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Information
Technology A Key To Success Conference Told Courtesy of By June Ong
In his address at the opening of a three-day
conference on new information technologies (IT) with the theme 'Information
Resources Integration: An agenda for change', at the Central Lecture Theatre
of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam yesterday,
Minister of Education Pehin Dato
Awg Hj Abdul Aziz said: "We need information to undertake
research and study, to enhance one's hobbies and enrich our religious
practices and most importantly, in the context of this conference,
information is vital for organisational operations,
strategic planning and decision-making. Also present at the opening were Vice Chancellor
of Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Dr Haji Ismail bin Haji Duraman, the Deputy
Minister of Education, Dato Paduka
Hj Suyoi bin Hj Osman, the Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, as Keynote Speaker, Dato
Paduka Hj Abdul Rahman Hj Ibrahim. Pehin Dato Awg Hj
Abdul Aziz added that in the 21st century,
competitive advantage will go not to those who have and is using the latest
technology, but to those who use it and manage it most effectively. The pace
of change in the application of information technology is so rapid that it is
easy for us to fall behind, he said. He said we must be kept informed of the latest
developments and broaden our skills in the essential areas which will bring
value to our workplace. High on the agenda is the need to collaborate to
promote the integration of information systems technology, which will improve
our ability to use IT for creating, disseminating and applying knowledge, he
added. All this is made possible through the development
of IT. Through good communication and web-based technology, information
managers can link up with each other to find order in the presentation of
information, he pointed out. This conference is indeed a significant event in Furthermore, the conference comes at an
appropriate time to support the implementation of the various e-government
initiatives, which is in line with the nation's vision to provide efficient
and effective services for the people. As a result of these technological
changes, the minister hoped that libraries, as knowledge centres,
can make good use of new ICT developments to improve the retention of records
and archive materials in digital format. The Ministry of Education is currently focusing
on an e-education initiative under the e-government project. The increased
emphasis on ICT in Schools will be inter-connected, resources will
be shared and greater integration is anticipated. At the same time, the
concept of a Digital Library is being considered, which will not only be of
benefit to the academic community, but will also be beneficial to the wider
community. The minister applauded efforts made by the UBD
library in bringing together scholars and experts in the various information
disciplines to discuss the importance of information integration or
information sharing. As the conference is to share expertise and
experiences which will widen one's perspectives on new trends and
developments in information technology, one can thus embark further on new
initiatives. Prior to the minister's speech, the chairman of
the Conference's Organising Committee, Puan Nellie bte Dato Paduka Haji
Sunny said information has never been more significant than we know it today
and the sharing of it is even greater so that a greater number of people will
have access and benefit from it. "We have to be thankful to the new information
communication technologies for bringing about these dramatic changes in
enabling knowledge management in today's knowledge economy and which has
given us a new and exciting environment and added a new dimension to the
integration of the rich resources of information," she said, adding that
these changes have affected our lives, every household and all levels of
society. With the dramatic changes also comes issues and
concerns that need to be deliberated upon. Twenty-three eminent speakers from The three-day conference which consists of
plenary sessions, panel discussions, post conference workshop, a products
seminar and an Information Exhibition of ICT products and books will end with
resolutions and recommendations which will hopefully be followed-up and acted
upon after the conference. Around 200 professional participants from various
fields such as Library Officer, System Engineering, Medicine, Management,
Lecturers, Assistant Deputy Directors and Programmer, are attending the
conference. The Education Minister later toured an exhibition
held at the UBD library in line with the theme. Four local companies, namely, HML Engineering Sdn Bhd, Syabas
Technologies, Islamic Development Bank of Brunei Berhad
and Softek Networks, are represented in the
exhibition along with Malaysian firms such as EBSCO, LexisNexis
and others like Thomson Learning Asia-Gale and IPL Technologies Group which
are based in The aim of the exhibition is to showcase the companies to the public on the various line information services ranging from news, law, business, art to medicine, that are either currently incorporated into the university's information system or which are relatively new in the IT market.
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