MGT300

UTAR Organises Symposium on Progress in Information and Communication Technology (SPICT'09)



Researchers, industry practitioners and students in information and communication technology (ICT) gathered for the Symposium on Progress in Information and Communication Technology (SPICT'09) organised by UTAR on 7 December 2009. Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Dr.Hou Kok Chung officiated the event.

The symposium which also attracted the participation of individuals from overseas brought together researchers, industry practitioners and students to exchange the latest advances and trends in ICT and to identify and share emerging research topics in the field. A total of 64 paper submissions from over 31 different institutions in 12 different countries were received for the symposium, of which 31 submissions were accepted after the paper review process.

SPICT'09 consisted of seven sessions offering presentations in diverse areas of ICT such as business IT systems, network infrastructure, algorithm development, vision and image processing, knowledge management, multimedia and e-learning.

Two ICT events were held simultaneously over two days in conjunction with SPICT'09. The events were the Workshop on Advances in Intelligent Computing 2009 (WAIC 2009) which was
held on the same day as the opening ceremony of SPICT'09 and the Multimedia Development
Corporation of Malaysia (MDeC) R&D Exchange Forum which was held the following day.

UTAR President Ir. Professor Dato' Dr. Chuah Hean Teik who was present for the SPICT'09 opening ceremony expressed, "The R&D landscape in Malaysia has transformed greatly in the past few years, where a lot of resources have been channelled in Malaysia to cultivate a vibrant environment for scientific and technological discoveries." He added that UTAR, in tandem with national development, is gaining greater momentum in its research intensification effort to transform itself into a research-focused University.

"Our faculty members in UTAR are constantly seeking new opportunities, exploring innovative ideas and building new links. We have embraced this culture wholeheartedly and have maintained close collaboration with colleagues from various disciplines locally and worldwide through our Global Research Network and various research initiatives," he said.

He expressed his hopes for the SPICT'09 to present a platform to discuss, explore and allow ideas to cross fertilize to spark new research collaborations amongst the various participating academics and ICT companies.