Limkokwing to set up more campuses

KUCHING: The Limkokwing University of Creative Technology is planning for campuses in 20 more countries in the next five years.

Founder Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing said the university had received invitations from countries in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe to set up campuses.

The university now has 12 campuses in seven countries, including Indonesia, Cambodia, China and England. It has some 25,000 students from 145 nations. Its Kuala Lumpur campus has 9,000 students from 135 countries.

“We should be reaching one million students in the next 10 years,” Lim said after the opening of the Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud yesterday.

He said the target would include those taking online courses.

Limkokwing Sarawak chief executive officer Prof Datuk Parid Wardi said Limkokwing had built up a collegial network of more than 170 universities in over 77 countries in support of its “global classroom” concept.

“We receive more than 4 million visitors from 188 countries every month to our website, making it one of the most popular university sites in the world,” he added.

Limkokwing now offers a 3+0 degree programme through partnership with the 150-year-old Anglia Ruskin University of Cambridge, Britain.

Parid said the Sarawak institute now had 500 students and there were plans to upgrade it to a university in three years.

He said some western countries had now moved from knowledge to creative economy.

Autonomy for UTM

JOHOR BARU: The Higher Education Ministry has granted Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) autonomy in four areas, making it the first in the country to receive the status.

Its minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said UTM was capable of handling its affairs independently in these areas.

“The ministry has also identified several other universities but I will only announce their names on Jan 26 (when he delivers his new year address),” he said.

Mohamed Khaled explained that with the autonomy, the university would now take full responsibility for institutional governance, academic governance, financial management and human resource management.

He was speaking to reporters after presenting endowment scholarships to 100 UTM undergraduates at the campus in Skudai here yesterday.

“UTM will also handle its student intake and will no longer have to go through the ministry's Universities Admissions Unit (UPU),” he said.

He added that autonomy for UTM would take effect starting this year but the formal announcement would be made on Jan 26.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Khaled also urged university alumni to play a more active role in developing their respective universities.

“The alumni should not only limit their contributions to financial aid but other areas as well.

“For example, the alumni can help with establishing internship programmes or create business opportunities for students,” he said

Universiti Tun Hussein Onn's (UTHM's) research outputs continue to attain world recognition

Old Spitalfields, London - Universiti Tun Hussein Onn's (UTHM's) research outputs continue to attain world recognition when all of its entries were awarded  a gold medal each in addition to one special diamond award at the British Invention, Innovation and Technology Show 2011 (BIS '11) which  was held at the Old Spitalfields Market in London from the 19 -22 October 2011.

The winning entries consisted of three outstanding research and innovation products namely; a Multi-Function Tunable Broadband Flat Antenna by Dr. Muhammad Yusof Ismail, A Novel Steganography Algorithm To Hide Secret Message Inside An Image by Prof. Dr. Rosziati Ibrahim and the Eco - Degrable Renewable Polymer by Dr. Anika Zafiah bt Mohd Rus.  

In addition to the gold awards, UTHM received the Special Diamond Award, the highest award for the International Invention of the year category  that was awarded to the Multi-Function Tunable Broadband Flat 

Antenna, a product developed by a team of researchers led by Dr. Muhammad Yusof Bin Ismail.  Although this is only the second time that UTHM has participated at the British Invention Show, this outstanding success is a testimony to the increasing  international industry acceptance and recognition of the industry-focused research that is being undertaken by the University.

The Office for Research, Innovation, Commercialization, Consultancy Management (ORICC), in particular and the wider community of UTHM would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the award winners at the BIS '11. ORICC also would like to thank everyone who has contributed their ideas and hard work in the selection and preparation process leading to the resounding success of our products at this international event.  With continued support towards ORICC that serves as the focal point of research and innovation in the University, high level of commitments and efforts from all concerned , it is highly likely that UTHM researchers will continue to demonstrate their excellence in the international scenes from now onwards .

UTM launched mobile hotspot bus

 Johor Bahru, July 2, 2012:  UTM launched its maiden UTM Mobile Hotspot Bus today, a bus that is fully equipped with a modem, also known as WCC Mobile Hotspot, allowing up to 200 passengers connected to the internet simultaneously, and can be used within a radius of up to 100m from the bus. The WCC Mobile Hotspot is a spin off from the internet bridging access and smart antenna technologies previously produced by UTM Wireless Communication Centre (WCC), headed by Prof. Dr.Tharek Abdul Rahman.

                      The product is one of UTM’s latest technologies managed by the Innovation and Commercialisation Centre (ICC) to be further commercialised by the private sectors. To ensure the quality of the WCC Mobile Hotspot is stable and reliable to users, the WCCspent 3 months of pilot tests with the collaboration of a local bus service provider, Syarikat Bas MARA Liner and Maxis, which sponsored simcards for the proof-of-concept. It is expected that the use of a mobile wifi in public busses will be a major milestone for bus providers in Malaysia to attract more passengers to use their services.

                     “UTM plans to install the technology on all UTM busses in the near future and further commercialise the technology to other public bus service providers such as MARA Liner, airport limousines and other public transport providers through licensing activities to ensure the technologies can be benefited by most Malaysians,” said UTM Vice Chancellor, Prof. Datuk Ir. Dr.ZainiUjang.

Other major technology produced by UTM Wireless Communication Centre is the Smart Antenna Technology, a flat antenna that is able to give up to 80% efficiency rate as compared to 50-60% that of the conventional ones.

MAMPU Gives High Marks to UKM ICT Strategic Plan

By Saiful Bahri Kamaruddin

Pix Shahiddan Saidi

BANGI, 11 May 2012 – The Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit, MAMPU has given high marks to The National University of Malaysia (UKM) as an agency leading the charge in research through Information and Communications Technology (ICT). 

MAMPU Director-General, Dato' Mohamad Zabidi Zainal said he was impressed with UKM's commitment to working with the agency in raising the stakes of research in the university through its ICT strategic plan. 

He took pride with the support and involvement of MAMPU as the consultant  to UKM’s ICT experts to come up with an ICT strategic plan for institutions of higher learning in the country.

He made the remarks at a brief ceremony for the submission of UKM's 2011–2015 ICT Strategic Plan at Cancellory meeting room today. The document was handed over to UKM Vice-Chancellor, Prof Tan Sri Dato' Wira Dr Sharifah Hapsah with a copy given to Dato’ Zabidi.

The plan takes into account the development, planning and implementation of ICT in UKM's main campus in Bangi as well as at its other campus in Kuala Lumpur and the UKM Hospital in Cheras.

Dato' Mohamad Zabidi said the processes used had helped raise awareness and expertise for all those involved. The UKM ICT Strategic Plan began in August 25 2010 and is all-encompassing.

Prof Sharifah Hapsah said that ICT is the key to the core business of UKM, that is teaching, learning and research saying since ICT became widespread on the main campus, UKM became more efficent and speedier including among students and the teaching staff as can be seen all over the campus in Bangi.

The in-depth development of the ICT Strategic Plan was carried out by a team led by Prof Ir Dr Othman Abdul Karim as the project director. 

Consultancy for the project was provided by a team of strategic ICT consultants at MAMPU led by Dato' Dr Zahari Othman.

The plan is a long-term one that determines the direction of planning, strategic development and implementation of ICT projects to support the achievement of UKM's vision and mission.

The plan, which is part of the public sector ICT strategy, details the objectives of the ICT policies. It is aimed at ensuring that ICT management in all agencies are in line with the public sector ICT strategy.

Also present at the ceremony were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic and International Affairs, Prof Datuk Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali; Prof Ir Othman who is also Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs and Alumni and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Inovation, Prof Dato' Dr Rahmah Mohamed.

MAMPU is tasked with taking the lead role in implementing modernisation strategies for the Malaysian Public Service.

In implementing its responsibility, MAMPU says it focuses on initiatives that can upgrade the quality, efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Public Service. 

All these initiatives encompass the areas of quality acculturation, organisational development, integrity management, ICT development and enhancing relationships between the public and private sectors. 

The modernisation initiatives implemented by MAMPU have to be conveyed widely to all government agencies by all available channels in order ensure accurate and updated information are readily available.

INTI's Industry Collaborations Link Students to Latest Resources in ICT

IBM, Cisco and SAP are among INTI’s list of global IT partners providing students with cutting edge technological know-how and professional certification to ensure their high employability upon graduation.

In fulfilling its brand promise to bring industry into the classroom, INTI through synergistic alliances such as MyUniAlliance with SAP and Software Career Training (SCT) with IBM, have enabled its students to gain access to a wealth of resources, technologies, industry best practices and business solutions.

INTI was one of the first educational institutions in Malaysia to participate in MyUniAlliance, an initiative by Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) to upscale and hone the abilities of undergraduates in ICT. A special hosting service is available to INTI’s students to access SAP systems for hands-on learning under a free software license that will provide knowledge of integrated business processes and industry best practices.

“Graduates need to be knowledgeable about Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems which integrate internal and external management information across an entire organization. We are very pleased to be in partnership with SAP, the world’s largest ERP solutions provider, to create educational opportunities and promote innovation among our students,” said Professor Walter Wong, Vice-Chancellor of INTI International University.

Professional certification provides INTI students with additional practical skills and knowledge that will give them a competitive edge over their peers. IBM’s SCT programme offers students a combination of technical knowledge, IBM leading technology, industry best practices and personal professional development in one integrated, career-enhancing learning experience. Graduates will acquire a high quality and recognised Malaysian qualification from INTI as well as an international IBM professional certification which gives them an immediate edge in job interviews and employment.

INTI has also worked alongside Cisco Networking Academy for many years. By incorporating the CCNA and CCNA wireless syllabus into its Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Network & Mobile Computing programme, INTI ensures that students develop the skills to design and manage medium-sized networks. The partnership also presents a pathway to professional certification in CCNP and CCIE.

The INTI curriculum emphasises on all-rounded development of a student’s cognitive and practical skills. Close collaboration with the industry ensures that the curriculum developed is relevant to the market’s needs, and more importantly, focuses on soft skills such as project management, team work, and proposals among others, which are essential skills when entering the work force.

Students of INTI benefit not only from the institution’s over 25 years of experience and strong track-record, but also gain from the global synergy and resources that Laureate International Universities provides. Laureate – the world’s largest private education network – has a presence in 29 countries, with more than 60 accredited universities and 130 campuses, serving more than 675,000 students globally.

UKM To Set Up An Academy for Cyber Security

Pix Courtesy of Faculty of Information Science and Technology (FTSM)

BANGI, 22 Mac. 2012 – UKM will set up a Cyber Security Academy in collaboration with CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM) to provide profesional programmes that will produce the expertise needed in the field.

It is aimed at meeting market demand for such professionals both locally and globally apart from helping to produce a future generation who are highly skilled in cyber security for the benefit of society.

Senior Manager of Technology Transfer of the Centre for Collaborative Innovation UKM, Encik Muhamad Nasir Raki told UKM News Portal that the UKM-CSM Global Cyber Security Academy hopes to begin providing various programmes on cyber security this June. It is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of the year.

En Nasir, who is also a member of the UKM-CSM committee to set up the academy, said it will make UKM a versatile institution of higher learning and further enhance its reputation internationally.

A three day workshop was organised by The Faculty of Information Science and Technology (FTSM) in Seremban last Friday to discuss the establishment of the Academy. It was attended by teams from UKM and CSM.

The 16 member UKM team was headed by FTSM Dean, Prof Dr Abdullah Mohd Zain and include members of the faculty. The CSM team of 16 was headed its Head of Innovation and Commercialisation, Encik Anwer Yusoff. CSM is an agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The workshop discussed the strategic plan for its implementation as well as developing its academic curriculum and profesional training.

Deputy Vice Chancellor (Student and Alumni Affairs), Prof Ir Dr Osman A.Karim when opening the workshop on behalf of the Vice Chancellor, Prof Tan Sri Datuk Wira Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabuddin said the advancement of technology in addition to bringing about benefits had also spawned negative elements which were found to be difficult to control.

“As a result we, our family, society, organisations and national security have been exposed to various types of cyber crimes. We thus cannot be complacent and has to be prepared to meet such threats. “

He said among the measures needed to face the threats was to have an effective data rescue system should there be damages to the main data depositary, due to breaches or to natural calamities.

It was thus important that there should be professionals in cyber and information security to be ready to tackle any criminal threats lurking in the virtual world, Prof Osman said.

En Nasir said development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has changed the lives of the people and has made the world borderless. The information revolution has also made it possible for almost any information to be retrieved at the fingertips.

This has also impacted the values people hold dear and at times brought about social ills and the degradation of values. Thus ICT needed to be monitored from being misused, he said.

En Nasir also said that the ICT infrastructure had been used to communicate ill intentions and had thus brought about social ills in a society. The cyber world had also brought about political instabilities and even assist in bringing down governments like in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen.

Thus governments can be toppled and nations thrown into chaos by street demonstrations and unrest facilitated by ICT due to involvement of third parties and invisible hands with their own hidden agenda.

Moving under the banner of NGOs and the pretext of democracy and human rights, it had brought about instability to nations through the clever use of ICT such as Blogs, Facebook and Youtube to spread propaganda, slander and even false accusations that can easily ignite harmful sentiments among the people, En Nasir said.

They had brought about unrest which can easily go viral at an enormous speed and threaten peace and bringing about riots and civil wars in nations, he said.

After years of decline, the popular website Digg is sold

By Gerry Shih

SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:26am IST
 

(Reuters) - New York tech incubator Betaworks acquired the website Digg on Thursday in a deal that included the remaining brand assets, a humble close to what was once a celebrated online property that heralded the social media era.

Launched in 2004 by then 27-year old Kevin Rose, Digg rose to prominence as an aggregator of online content, becoming at one point one of the more highly-trafficked stops on the Internet. The site let users vote up - or "Digg" - links, an early precursor to how Facebook (FB.O) and Twitter help spread "viral" content today.

The deal was worth just $500,000, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The sale came after the majority of Digg's engineering staff left in May for Social Code, a subsidiary of The Washington Post Co (WPO.N).

"Over the last few months, we've considered many options of where Digg could go, and frankly many of them could not live up to the reason Digg was invented in the first place -- to discover the best stuff on the web," Digg Chief Executive Matt Williams said in a blog post. "We wanted to find a way to take Digg back to its startup roots."

Digg's website will continue to exist, and Betaworks will soon launch a new "cloud-based version of Digg" to complement its current offerings, Williams wrote.

Still, Thursday's acquisition drew the curtains on a start-up once feted in Silicon Valley.

The company raised a total of $45 million in funding from established venture capital firms like Greylock Partners. In 2006, Rose starred on a well-known BusinessWeek magazine cover, flashing his thumbs next to the headline: "How This Kid Made $60 Million In 18 Months."

(Reporting By Gerry Shih; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

eBay's hottest business brings benefits, risks

By Alistair Barr

SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:51am IST

(Reuters) - "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" is a well-known warning from Shakespeare's "Hamlet."



PayPal, eBay Inc.'s (EBAY.O) online payment service, heeded that advice for much of its existence, charging fees for processing transactions rather than lending money that may not be repaid.
But Bill Me Later, one of eBay's fastest-growing businesses, is changing that.
BML, as it's known, offers credit to online shoppers, letting them pay typically a few months after purchases.
EBay bought the business for almost $1 billion in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis. Last year, BML accumulated $2.3 billion in loans, up 64 percent from the previous year. Wall Street will be looking for the unit to keep up its hot growth streak when eBay reports second-quarter results on July 18.
BML is a potentially juicy new source of profit growth for eBay. The business also helps other parts of the company - for example, it could make PayPal more profitable by reducing funding costs, analysts say.
"This is one of the most prominent and fastest-growing businesses eBay has, and I think it becomes more prominent going forward," said Gil Luria, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.
"BML is very important because it allows eBay to expand PayPal into a true financial product, as opposed to a purely transactional service," Luria added.
"But PayPal will take on more credit risk as BML expands," Luria warned.
If BML gets big enough and PayPal's growth slows, that could pressure eBay's valuation, he added.
POTENT COMBO
For now, BML is helping eBay make new waves in the online payment business.
BML was the third most popular alternative online payment service in 2011, ranking behind the leader PayPal and Amazon.com's (AMZN.O) payment option, according to Javelin Strategy & Research. Consumers used BML 14 percent of the time last year, up from just 1 percent in 2010, Javelin said in a recent research report.
"PayPal and Bill Me Later are a potent payment combo that dominates online payment alternatives," Kerry Rice, an analyst at Needham & Co, wrote in a recent note to investors. "Growth in popularity of BML should benefit eBay's payments revenue growth."
Scott Devitt, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, expects BML revenue to top half a billion dollars by 2015 - up from less than $200 million last year.
Operating income could be almost $70 million in 2012, and the business will likely get more profitable as it grows, Devitt added in a note to investors earlier this year.
OVERSEAS CASH
One of BML's main benefits is that it gives eBay a lucrative way to use its $7 billion stash of overseas cash. This money has been sitting outside the United States earning paltry interest - and eBay cannot return it to investors in the form of dividends without getting hit with a big tax bill when the money comes back to the United States.
Since September 2010, some of this overseas money has been used to fund BML's loan portfolio - and the standard annual interest rate that BML customers pay is close to 20 percent. As of the first quarter of this year, about half of this portfolio was funded with overseas cash.
"BML is a really productive use of the offshore cash. It earns a lot more than just 1 percent," said John Donahoe, chief executive of eBay, during an interview after the company's first-quarter results in April.
Chief Financial Officer Bob Swan came up with the idea, Donahoe noted.
"He is taking every opportunity to repatriate cash when we can," the CEO added.
FUNDING COSTS
BML also helps reduce PayPal's funding costs, analysts say. Just over half of PayPal transactions are currently funded through debit and credit cards on existing payment networks such as Visa (V.N) and MasterCard (MA.N). PayPal has to pay hefty fees in those cases.
But if PayPal customers use BML, PayPal avoids such fees, increasing profit margins.
When BML represents 1 percent of PayPal's total payment volume, PayPal's margins improve by 40 basis points, or 0.4 of a percentage point, Morgan Stanley's Devitt estimated. If BML grows to 10 percent of PayPal volume, margins would likely improve by just over 4 percentage points, he estimated.
CREDIT RISKS
Despite such benefits, BML exposes eBay to new credit risks, Luria and others said.
"It adds another layer of complexity to the company because they are taking balance-sheet risk now," said Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
Lending money, charging interest and waiting for the cash to be repaid is a riskier business than collecting fees for processing payments. That is especially true in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, when defaults surged and some lenders went broke.
This can be seen in stock-market valuations. Visa, which lends no money, trades at more than 20 times 2012 estimated profit. American Express, which lends money, trades at about 13.5 times 2012 earnings, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Shares of eBay trade at about 17 times 2012 estimated earnings.
Now for the caveat: If BML grows big enough that investors consider eBay to be a lending business, eBay's valuation may suffer.
"If credit risk becomes a meaningful part of eBay's valuation and PayPal growth slows, there could be a risk of their multiple converging with the valuation of other lenders," Luria said.
REGULATORY RISKS
BML has also attracted new regulatory attention for eBay and PayPal.
"The risk is more on the regulatory side," Sakhrani said.
BML is not a chartered financial institution. It is not licensed to make loans in the United States, so it relies on a bank or another type of licensed lender.
When a consumer buys something with BML credit, the loan is issued by a regulated financial institution. Since September 2010, this has been handled by WebBank, an industrial bank chartered by the state of Utah.
WebBank lends money to the shopper at the point of sale online and makes sure the merchant is paid. BML then buys that loan, or receivable, from WebBank, giving it future interest payments, but also exposing it to a loss if the consumer does not repay the money.
In its latest annual report, eBay warned that limits on WebBank's ability to lend could prevent BML from generating new transactions - or force eBay to get its own bank charter.
That would be "a time-consuming and costly process and would subject us to a number of additional laws and regulations, compliance with which would likely be burdensome," eBay said.
A lawsuit in California district court contends that the WebBank relationship means BML is acting as the true lender to customers, violating state regulations, including usury laws.
The court dismissed the usury claims in late 2010 and the case was moved to district court in Utah last year. But breach of contract and other claims remain, eBay noted in its annual report this year.
"These allegations are without merit and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously," eBay said. "However, this area of law is uncertain and if the lawsuit is successful, Bill Me Later may be required to change its methods of operations, pay substantial damages and reduce some of its charges and fees, which would likely adversely affect our business."
BANK VALUATIONS
PayPal spokesman Anuj Nayar said PayPal is already a bank in Europe.
"While we have no public plans to change our current status in the U.S., we will consider it if the situation warrants it," he added.
"That's when it would become more impactful to the multiple," KBW's Sakhrani said. "If you own a bank, valuations are often lower."
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N), the largest U.S. bank in terms of assets, trades at 8 times forecast 2012 profit, while Citigroup trades at less than 7 times estimated earnings this year, according to Thomson Reuters data. (Reporting by Alistair Barr; Editing by Jan Paschal)