KUCHING – Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus and BioTective Sdn Bhd, a digital healthcare division under Ubisson Sdn Bhd, have entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to conduct research and development works on a Next Generation Disease Resource Centre (NXDRC).
The MoA Exchange Ceremony was held at Swinburne Sarawak on 8 March 2024. The event saw Swinburne Sarawak Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Dr Ida Fatimawati bt Adi Badiozaman, representing Swinburne Sarawak Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer Ir Professor Lau Hieng Ho, and BioTective Chief Executive Officer Mr Peter Ting Yiik Pung exchanging the documents. This was witnessed by YB Datuk Amar Professor Dr Sim Kui Hian, Deputy Premier of Sarawak and Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government Sarawak.
The MoA was signed by Ir Professor Lau Hieng Ho representing Swinburne Sarawak and Mr Peter Ting Yiik Pung representing BioTective.
Through an MoA signed between Swinburne Sarawak and Ubisson in 2021, a digital healthcare platform, BioTectiveTM Disease Resource Centre (DRC), was successfully developed. BioTectiveTM DRC focuses on local content and requirements, virtual healthcare services and remote monitoring, subsequently providing an integrated and cost-effective remote monitoring system in healthcare management, especially diabetic monitoring and management.
In order to strengthen BioTectiveTM DRC’s offerings to users, further research and development is required. Two areas of research interests have been identified, namely cybersecurity to fortify the security of the DRC platform and artificial intelligence to enhance future offerings of DRC in predictive modelling and large language modelling.
With these improvements, NXDRC will prioritise futuristic features of the platform, which are built on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence technologies. The Swinburne research team is led by Professor Patrick Then and comprises members Dr Brian Loh, Ts Dr Vong Wan Tze, Ts Dr Kelvin Yong and Dr Colin Tan.
A group photo taken at the MoA Exchange Ceremony. Seen are YB Datuk Amar Professor Dr Sim Kui Hian (centre), Professor Patrick Then (centre left), (from centre right) Mr Peter Ting Yiik Pung, Professor Dr Ida Fatimawati bt Adi Badiozaman, Mr Simon Lau Kiing Kang, Mr William Liang Tak Chiang and others.
The ceremony also saw the launching of the Swinburne AI & Digital Empowerment Program by Datuk Amar Professor Dr Sim.
The Swinburne AI & Digital Empowerment Program is an innovative program which aims to equip companies and the industry with the knowledge and tools necessary to harness the transformative power of AI and digital solutions. By actively engaging with companies from various sectors, this program hopes to collaboratively design, develop and deploy technology solutions to help companies step forward into the new digital economy – in line with Sarawak’s Digital Economy Blueprint 2030 and Sarawak’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030.
Program Leader Dr Joel Than along with researchers Ts Dr Lee Sue Han, Dr Brian Loh and their mentor Professor Patrick Then are the creators and implementers of the program.
In line with Swinburne’s Horizon 2025 vision of bringing people and technology together to build a better world, this initiative supports the university’s “moon shot” commitment towards providing every Swinburne partner with a tech solution. Swinburne researchers are collaborating with industry, communities and the government through embedded partnerships to co-create technology solutions to transform local and global communities.
Also present at the ceremony were BioTective Director Mr William Liang Tak Chiang, Hock Seng Lee Bhd Chief Executive Officer Mr Simon Lau Kiing Kang, Swinburne Sarawak’s Executive Group members and other guests.
For more information on Swinburne Sarawak, visit its website (www.swinburne.edu.my), Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram page (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk), TikTok page (@swinburnesarawak) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).