UKM Placed Second In The Ministry Of Higher Education Innovation Award 2011

BANGI, 4 Nov, 2011 – The National University of Malaysia (UKM) won second place in the Innovation Award 2011 of the Ministry of Higher Education (AIKPT 2011) with its project – Full Texts Electronic Journal: e-Journal Texts High Impact Search Centre (JETP).

Minister for Higher Education, Dato’ Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin presented the award - a trophy, certificate and cash of RM3,000 - to UKM Vice Chancellor, Prof Tan Sri Dato’ Wira Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabuddin at a ceremony in Putrajaya yesterday.

JETP has last April won the UKM’s ICT Innovation Award and was the first runner-up at the ICC Malaysian Libraries Convention in Jun.

The Community College Study Department of the Ministry with its project ‘The Management of Information Using ePSH Based on On-Line Technology to Monitor Study for Life’ won the AIKPT 2011 award.

The Sultan Idris Teaching University (UPSI),Tanjung Malim came in third for its project, the University’s Integrated Information System.

The AIKPT Innovation Award has been held since 2009.This year’s award was on the theme “Innovation Spear heading the Ministry of Higher Education’s Transformation”.

A total of 50 innovation projects were received by the organising secretariat with 35 of them found to be qualified for competition after fulfilling the required conditions.

Out of the 35 selected, 13 were shortlisted for assessment with seven eventually competing as finalists which involved site visits.

The Senior Librarian of UKM’S Tun Seri Lanang Library (PTSL), Shamsudin Ibrahim said JETP was designed by the Innovative and Creative Group (KIK KLIK) from PTSL. The group consists of 14 staff of differing grades who began working on it in May 2010 and managed to finish the job within three months by July.

JETP can be access anywhere through URL http://www.eklik.ukm.my/jetp

It consists of 27,000 e-journals, 25,000 e-journals subscribed by UKM Library and another 5,000 without charge access in the internet.

 

JETP was built using the open source software, with no built-up costs thus saving the university up to RM100,000 if it had been developed by third party sources. It also enabled a savings of up to RM30,000 a year for UKM since the university’s users no longer needed to subscribe to overseas sources for information now made available through the facility.

Shamsudin said to date more than 150,000 access has been recorded an increase of over 200% compared to what was recorded last year.

“Users from 25 countries besides Malaysia were found to have accessed JEPT since they can also access it through smart phones and tablets apart from the internet.

“We have also made presentations to libraries in other institutes of higher learning in Malaysia and have received very good response,” he said.

Shamsudin said UKM users can check for articles in journals using JEPT while those outside the campus can go through the Suppliers Publications Services.

It also contained learning modules for Information Skills Courses used by library users andto check other journals to subscribe or referrals to the Reader’s Counseling Desk.

Besides the ministry’s award, JETP is also a finalist in the National Innovations Award. The final assessment for it will be held at PWTC on 15-16 November.

JETP will be commercialized through a UKM Start Up Company, UKM Technology Sdn Bhd once the updated version JETP 2.0 now in the final stage of development is ready for marketing by December.

JETP received RM100,000 from the UKM Innovation Fund last June for the JETP 2.0 update.

Shamsudin said JEPT had also resulted in time savings for its users since the search for high impact e-journals had been reduced to just two minutes down from 25 minutes needed previously.

“JETP also helpsin the sharing of information sources at the national level through Borrowings Between Libraries. PTSL has since  recorded 2.1 million down loadings for its full texts articles in 2010.

“The returns from our investments isRM2.40 per article of full texts since libraries subscribed to our e-journals. Otherwise researchers, academicians and UKM students who needed to buy full text articles will have to pay RM80-RM120 per article for down loading,” Shamsudin said. 

By Abdul Ghani Nasir
Pix by Ismail Ibrahim

 Friday, 04 November 2011 00:00 

Retrieved from: http://www.ukm.my/news/index.php/en/component/content/article/70-current-campus-news/887-ukm-placedsecond-in-the-ministry-of-higher-education-innovation-award-2011-.html

Creating Malaysia's First 4G Campus-wide Network

Skudai, 1 July 2010 – YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Comms) today entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in a joint collaboration to provide 4G campus-wide network in UTM Skudai. This effort is in support of the National Broadband Initiative (NBI) aim to reach 50% broadband penetration rate by end-2010.

Creating Malaysia's First 4G Campus-wide Network

This landmark initiative will be the first of an extensive program spearheaded by YTL Comms to bring 4G converged service, offering data, voice and mobility into all public universities in Malaysia. 

As a result, YTL Comms will make available that high-speed wireless broadband connectivity to more than 400,000 students by year-end and correspondingly increase broadband penetration rate throughout the country.

“The signing of our agreement with UTM today marks an important milestone to build a new generation of immersive and progressive students that are able to access information and knowledge instantly at their finger tips. The YTL Comms Education Partner Program (EPP) provides the ability for these students to access the IntraNET and Internet anytime, anywhere within the campus. The EPP allows our students to do things differently and bring about a wave of positive changes in a YTL Comms 4G enabled education environment that will eventually contribute to the larger future success of the nation. ” said Tan Sri Dato’ (Dr) Francis Yeoh, Executive Chairman of YTL Communications.

Under this arrangement, YTL Comms will at its own cost undertake the following:

• Design, build, operate and manage a 4G campus-wide network (for the provision of data and voice services within the university’s Skudai campus).
• To complement and enhance UTM’s existing ICT infrastructure.
• Provides free broadband access to every student, allowing data and voice services of 300 megabytes per user per month within the campus.
• Provides the program for a period of 3 years from launch.

The 4G campus-wide network is a high performance, high-capacity wireless network, which is optimized for dense mobile broadband access with voice services. It will support UTM’s commitment to develop a highly advanced learning environment for all their students and help the University, to enhance its position as a cradle of technology excellence in the nation and the world. Thus, this will make UTM to be more competitive in attracting top-class student applicants and faculty staff. 

“We’re on the cutting edge of new technology, the first university in Malaysia to gain exposure to high-speed 4G broadband wireless connectivity,” said Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ir Zaini Ujang, Vice Chancellor of UTM. 

“Having 4G campus-wide network makes UTM unique, it provides a competitive edge to demonstrate to prospective students that we are progressive in developing new technologies and also provide current students with immersive learning”, added Dato’ Dr. Zaini.

The low latency, high bandwidth 4G technology supports fast data rates, is highly spectrally efficient, and is developing a robust device ecosystem. As an all-IP technology, it is optimized for web services. Members of UTM Skudai community will soon be using and evaluating new learning approaches enabled by high speed wireless broadband. In particular, they are focusing on immersive learning environments harnessing advanced multimedia techniques.

The event commemorates the launching of YTL Communications EPP and the signing of the MoA with UTM, the first university under this program by YB Dato’ Seri Utama Dr. Rais bin Yatim, Minister of Information, Communications and Culture.

Retrieved from: http://www.ytlcomms.my/EN/news_details.aspx?id=22

USE TECHNOLOGY TO SEEK KNOWLEDGE

Penang, 31 May: Developments in communications and information technology have brought about changes to society and university students, specifically those in distance education. This group of people should use technology in seeking knowledge.

According to the Acting Vice-Chancellor of USM, Assoc. Prof. Omar bin Osman, technological developments have created societies that are information-based that will enable them to compete globally.

“However, all knowledge available at the finger tips will not be of use if students do not strive to master the technology. The ability to master technology such as the Internet will give students the competitive edge and ensure that they are not left behind in their pursuit of knowledge,” he said at the Distance Education Students Welcoming Ceremony in conjunction with the Distance Education Orientation Week from 28 May to 1 June 2007.

About UM SMS Service (2003 - 2008)

Retrieved from: http://ict.um.edu.my/?modul=Articles&pilihan=Display&id=230

History Of UMSMS (2003-2008) UMSMS stands for University of Malaya Short Messaging Service. UMSMS service was first started in 2003. The initial objective of providing the service was to allow students to access information conveniently via mobile phones alternative to those provided by Umisisweb an internet based system. The move to implement the service was to augment the existing internet based service catering for students who do not have access to internet. Right from the start of its implementation in 2003, UMSMS service connects seamlessly with the relevant internal systems so as to generate the related info of the student. The UM SMS platform used at that point of time was an independent platform initially using 39339 as its SMS service number. Usage of such service is much lower in volume as compared to its internet based counterpart since access to info via SMS is NOT free. In early 2008, MAMPU initiated the e-KL initiatives. UM and other government agencies becomes part of the e-KL. The key objective of e-KL is to support the Electronic Government initiative. Middle of 2008, UM SMS ‘ s platform was  redirected from the old number to the new e-KL number which is 15888 in support of the e-KL and to leverage on a lower SMS charges guaranteed by e-KL. The need to use new means of communication in UM besides existing electronic mail and manual fliers and notices increases late in 2009. It started with Faculty of Medicine who requested to use the SMS service to broadcast special messages according to student groups. Thus, realizing the fact that , it is possible that in future other Faculties or Administrative office might require similar alternative means of communication, PTM’s UM SMS team from Collaborative application division is now in the process of developing an administrative UMSMS portal to cater for the distributed needs. The development is expected to finish by end of 2010.  WHAT IS GSM GSM stands for Global System for Mobiles. This is a world-wide standard for digital cellular telephony, or as most people know them Digital Mobile Telephones. GSM was created by Europeans, and originally meant “Group Special Mobile”, but this didn’t translate well, so the now common more globally appealing name was adopted. GSM is a published standard by ETSI, and has now enjoys widespread implementation in Europe, Asia and increasingly America.  WHAT IS SMS SMS stands for Short Message Service. It is the ability to send and receive “Short Messages” to and from GSM handsets, or as they are named by ETSI ‘Mobile Terminals’ (MT). A “Short Message” can contain up to 160 characters in one message, which is quite a lot when you think about it, most messages are simply a call me back, or pick up the parcel from here. The biggest problem with SMS is getting a big screen big enough on the mobile phone to be able to read them easily. SMS is a really nice feature of GSM, being able to give someone a message without actually speaking to them is a great time saver, and results in less misunderstanding; it is kind of like e-mail in your pocket.  CURENT/EXISTING UM SMS APPLICATIONS Current UM SMS hosts following functions accessible to UM Undergraduate student: 1. UM YURAN / UM BAKI 2. UM JADUAL 3. UM EXAM 4. UM KURSUS 5. UM PENSYARAH 6. UM RESULT Go to Umisisweb (panduan sms) for the 'How To Access' instructions.  EXISTING UM SMS ARCHITECTURE CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING: 1. UM SMS Application Server – located in PTM and managed by PTM 2. SMS Centre – located  in PTM and managed by vendor 3. UM SMS Application server is the server where we put UM’s customized application. a) The server will receive the username and password from a student and query the required result and then send it back to the user via SMS through the SMS gateway. b) UM SMS Centre server is the gateway that passes the result from the application server to the SMS gateway and vice versa. 4. The SMS GATEWAY is a server which is connected to several GSM modem. This is the point where result from UM SMS Centre is sent before it is sent to the GSM networks subscribed by the user. 5. Both UM SMS Centre and the SMS GATEWAY are being managed by the vendor. Therefore, to cater for other SMS application server, extra customization will be required to be done to the server itself. This is beyond the boundary of UM system administrators.  STEPS FOR UM STAFF OR STUDENT WHO ARE INTERESTED IN USING THE EXISTING UM SMS GATEWAY : There are 2 options to consider: a) Obtain your own GSM Modem (e.g  Wavecom FASTRACK Modem with your own SIM card) b) Use existing UM SMS Gateway. If you are a UM student who would want to use the SMS as part of your project. It is advisable that you choose option A. If you need consultation on how to set up, you can contact our PTM personnel, Encik Adnan Yahya, at 03-7967 4005. Otherwise, if you decide to use the existing UM SMS Gateway (option B) then you will need to: 1) write to Pengarah PTM stating your request. (PTM will arrange  discussion and meeting with the vendor who are responsible for the SMS Centre) 2) prepare your own server to host your own SMS Application. 3) prepare your own budget for the usage and extra customization needed to get your sms applications running.

UKM Places Great Importance to Visual Informatics Research

Thursday, 10 November 2011 22:20

By Radzuan Ghazali

Pix Mohd Hairul Azmi Jahid

BANGI, 9 Nov. 2011 – The National University of Malaysia (UKM) places great importance to research in information and communications technology in line with the National Digital Transformation Plan that can spearhead the country’s economic development.

Deputy Vice Chancellor  (Students and Alumni Affairs) UKM, Prof Ir Dr Othman A. Karim said the university has been allocated a sum of RM44million under the 10^th Malaysia Plan for research in the area against an allocation of only RM3million under the sixth plan.

Speaking at the opening of the International Conference of Visual Informatics at the Equatorial Hotel here today he expressed confidence that the Ministry of Higher Education will continue to support the university to undertake research and innovations in informatics.

The three day conference is organised by the Institute of Visual Informatics UKM and Faculty of Information Science and Technology, UKM with the theme ‘Virtual Informatics: Sustainable Innovations Towards Wealth Creation’.

It is attended by some 150 engineers, academicians and those involved in the industry worldwide. A total of 71 papers have been tabled for discussions.

Chairman of UKM Board of Directors, Tan Sri Zulkifli A Hassan  who officiated the opening on behalf of the Minister of Higher Education said informatics technology plays a very important role in revolutionising and supporting various sectors including education, communications, health care in addition to biotechnology and genetic engineering and visual informatics.

He said visual informatics was especially relevant in education as it has the widest reach compared to the traditional method thus allowing more people in the country to have access to it.

 
Since the setting of the Malaysia Super Corridor (MSC) 2,455 companies including institutions of higher learning have been given MSC status with 2,574 IPs registered.

Prof Dato’ Dr Halimah said the conference is a platform for academics and professionals and experts in visual informatics to share their experiences and information and was confident that participants would greatly benefit from it. 


http://www.ukm.my/news/index.php/en/extras/890-ukm-places-great-importance-to-visual-informatics-research.html

FSKTM Students Represented UPM in Imagine Cup

Retrieved from: http://www.researchsea.com/html/article.php/aid/6206/cid/2/research/fsktm_students_represented_upm_in_imagine_cup.html?PHPSESSID=ujcrd38cvikh221lht0kuh7h31

Three students from the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FSKTM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), were selected to represent UPM at the 2011 Malaysia Imagine Cup competition recently.

Mohamad Najib Basery, The Green P The FSKTM team is led by their mentors, Dr. Lili Nurliyana Abdullah, Dr. Razali Yaakob and Dr. Rohaya Latip. Namely the Green P, they created the 'Botanic Sustainability Smart System', a web based software to identify the type of soil and suitable plants that can be planted with it. A second year student in Bachelor of Computer Science (Computer Networks), Mohamad Najib said the idea to develop the software was drawn from the famine situation in Africa. Thus we are inspired to help them in identifying suitable crops for their land. "It took us almost two months to develop this system as well as data collected from the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry (MOA), Institute for Research and Development Institute (MARDI) and assisted by Prof. Dr. Kamaruzaman Joseph from the Faculty of Forestry, "he said at the Malaysia 2011 Imagine Cup competition at the Pullman Hotel, Kuching. In addition, the system is able to analyze the crop price index, which enables those involved in the agricultural industry to determine their budget in order to initiate agricultural projects. Meanwhile, WASPending developed software that combines the teaching of general knowledge, science and math, and also a hero character as well as focused history for students aged 10 to 12 years old. WASPending team leader, Wong Ching Yee said the system called 'Challenge the Difference "was developed in the form of games and educational software. "I hope that this software will draw attention from the children’s education related industry," he said. His friend, Tan Wee Chong, a final year student of Bachelor of Computer Science (Software Engineering) from The Frontiers said his group developed 'The 1 Cent Project' a micro donation system that integrates with telecommunication companies to further promote the culture of giving among students. "Students can donate as low as one cent, and the use of the software can be promoted by the telecommunications company as a community service program (CSR). "By using this system, users can select their donation to be distributed for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the amount to be donated and the identification number and the data will be verified by the telecommunication companies after obtaining confirmation," he said. The 2011 Imagine Cup is a technology competition between the students of the Institution of Higher Education in promoting solutions to global problems. The competition aims to produce talented students in the world of software designers, programmers, game developers and digital media enthusiasts and simultaneously addressing issues related to humanitarian assistance, poverty, education, disease control, health, environment and global issues. Contact: Noor Eszereen Juferi Universiti Putra Malaysia Tel: +60389466013

Mohamad Najib Basery, The Green P Copyright : Wong Ching Yee, WASPending Tan Wee Cheng,The Frontiers Copyright : Wong Ching Yee, WASPending