Telcordia Fulfillment implemented by Telekom Malaysia

TELECOMWORLDWIRE-May 12, 2011-Telcordia Fulfillment implemented by Telekom Malaysia(C)1994-2011 M2 COMMUNICATIONS http://www.m2.com
Mobile, fixed and broadband communications software and services developer Telcordia announced on Thursday that the Telcordia Fulfillment solution is now in production at telecoms company Telekom Malaysia, supporting the rollout of its high-speed broadband (HSBB) services.
No financial details of the deal were disclosed.
According to the company, Telekom Malaysia is two years into its HSBB rollout, aiming to raise domestic broadband penetration and provide 10Mb/s-1Gb/s broadband access to 1.3m customers by 2012. The expansion of the network will enable triple play offers, as well as supporting high-value enterprise services on a next generation network. The network rollout is also supported by an OSS transformation programme.
Telcordia's Fulfillment solution enables automated network design, inventory discovery and reconciliation, as well as providing the core of automated service fulfillment and assurance.
In addition, Telcordia Service Director has been selected by the operator for service performance management to help realise a customer-focused, service-centric operation.

From findarticles.com/p/articles/

Maybank Collaboration with Intel To Offer Enhanced IT Financing for SMEs

A collaboration today between Maybank, the leading financial group and one of the worlds leading IT companies, Intel will offer small and medium enterprises (SMEs) more affordable financing facility as well as a wider range of information and communication technology (ICT) products and solutions.

Encik Muhamad Umar Swift, Executive Vice President and Head of Enterprise Financial Services Group of Maybank said that Maybank has been appointed as financial provider for Intel’s small medium enterprise initiatives.
Intel will work with Microsofit, Cisco, Linksys, TmNet and others will promote awareness to enhance ICT adoption and application by SMEs.
“Through this collaboration, Maybank will be providing two types of financing for SMEs, our enhanced Maybank ITplus package and the Maybankard EzyPay Scheme for Maybankard Credit Card holders for IT purchases above RM15,000 and below RM15,000 respectively,” said Encik Umar.
Maybank IT Plus is a facility specially, designed to cater to the IT financing needs of the SMEs. Supported by Credit Guarantee Corporation, the facility enables SMEs to make smaller purchases starting from RM15,000 to a maximum RM500,000. SMEs can obtain up to 80% financing and the borrowing rate for those eligible for the Government Aided Loan Schemes is at 5% while others are pegged at BLR + 1.5% to 2.0%. The tenure of the payments is three years.
The Maybankard EzyPay Scheme is an exclusive interest free installment scheme for Maybankard Credit Cardholders and available for purchases of a minimum of RM1,000 to a maximum of RM15,000. The repayment installment tenure is 12 and 18 months period at zero interest.
Encik Umar also said that Maybank’s collaboration with Intel and other ICT solutions providers will empower SMEs to boost their business.
“Our collaboration with ICT specialists provides a win-win opportunity with SMEs to enable them to continue to acquire quality products and superior services from the ‘best-of-the-breed’ IT Solutions Providers and quality solutions at a fair price. This is in line with the call by the government and the respective NGOs for more financing options to aid SMEs in their efforts to adopt ICT solutions,” added Encik Umar.
"Investing in technology can help SMEs improve customer service, enhance productivity, facilitate new business development efforts, and drive greater competitiveness," said Mr Kok Hon Loong, regional manager, Public Sector, Intel Asia Pacific. "Intel is committed to advance IT integration among SMEs in Malaysia. Collaborating with Maybank will help Malaysian SMEs expand their business and position themselves for growth in today's global economy."
Those who wish to obtain further information of the IT Plus financing package and Maybankard EzyPay facility can do so at any Maybank branch nationwide, or its 38 Business Centres as well as through the electronic channels at www.maybank2u.com and www.maybank2e.net.

From http://www.maybank2e.net/news/

Petronas: Building and growing

WITH offices in 17 locations in Malaysia and presence in 14 international projects, iPerintis is well on the road to becoming a globally recognised and premier ICT Solutions provider.
iPERINTIS, A LOCAL SYSTEM integrator that has been responsible for Petronas' core ICT services and management since 20004, is actively pursuing a number of initiatives with the objective of further internationalising its operations.
According to its Chief Executive Officer John Miller, the company is looking to leverage off its existing clients by extending the current services to wherever they operate.
`We expect 2011 to be another `interesting' year and one not without its' challenges. We will be watching carefully the number of new clients we acquire and the geographies we operate in,' he explains, adding that iPerintis is working with partners to establish opportunities in the Middle East and Vietnam.
`Additionally, we have a number of formal partnerships with a number of major international blue-chip companies such as EMC, Cisco, Dell, Microsoft, SAP and VMWare.'
Miller, however, admits that entering new markets and working with new clients is always challenging for any business.
`We have traditionally been very Malaysian focused and that is reflected in our processes, work habits and even our culture. We need to adapt and each day we come to work we need look at our jobs differently. To counter some of these challenges or support our opportunities we have brought in some new people with regional experience and put together a business plan that has international growth as an objective as well as developed a number of strategies to achieve our objectives,' he explains.
iPerintis was founded in 2000 primarily in response to the dot.com boom then and was set up to look at several B2B initiatives such as eProcurement.
`And since 2004, we have learned a lot from our relationship with Petronas and today we have the knowledge, skill and experience that are commercially valuable to all businesses but in particular the Oil & Gas sector.'
CLOUD COMPUTING
Going forward, one area that iPerintis is going to focus from now on would be the cloud computing.
`There is certainly considerable `hype' with many cloud offerings being introduced in the market space, however not many Malaysian companies or for that matter regional players can actually back it up with the successful large scale execution of cloud services.'
Miller reveals that iPerintis has been quiet but very successful in developing two separate `cloud computing' initiatives.
`We have a well-established private cloud operating today that serves the Petronas group of companies. This represents several million dollars of investment by iPerintis and we expect to invest considerably more in the next one year,' he adds.
With the private cloud in place, Petronas, for the large part, does not buy servers/ram/disk any more as they now `rent or subscribe' it from iPerintis and only pay for what they use.
According to Miller, there were several motivations or business drivers for doing so as Petronas was aiming to reduce the high ICT cost , improve ICT asset utilisation, manage technology obsolescence more efficiently and to do away with complex and lengthy procurement processes.
`We see cloud computing as a way to help solve some of these issues. In short it allowed us to reduce cost and react in a more agile way to the demands of the business.'
It is understood that in less than 18 months of the cloud implementation within Petronas, iPerintis managed to reduce the cost of computing (server & storage) by more than 35% and reduced lengthy acquisition and deployment requests for new services from several months to days and in some cases hours.
`Where we are today represents in my view nothing less than a transformation. This `private cloud' environment will continue to develop and we will enhance our offering as the supporting technologies develop, for example we are already looking at self- provisioning and extending the availability of SaaS type solutions.'
In addition to its private cloud, iPerintis has also invested and established a public cloud where it decided to work with what is known as the VCE coalition (consisting of VMWare, Cisco and EMC).
The coalition has a solution named VBlock - basically this consists of all the cloud building blocks fully interconnected and very scalable capable of supporting many thousands of VM's with large volumes of storage.
`This is a considerable investment on our part and something that we are keen to develop and as we look to take iPerintis to a wider client base both domestically and regionally we see this as a significant platform for opportunity,' says Miller.
The development in cloud services are certainly in line with iPerintis' vision to establish the company as a regional leader in the provisioning of cloud based services for the O&G industry.
`But we are not limiting our focus at O&G businesses only as cloud computing is far wider reaching and what is good for O&G will also be good for other business verticals,' Miller stresses.
He realises that cloud is rather new still and many business are unsure on how to realise the benefits and there are concerns relating to security and data sovereignty that need to be addressed.
`What I am keen to do is establish a critical mass of business on our infrastructure and demonstrate the value of the cloud.'
`We understand both the opportunities and the challenges and I believe that working together with our partners we have an opportunity to position Malaysia as a regional leader in this space,' he says.
PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
In 2008, soon after he joined the company, Miller put together a plan to achieve several goals, namely to record better revenue and profit, to become the number one partner of choice for the customers; to achieve world class product and service delivery excellence; and develop local people and become an employer of choice.
`Our focus was very much `Build a Better iPerintis'. We have made considerable progress in all these areas. Though we will never take our eyes off these fundamentals, the focus is changing - today we are gearing towards `Growing iPerintis',' says Miller.
`We now have a stronger foundation in that we have great industry experienced people who enjoy working for iPerintis, and with that comes the commitment and motivation to help us be successful.'
As iPerintis focuses on growing new businesses, new priorities emerge such as:
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS - Miller says the company recognises the importance of good partners.
`Just about every supplier / vendor who comes through the door wanting to be a `partner' usually results in a discussion on what a `true partner' is - for me it is not about using iPerintis as a channel to our clients. Partnership is about working together so that we all gain by providing something of real value that will benefit both our client base.'
VALUE OF INNOVATION - The company realises the value of innovation and today has a well-established Technology Planning & Architecture group. Miller says they need to be innovative in order to provide their clients with solutions that will both drive business improvement and reduce cost. The private cloud computing model is a great example of this.
DOMAIN SPECIALIST - The company is also working hard to establish itself as a domain specialist as far as the O&G and Petrochemical business is concerned.
`For example; we are addressing some very specific challenges related to Petro-Chem plants and we are doing some very interesting work in the Upstream Data Management area. Basically, we are working on projects and operations from Upstream all the way through to Downstream. So we understand our strengths and we are looking to leverage off this. The point is that we are not just another System Integrator (SI) in a very crowded market,' he elaborates.
MARKET REACH - iPerintis is also diligently extending its market reach and over the last couple of years, it has executed projects in over 15 countries. This is something that the company is keen to build on further.

By Mior Azhar

Voicemail spying shows phone network weak spots

PHONE HACKS: A security officer standing outside the News of the World's headquarters in London. The tabloid is accused of hacking into the mobile phones of crime victims, celebrities and politicians. - AP

SAN FRANCISCO: The voicemail tampering scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid demonstrates not only the vulnerability of phone networks, but also the fallibility of the people who help maintain them.
The British tabloid is accused of breaking into voicemail accounts of various celebrities and dignitaries - and even crime victims and their families - in a relentless hunt for scoops.
Those accused of hacking on behalf of Murdoch's publication were alleged to have employed a variety of ruses.
Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the phone hacking scandal, once targeted members of Britain's royal household by duping phone operators into handing over their personal codes.
Those PIN codes in turn allowed him and tabloid journalist Clive Goodman to listen in on the royal family's voicemails.
Many of the methods that phone hackers use are surprisingly low-tech.
"Pretexting" is a common technique for fooling company representatives into giving up a customer's private account information.
A pretexting scheme works like this: A hacker calls up the telephone company pretending to be his victim.
An agent asks for personal information, such as mother's maiden name or a pass code, to determine the person's identity. The customer service rep then surrenders call logs or passwords if the information is convincing enough.
Perhaps the most famous example of pretexting emerged in 2006 when it was revealed that Hewlett-Packard Co was spying on journalists and its own board members by hiring private investigators to retrieve their phone logs.
The practice was already illegal in the United States, but was common in the world of private investigations because prosecutions were rare.
After the HP debacle, new federal legislation clarified the penalties. Anyone found guilty of pretexting in the United States could face up to 10 years in prison.
Easy crack
Knowing bits of key information - such as a Social Security number, names of family members on the accounts - can help a hacker establish credibility in pretexting attacks. Having access to the target's e-mail account can be valuable as well.
In other cases in Britain, all journalists had to do was dial directly into victims' phones and enter a default or easy-to-remember password, such as "1111," to gain access to their voicemails.
The News of the World fiasco has led to prison terms for an investigator and a former reporter for the tabloid, caused several major companies to pull advertising.
It is complicating Murdoch's attempt at a multibillion-pound takeover of British Sky Broadcasting, which some in government now insist should be blocked because of the hacking incident.
Authorities say tabloid staffers may have interfered with police investigations by hacking into the cellphone of a 13-year-old girl who was eventually found murdered.
The staffers are also being investigated on allegations of tampering with phones of victims of the July 7, 2005, terrorist attacks in London, which killed 52 people.
Just as many people are surprised by how easy it is to hack into someone's Internet e-mail account - the "forgot my password" feature is reviled by many security professionals - it may be surprising as well that phone accounts aren't much safer.
Unlike an ATM withdrawal that requires a bank card and a PIN code, voicemail typically only requires a PIN code.
Today, we simply store too much information and don't take enough advantage of technologies such as voice recognition, for instance, that could better secure voicemail, said Mark Rasch, director of cybersecurity and privacy consulting for Computer Sciences Corp.
"The four-digit PIN will someday die, but I can't tell you when," Rasch said. "Businesses still like it, and people like it because it's easy and easy to remember. But it's only easy and easy to remember if you use the same PIN for everything - and once you do that, if you've compromised it one place, you've compromised everywhere."
If all else fails, hackers can sometimes purchase phone information. Britain's Guardian newspaper has reported allegations that other investigators paid bribes to obtain information from Britain's police database, the drivers' licensing agency, and cellphone companies.
The phone numbers and passwords were obtained in industrial quantities. Last year Scotland Yard said that some 4,000 names, 3,000 cellphone numbers and nearly 100 passwords had been found in Mulcaire's notes when he was arrested. - AP

From The Star
http://techcentral.my/news

eBay to buy mobile payments company

SAN JOSE (California): eBay Inc is buying mobile payments provider Zong for about US$240mil (RM720mil) in cash so it can extend the reach of its PayPal online payments service.
The online auctioneer said Zong will help strengthen PayPal's position in the mobile payments and digital goods markets.
Zong lets people use their mobile phones to buy virtual goods inside social networks and online games.
To use it, people enter their phone numbers, which Zong verifies and clears the payment. The charges appear on customers' monthly cellphone bills.
The deal comes as the number of people spending real money for virtual goods in FarmVille and other Facebook games, or on outfitting their online avatars in youth-focused networks such as Stardoll and IMVU.
eBay said Zong works with more than 250 mobile network operators in 45 countries. - AP


From http://techcentral.my/news

Gateway raising the bar for the World’s Largest ICT Expo CeBIT2011 Hannover, Germany

CeBIT is the interface between the present and the future, between users and manufacturers, and between discussion and action. It is a vibrant place full of inspiration – a place where we can join forces and generate new growth. Gateway announces its participation in the World’s largest ICT (Information Communication Technology) Expo CeBIT-2011 in Hannover, Germany from 1st – 5th March 2011. 

With increasing popularity and an overwhelming response for the past 6 years from the German market, Gateway once again is all set to showcase their captivating talent, demonstrating our expertise, experience and method of collaboration in unique ways of working with the latest technologies in IT industry at CeBIT 2011. What distinctive about Gateway from the rest of the IT fraternities in India is its unique position in European markets with long-standing client relationships that include successful geography diversification. Gateway is proud to play an important role with clients across 30+ countries, while playing an important factor with majority of our European clients. Gateway has strong presence in overall European market and has offices in Germany, Finland, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Romania.

At CeBIT 2011, Gateway team will be demonstrating its latest services in various technologies and platforms, which include Product Engineering, Software Engineering, Game Development, Print Media, and Publishing, Independent Verification & Validation (Quality assurance), Remote Infrastructure Management Services. Gateway also has extensive experience in working with technologies and platforms like Open source technologies, Microsoft technologies, Mobile Application Development platforms such as iPhone /iPads, Blackberry, Android, Apad, Symbian, J2ME, Windows Based mobile applications, internet marketing and SEO for various industry verticals.

The stall will be located at E46-10 in Hall 6. Company also offers free entrance tickets, following are the step to get your free tickets.

1. Fixup an Appointment and get your Free Ticket via email.
2. Visit http://goo.gl/XrffO for more details.

Or write us at germany@gatewaytechnolabs.com and one of the representatives will get back to you quickly. Our committed team will be glad to help and advise.

Clients and visitors at CeBIT, will have one on one experience with Gateway team who will be there to share their innovative and creative ideas and the company’s diversified risk management approaches in terms of Geographic distribution, Technology distribution, Currency risk management, sharing experience across various industry verticals and business practices.

About Gateway

Gateway is the P2P (People-to-People) company, build entirely upon trust and skills of its people believing in long-term sustainable relationship with its partners. Gateway has a global team of 1000+ professionals cater to specific industry segments bringing the relevant expertise onboard. From companies with global presence to early stage startups, it has worked on a diverse list of clients and industries. Gateway over the years has strived hard in building and sustaining its relationship through effective and efficient delivery of their past engagements and continued their endeavor to be at the forefront of customer satisfaction in years to come.

Key Achievements:

* High revenue growth rate maintaining high operating margins

* Achieved total financial stability since inception and grown solely based on internally generated funds

* Successful in customer retention with around 80% + business coming from existing customers.

* Amongst other Accreditions as well as awards, the company was awarded as the \\\”Best Software Company\\\” in its state of domicile in April 2008 by a jury comprising KPMG & Confederation of Indian Industries – Also awarded \\\”Corp Excel\\\” award by the Corporation bank in the small enterprise category.

* Efficiently implementing innovative and diversified risk management approaches in terms of Geographic distribution, Technology distribution, Currency risk management, low cost and zero liability structure, diversity across various industry verticals, experienced global team and well planned business practices.

By gatewaytl

http://your-story.org

Motion CL900 Tablet PC review in Tablets

Intel has been talking up its potential in the burgeoning tablet market, but after taking so long to dive in it has real ground to make up on the likes of ARM. That’s what Oak Trail is for: the Atom processor refresh takes the TDP down to just 3W. It lies at the heart of Intel’s tablet assault, and it’s finally arrived in an absolute tank of a tablet.

We shouldn’t be surprised it’s so hefty: the CL900 is from Motion Computing, so it’s meant for more strenuous environments than the average iPad. It has a 10.1in 1,366 x 768 panel covered by Gorilla Glass on the front, while Motion claims its internal frame should withstand a fall from “the back of a truck” (or, less dramatically, four feet). It’s sealed and tested to MIL-STD-810G and IP-52 specifications, so you don’t have to worry about moisture and dirt in the field.

It’s understandably heavier than other 10in tablets, its 1kg weight giving it a good 400g over the iPad 2. That does make it a bit of a chore to hold in one hand, but it’s well balanced and comes with both a standard touch interface and a stylus for more precise input. The latter is stored in a little slot on the right edge, and it’s also hooked to the tablet by a cord – useful when you drop it, not so useful when you realise it just dangles loosely when the pen is stored away.

The screen gets things off to a rather shaky start. Using a colorimeter we measured a maximum brightness of 318cd/m² – middling in tablet terms – and a contrast ratio of just over 400:1. To our eyes it looks fairly washed out and limp, and the viewing angles are nothing to write home about.

The performance of the 1.5GHz Intel Atom Z670 also fails to excite. It’s a single-core processor, so it’s no surprise that its benchmark score of 0.16 is on a par with current single-core Atoms, despite the CL900’s 2GB of RAM and 62GB SSD. A Responsiveness score – basic window opening and switching – of 0.31 is in the same single-core ballpark too. So it’s not as fast as the latest dual-core netbooks, and Motion’s claim that it can “simultaneously run multiple enterprise applications” is questionable.

It does, however, bring the TDP down, which should keep battery life high. In our light-use test, the CL900 lasted 7hrs 32mins before dying. The fair comparison is not with an iPad – which easily outlasts that – but with other Windows 7 tablets, of which there aren’t many. The Acer Iconia Tab W500 lasted 5hrs 8mins of light use with an AMD Fusion netbook processor, so the Z670 does appear to deliver on those promises.

By David Bayon
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/tablets

Fingerprint technology to help feed India's poorest

As each customer reaches the counter, they hand the shopkeeper a plastic card with their photograph on, then they're asked for something else - their fingerprints.

In order to buy any of the supplies from this government-run ration store, they need to place their fingers on a small credit-card-style machine.

Only once they get 

a match can their purchase go ahead.

"It means only the person who is holding the smart card will get the food - no-one else can claim the food as theirs" says Bachan Singh, of Chandigarh's food and supplies department, which is administering the scheme. 

"Everyone will get the proper quantity of food, at the proper price," he says.

"I like the smart cards a lot," says Usha, a mother of three young children who is waiting to buy food. "I lost my card recently and was able to get another one easily."

Usha works as a domestic maid and earns about 1,500 rupees a month ($33; £21). By that definition hers is a BPL family, and is entitled to up to 35kg of subsidised grains per month. 

But Kunti Devi disagrees with Usha's assessment of the scheme. A widow, she earns 2,000 rupees ($44; £28) a month as a cleaner and has reported problems with the new scheme. 

"The machine doesn't always read my fingerprints properly, sometimes they tell me to go away and come back later," she says.

"I also have to wait a long time in the queue, before it was much quicker."

Fingerprints are scanned and the data recorded in the chip on the smart card

One of the biggest challenges officials face is getting people to trust the new technology. Here in this slum area there are no computers or televisions - the idea of doing things electronically is alien to many. 

Teething problems are evident in the scheme. During the time we visited, the machine broke down and led to an even longer queue of people waiting in the searing heat for their food. But government officials did turn up promptly to investigate. 

Vinay Verma, who deals with the technical aspects of the machines, says some of the problems stem from the fact the vendors themselves are unfamiliar with the machines. 

He says failure is often down to human error, such as the cable not being pushed in properly, or the cards not properly inserted. 

The city has bold plans to register 200,000 families onto this scheme by September, so far only 5,000 have signed up to the cards.

The machine checks the customers fingerprints against the biometric data on the card

"The government wants people to give their biometric data and fingerprints, and many people have a fear that this will be used in another way, so they are not coming up in numbers to give their data," says Surendra M Bhanot, from the Consumers Association of Chandigarh.

Mr Bhanot says many of the people the scheme is aimed at are illiterate and fear this biometric information could end up in the hands of the police. 

An awareness drive is one way he believes this hurdle can be overcome. 

Using this kind of technology to deliver rations is costing the Chandigarh authorities 44 crores and 66 lakhs rupees ($10m; £6.2m). None of this cost is picked up by the cardholder themselves. 

The deployment of biometric smart cards to deliver rations is one way the government could meet its bold plans to ensure food rations reach the country's poorest. In its draft food-security bill it guarantees subsidised food grains to at least 90% of rural households and 50% of urban families. 

New technology is one way it could deliver this - if the Chandigarh smart-card scheme is seen to be a success, it could be replicated across India. 

By Rajini Vaidyanatha

www.bbc.co.uk

Apple to decide on Google+ app

The news that it had submitted an iOS app was revealed by a Google employee, writing on her personal page.

For + to succeed alongside Facebook and Twitter, it will need to reach as many mobile devices as possible, according to industry watchers.

However, Apple exercises strict control over what can run on its platform and has blocked Google apps in the past.

If the search giant fails to get a "native" app approved, it may find itself restricted to a browser-based web application, as it has been for other Google services on iOS.

"There are two good reasons for getting a native app," said Torsten Stauch, chief technology officer at AppShed.

"The first is the exposure you get from being on the App Store.

"The other is the push alerts. You really need that to make the user start the app and engage with it," he said.

Google+ is launching into a competitive social networking market, where market leader Facebook has an estimated 700m users worldwide.

The new service is currently in a closed, invitation-only test mode.

Technology journalists who have tried it have praised some of the innovative features, including Circles, which allows users to drop their contacts into categories such as work or friends.

A mobile version is already available for Android smartphones.

Extending that experience to Apple products will be important, but not a deal-breaker, according to social media consultant Rax Lakhani.

"Mobile is essential to Google+. But if Apple does not approve the app straight away, there is still the web app.

"I think a lot of people, even on the iPhone, do not have the apps, even for Facebook and Twitter. The mobile web experience is just as good, if not better than the apps."\

By http://www.bbc.co.uk

IT salaries to rise in 2011-12

Despite Australia's persistent two-speed economy, the outlook for the country's ICT sector is positive, with salaries and work-life balance expected to increase, according to the latest Greythorn Australian Salary Guide and Market report.

The report, which surveyed some 3458 IT professionals from around Australia, found that there are less IT professionals changing jobs, with 27 per cent of respondents stating they had been in their current position for one to two years, compared with 19 per cent last year.

The report also found that 77 per cent of IT professionals work between 36 and 45 hours per week, suggesting that the sector is supportive of maintaining a work-life balance, and only 4 per cent of employees working over 51 hours per week. Striking such a balance has meant a high rate of happiness for employees, with 42 per cent saying they were 'fairly happy', while 76 per cent said they would recommend their current employer to a friend.

In a somewhat similar situation to the American IT jobs market, the survey revealed that Australian IT professionals are receiving an increase in job offers, with 55 per cent stating this was the case because of a positive market outlook. Such an outlook also accounts for the high level of employment in the IT community, with 55 per cent of IT leaders saying they are employed in permanent roles, while 44 per cent are working on a contract basis.

Despite high levels of employment and job happiness, the survey revealed that employees in the ICT sector are feeling less secure than last year, with 59 per cent saying they feel 'secure' compared to 65 per cent last year.

IT industry group Information Technology Contract and Recruitment Association’s (ITCRA) recently released statistics stating that there was a decrease in the number of candidates to fill roles in the ICT sector.

By Lisa Banks

http://www.cio.com.au

Postal firm to spend RM50m on ICT upgrade, rebranding

Since the mailing trend has been slowing down over the years, it has been looking for other income streams that offer higher margin services.

In July, Pos Malaysia teamed up with Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and RHB Bank Bhd to offer the banks' financial services at post offices.

This follows the trend among postal companies around the world, where financial services are one of the largest contributors to their profit.

Group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Syed Faisal Albar hopes the group will be able to begin offering the financial services by the first quarter of next year.
"Our pilot project with RHB Bank at selected post offices started in May this year. At Pos Malaysia, we offer financial services like consumer loans, money transfers, withdrawal and cash deposits," he said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

It was earlier reported that he expects financial services to generate more than half of Pos Malaysia's revenue in the future.

Currently, financial services are handled by Pos Malaysia's retail arm, Posniaga which contributes about 30 per cent to Pos Malaysia's total revenue, while financial services generate 17 per cent of Posniaga's revenue.

Pos Malaysia saw its net profit dip 31 per cent to RM38.5 million in the first half of this year as revenue fell particularly from its postal and related services. The group was also faced wit higher operating costs.

By  Zurinna Raja Adam

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/posis/Article/

MALAYSIA’S GCIO SHARES NEW GOVT ICT MASTERPLAN

In 2020, Malaysia will become a ‘high-income nation’ that is both ‘inclusive and sustainable’, according to the vision laid out by the government.

Dato’ Dr Nor Aliah bt Mohd Zahri, the country’s Government Chief Information Officer, says that the new government ICT plan, which is currently being finalised, will play an indispensable role in achieving this vision.

Malaysia’s first public sector ICT plan, launched in 2003, was completed in 2010. Dr Nor Aliah is also the Deputy Director General (ICT) of Malaysia Administrative modernisation and management planning unit, a special agency affiliated to the Prime Minister’s Department.

Four strategic thrusts have been identified in order for the government to realise its vision for 2020. That includes: “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now”; Government Transformation Programme (GTP); Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and the 10th Malaysia Plan.

Various programmes are developed to address the ICT requirements for the government in the above-mentioned areas over the next five years.

The focus of GTP, reveals Dr Nor Aliah, is ‘deliver big results fast’. Three phases of implementation have been laid out: the first phase, started last year, will last until 2012; the second phase will last between 2012 and 2015, and the third one predicted to end in 2020. The programme focuses on six areas: reducing crime, fighting corruption, improving student outcome, raising living standards for low-income households, improving rural basic infrastructure and improving public transport. In the 10th Malaysia plan, budgets are allocated for government to implement the strategies that have been identified.

Looking at global trends, Dr Nor Aliah says that the challenges in Malaysia are also about sharing of information and services in order to achieve greater efficiency and improve citizen service delivery – goals specified in the 1Malaysia vision.

The public sector ICT blueprint, under which all agencies and departments will work towards the common goal, incorporates four key concepts: Information strategy which “enhances information sharing”, “ICT Governance”, “Managing Knowledge Effectively”, as well as “Strengthening the infrastructure architecture”.

For information architecture blueprint aims to achieve a whole-of-government by providing connected service delivery. The government will identify the business architecture components and map it into the information architecture components. The goal is to enhance public facing delivery channels, provide a common architecture standard for information sharing as well as enhance collaboration by identifying common, shareable and reusable information.

The phases will include building the foundation, achieving connected service delivery and finally seamless sharing of information by 2015.

In the area of governance, Dr Nor Aliah says of strengthening the governance structure is to “support and align with the national strategic priorities and initiatives by creating a more responsive governance environement to improve speed of decision-making and delivery”.

The strategy to build an informed knowledge environment includes the building of a Knowledge foundation programme, knowledge practitioner development programme as well as rewards & recognition programme. In addition to inculcating the culture of knowledge management, the government will also strengthen knowledge management initiative in the public sector through development of high impact knowledge management projects and intelligence hub programme. The objective is for an “Existence of a Centralized Knowledge Management Hub for the public sector” in five years’ time.

Dr Nor Aliah highlights the concern that currently “public sector ICT infrastructures are currently not fully optimised due to redundancies and inefficiencies resulting from disparate ICT infrastructure”. To increase the productivity, the government plans to consolidate public sector network, data centres & disaster recovery centres, establish public sector cloud computing infrastructure, standardise end user computing infrastructure, develop common security infrastructure, deploy mobile computing solutions and increase the usage of open source applications.

The public sector ICT framework has been developed, which include ICT governance and change management components.

“In many areas, the government services are available but the usage rate is very low,” says Dr Nor Aliah, who adds that one of the objectives is to make sure more people use government services. Seven strategic objectives have been identified as part of the business strategy plan; these include streamlining ICT architecture; consolidating ICToperations; intensifying inter-agency collaboration; rationalising ICT governance structures; attracting, developing and retaining top talent in the public service; strengthening the performance culture and fostering knowledge culture.

Numerous KPIs have been set in the areas including online services, paperless government, sharing of information and shared services. “All these contribute to the framework of our public sector ICT plan,” says Dr Nor Aliah.

By Jianggan Li 

http://www.futuregov.asia

MALAYSIA BANKS ON ICT TO MEET 2020 DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Malaysia’s Government CIO has hailed ICT as a “key enabler” to fulfil Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s mission to transform Malaysia into a developed nation by 2020. Speaking at the FutureGov Forum Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (23rd February 2010), Dr Nor Aliah Zahri, Government CIO and Deputy Director General of the Malaysian Administration Modernisation & Planning Unit (MAMPU), said that the 2020 goal was a “reasonable target to attain”.

“We acknowledge that we face significant challenges,” Dr Aliah told delegates. “But we are seeing positive change as Malaysia continues to transform into an information-centred economy by focusing on innovation, value and high skills.”

Malaysia’s National Broadband Plan, which aims to see household broadband internet penetration rise from 26 per cent to 50 per cent by the end of this year (2010), will play a big part in connecting the country of 23 million people, Dr Aliah noted. If this target is met – Malaysia’sGDP, which has been sluggish during the global economic downturn, could grow by 1.2 per cent, she said.

The Government Transformation Roadmap Plan, introduced this year to improve government services, will help keep the 2020 vision on track, Dr Aliah said. “This is a bold and unprecedented plan for every ministry to ensure that every citizen enjoys the fruits of a growing nation,” she said.

Part of the plan is “Connected government”, an initiative launched in 2007 to boost information sharing, integration and interoperability among government agencies, and strengthen and unify ICT infrastructure. “We want to move towards zero face-to-face interaction for citizens for selected agencies as more services move online,” said Dr Aliah.

Another strategy has been to focus on a few “high-impact projects” that will deliver immediate results. One of the most successful to date is MySMS, which gives Malaysians one number – 15888 - to text government with complaints or queries and receive news about new services. The service already has 1.4 million users.

Similar in aim to MySMS is MyID, which enables Malaysians to use a single reference number when dealing with government agencies. Launched in January 2010, 760 services have been launched which use the MyID service to date.

Dr Aliah explained that the progress of these projects, and the public sector as a whole, will be closely monitored by giving the highest performing agencies a “Public Sector Trust Mark” which citizens or businesses can use to gauge transparency.

“If these initiatives are wholeheartedly embraced, the hope of the Malaysian government is that we will move towards a more systemic excellence culture,” she said.

“Malaysia’s public sector will continue to transform to deliver higher performance to meet the 2020 goal. But we still need to change the way the civil service operates. E-government in Malaysia is well advanced, and it should be an integral component of a much broader mission to deliver the transformation agenda.”

Malaysia was ranked 32nd in the United Nations E-Government Survey 2010 last month, moving up two places on its 2008 rank. Malaysia is the fifth highest placed Asian country in the rankings, behind Japan, Bahrain, Singapore and South Korea.

FutureGov Forum Malaysia is an annual event organised by FutureGov magazine in close cooperation with the Malaysian government authorities.

By Robin Hicks
http://www.futuregov.asia