connect, communicate and collaborate, industry leaders are looking for more innovative ways to cultivate a workforce that can meet the growing demand for skilled professionals in this area. Currently, there are 18,000 ICT employees who are skilled in networking and security. The demand is expected to increase by 14 percent annually over the next three years. In addition, 64 percent of employees prefer to hire engineers that have Cisco certifications in networking and security.²

"The country's talent pool in the networking field is critical to the growth of MSC Malaysia and the overall ICT industry. CiTP is in line with our continuous efforts to develop and nurture a highly skilled workforce, as well as extending our role in accelerating ICT adoption among local SMEs. It tightly matches the needs of both SMEs and our workforce, which represent two key priorities that serve as a catalyst to elevate Malaysia towards a high-income economy," said Muhammad Imran Kunalan Abdullah, general manager, K-Workers Development Department, MDeC Malaysia.

The programme, currently in its pilot phase, will kick off with a total target of
50 selected undergraduates from the faculty to be assigned to designated SMEs. The preliminary training prior to the placement will begin in June, when experts will coach the interns in applicable and useful strategies, technologies, solutions and soft skills for the SME business environment.

"We are excited that our students are the first beneficiaries of CiTP. This is a good example of a public-private initiative that redefines existing education models to bridge the skills gap in Malaysia. Internships have evolved into essential pre-requisites before entering the work-force and students are assessed on the value they bring to organisations. Programs like CiTP boost students' confidence and give them a head-start when starting their professional careers," said Prof Dr Wan Ahmad Tajuddin bin Wan Abdullah, Dean, Faculty of Information Technology and Computer Science, University of Malaya.

"While we are setting the standard for a rounded internship programme, and the success of CiTP will determine the scale of implementation moving forward. Eventually, our ambition is to take it further, widen the opportunity, and establish it as an ideal model not only for our peers in the ICT sector, but also across industries in the market," Abraham said.

About MDeC

About Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) is a unique high powered government-owned corporation, established to facilitate the development and promotion of MSC Malaysia, the premier Malaysian ICT initiative. MDeC is tasked to advise the Malaysian Government on ICT legislation and policies, develop MSC Malaysia as a key growth driver of the economy and set breakthrough standards for ICT and multimedia operations. MDeC also promotes MSC Malaysia locally and globally, as well as supports companies which are located within the MSC Malaysia designated areas.

About University of Malaya

University of Malaya, Malaysia's oldest university was established in April 1949 in Singapore with the merger of the King Edward VII College of Medicine (founded in 1905) and Raffles College (founded in 1928). The mission of the university is to advance knowledge and learning through quality research and education for the nation and for humanity. Currently, His Royal Highness The Sultan of Perak Darul Ridzuan is the Chancellor of the University of Malaya. Ghauth Jasmon was appointed as the tenth Vice-Chancellor of University of Malaya on 8th November 2008. Information about University of Malaya can be found at: http://www.um.edu.my.

^{(1) The SME Annual Report 2008, National SME Development Council, Nov 2009}

^{(2) Supply-Demand Study of the ICT Industry, MSC Malaysia, Jun 2009}

UM to host Informatics '09

THE Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya will host the International Conference on Informatics and Technology (Informatics 2009) on Oct 27- 28.
The event, in collaboration with the Malaysian National Computer Confederation, will highlight the latest issues in the research and development of information and communications technology (ICT) in relation to Green ICT.
Faculty dean Dr David Ngo says with the theme ICT Opportunities in the Current Global Recession, the conference seeks to highlight new opportunities for using informatics and technologies to solve problems in the current economic environment.
"Organisations, businesses and governments have been thrust into unprecedented challenges with the recession.
"However, challenges have a flip side as they also bring opportunities for those who can creatively apply innovative solutions to survive these uncertain times, including educational technology to tackle high dropout rate and security technology to solve high crime rate.
"This is termed as Soft Green Technology -- which aims to reduce wastage and improve productivity for ICT."

UTM spent RM500,000 to fight virus attacks

The war against computer viruses does not come cheap. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has spent close to RM500,000 on cyber security protection.
The university also conducted a month long campaign on anti-virus awareness among its administration staff in April.
UTM Centre for ICT director Prof Zamri Mohamad said the campaign included the installation of hardware and software protection as well as updating the operating systems (OS).
“We also arranged for talks on healthy ICT lifestyle for our staff so that they realise it may not be safe to visit sites that are not secure,” he said, adding that the university currently had 10 servers alone for anti-virus protection which were updated daily.
The Star had reported on Thursday that the university had been facing a spate of virus attacks that targeted around 6,000 computers belonging to both the university and students.
Prof Zamri said the university also conducted demonstrations on how computers should be maintained and created a website, www.antivirus.utm.my, through the intranet system.
Students with their own personal computers have also been encouraged to obtain the anti-virus protection from the university free of charge.
UTM was also looking towards moving its entire software system from Windows to Open Source as there were fewer viruses created for it.
Prof Zamri said that with viruses and hackers getting increasingly sophisticated, the idea of owning a computer was not the same as owning a radio.
“It is more like owning a car as you need to learn how to operate it. You also need to constantly service and upgrade it,” he said.
According to him, UTM was considering the possibility of making its students and staff obtain a “licence” before they are allowed to use the computers on campus.

English speaking programme now open at UCSI

The new intake for ‘Speak Good English’ programme at UCSI University, Sarawak Campus is now open for registration.
The new class will commence on July 18 and it will be conducted every Monday and Wednesday evening from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at the campus premises at Jalan Tun Jugah here.
“This programme, as the name suggested, is about building participants’ confidence in speaking English competently and fluently,” said UCSI Extension programme coordinator Twinkle Bati.
She further disclosed that the programme is targeted at students as well as working adult who have difficulty communicating in English and emphasis will be given to ensure that they are able to communicate effectively and competently after the three months’ program.
“We have specially design the programme and made it interesting for the students so as to enrich their learning experience. Besides teaching them the proper usage of grammar and tenses, the students will also be taught on pronunciation as well as presentation skill,” Twinkle added.
Besides English Programme, UCSI University is also offering foreign language classes at the campus.
Currently, it is conducting classes for Korean, Japanese and French language. Each class is held twice a week for two hours per session.
At the same time, UCSI University is also offering a preparatory class on International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The preparatory class is for both academy and general requirement.