Students to gain from SEGi's comprehensive

IT has become highly important for youths to keep abreast with the latest technology.
In line with this, SEGi University College is offering the Bachelor of Information Technology (Hons) programme at its campus in Kota Damansara, Selangor.
The Bachelor of Information Technology (Hons) programme is a three-year programme develops students' entrepreneurial and cognitive skills beyond basic knowledge and understanding.
Graduates of SEGi Bachelor of Information Technology (Hons) will be well trained for a smooth transition into a variety of specialist roles within the ICT and business sectors.
This programme offers three specialisations for students to choose from Software Engineering, Business Systems Design and Computer Networks.
Entry requirements for students who are keen to pursue the Bachelor of Information Technology (Hons) is a STPM with two principal passes and a credit in SPM Mathematics, UEC with Grade B in five subjects, pass in a relevant foundation programme.
Students who graduate with a relevant diploma course can articulate directly into the second year of the Bachelor of Information Technology (Hons) programme.
Apart from this programme, SEGi Education Group offers a wide range of other IT programmes from the certificate to master's level. There is the Certificate in Information Technology, Foundation programmes in Science and in Information Technology, as well as diploma programmes in Creative Multimedia, Information Technology and Computer Studies.
Graduates of these programmes have full pathways into the 3 0 degree programmes. SEGi collaborates with the University of Greenwich (UOG) to offer the Master's of Science Information Systems Management, the 3 0 Bachelor of Science (Hons) Computing and 3 0 Bachelor of Science (Hons) Computing with Multimedia.
SEGi Education Group has almost 30 years of experience in teaching IT programmes, dating back to 1982 with the opening of Systematic Institute of Information Technology. Since then, the group has grown from strength to strength.
It is also an e-campus whereby most of its learning materials are made available online allowing students to access library materials and tutorials via the student portal (SEGi2U).

2009 Airline IT Trends Survey: Technology developments

Passengers using their mobile phones to check-in may be fairly thin on the ground today, but airlines are forecasting that people using this service will increase fivefold in the next three years and are gearing up to rapidly accelerate the availability of a whole range of mobile facilities, including check-in, to help their customers self-process their journey.
The growth and popularity of web and mobile services look set to overshadow kiosks as a check-in channel - indeed airlines in some regions that have yet to implement kiosks may simply leapfrog this evolutionary stage. However there is plenty of life left in the kiosk as a self-service channel, with an increasing number of airlines looking to evolve it further to provide other self-processing tools.
It is inevitable there will be a lag between provision and usage as the once-a-year holidaymakers catch up with the frequent flyers. But airline IT chiefs also acknowledge the general availability and uptake of sophisticated self-service options will also depend on partners and regulators, be they airports, security services or passport authorities evolving their thinking and processes.
The 2009 Airline IT Trends Survey, conducted by Airline Business in association with SITA, reveals that 25% of airlines have already implemented online check-in via mobile phones and this looks set to rapidly catch up with other self-service check-in options, rising to 59% by the next year and reaching 81% by 2012. Only 20% have no plans for implementation.
Looking at the specific mobile-based services airlines provide or plan to provide to passengers' own mobile devices, 20% of airlines offer online check-in, rising to 53% next year and 82% within three years, with 7% of airlines currently sending their passengers barcoded boarding passes, increasing to 31% by 2010 and 53% by 2012.
Admittedly only a handful of passengers - an industry average of 2.1% (weighted to passenger numbers) - currently take advantage of mobile check-in, but airlines are confident this will rise to 11.6% (passenger weighted) by 2012. In the same period barcoded boarding passes sent to mobile phones are forecast to jump to an average of 13.4% (passenger weighted) of all boarding passes issued, from the current average of 3.0% (passenger weighted).
Self Service Key
At Delta Air Lines, Josh Weiss managing director of Delta.com and self-service, says the majority of the airline's customer base have hand-held devices and will want to be able to use them to process their journey whenever or wherever they are. Earlier this year Delta launched its mobile check-in ­service in Atlanta.
"It was relatively quiet and we had well over 1,000 people use it in the first two days, which was very good. It was a quick take-up with early adopting customers who are embracing new types of technology and experiences. They really want to see it work," says Weiss. "It is still a very small programme, in single digits of our total volume, but it will grow quickly and be more core to the experience this year."
In May AirAsia went live with mobile check-in and, according to Lau Kin Choy, regional head of information technology, mobile is the technology that will have the most impact on the airline and its IT strategy in the next couple of years. "Everyone has one or two mobile phones nowadays and you're practically lost without one, so it only makes sense that we make available all of our services via mobile and smart phone," he says. "We expect an initial take-up rate of about 5%-10% within the first six months. Eventually we hope this will increase to about 20%."
Main Channel
Despite the current regional challenges of some telecom companies not supporting 2D barcodes, some not having 3G and others providing unreliable and expensive GPRS services, Choy is confident, as these services improve, that mobile will be one of AirAsia's main channels for marketing and sales.
And even airlines in the early stages of mobile check-in are buoyant about its potential. South African Airways chief information officer Mike Re says the greatest areas of self-service opportunity for the airline will be internet and mobile. "We are currently only at the design phase of exploiting this technology [iemobile], but believe this will exceed kiosks in a relatively short period of time," predicts Re.
Aside from check-in, airlines are focusing on offering mobile phone services that keep passengers in control of their journey, rather than trying to provide overly sophisticated processes or sell additional products. By the end of next year 51% will have optimised their web sites for mobile phones, rising to 77% by 2012. Thirty eight percent already provide notifications about flight status and delays and this is expected to rise to 80% next year and 88% within three years.
Ruled out by the vast majority are sending baggage receipts to mobiles (73%), tracking or directing passengers at airports (71%) and utilising near-field technology for passenger processing (68%). Airlines are also shying away from overt revenue generation, with the majority having no plans for targeting passengers with retail promotions (62%) or using mobiles to provide access to entertainment on board (61%).
"With an estimated four billion mobile devices worldwide, this is becoming a predominant tool for travellers to communicate on the move. Therefore active passenger information regarding their flight status, gate changes etc is usually appreciated," observes Wolfgang Gohde, chief executive and chairman of the executive board, Lufthansa Systems. "However airlines must be careful not to inundate customers with additional services to avoid a perception of spam."
But just pushing out information to mobiles is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to self-service via mobiles - the key to further evolution will be interactivity. "We can punch out flight data to passengers, but it's not 'service' to me until the passenger can respond with a question and get an answer, real time, from us," says Cliff Van Leuven, vice-president for customer service at Frontier Airlines. "That's one of the more interesting components for us to figure out as we embrace remote technology is to get 'service' instead of 'data dump'."
Changes In Thinking
The challenge is also business change at the touch points in the process. It requires a "paradigm shift" in thinking about how people wish to interact with the company, according to Patrick Naef, senior vice-president information technology at Mercator, the IT arm of Emirates Group and business technology solutions provider.
"The challenge is not to put some functions from manual, to internet, to mobile and how can we lead people to those functions in some locations, but how we can also vertically integrate our processes to maximise mobile telephony," he says.
The surge of excitement around mobile self-service for passengers should not eclipse the shift to self-service options of every kind tracked in this year's survey. Web check-in has already been implemented by 60% of airlines and is expected to grow to 87% by the end of 2010 and 92% by 2012. Implementation of kiosk check-in currently stands at 51% and is expected to reach 76% next year and 86% within three years.
The experience on the ground is that passengers want to be in control of their journey. Studies of passenger behaviour by SITA concur that the industry is at a tipping point. "Even in locations where there are practical obstacles to self-service use, passengers are finding means to avail of it," observes Dominique El Bez, director, portfolio marketing, at SITA. "A good example is India, where, with 5% internet penetration and low credit card usage, almost 62% of passengers using Chhatrapati Shivaji International at Mumbai booked online and almost 20% of passengers at Mumbai are using the web to check in."
Traditional check-in desks still hold sway at present, used by an industry average of 61.4% (passenger weighted) of passengers. But by 2012 the vast majority of travellers will use self-service options, with the traditionally-serviced check-in shrinking to an average of 32.8% (passenger weighted) of all passengers and internet growing to 31.2% (passenger weighted) from 14.5% currently and kiosks to 21.4% (passenger weighted) from 13.6% currently.
Changing Role For Kiosks
While there is an expectation among airline CIOs that internet and mobile will eventually surpass kiosks for check-in, that is still some way off - 48% of the 2009 survey respondents are planning to increase the number of kiosks, mainly for check-in. But a growing number - 26% up from 18% last year - are planning to increase kiosks and extend their repertoire of uses.
"We envisage kiosks acting as an alternative channel to internet and mobile and will evolve to a much more complete self-service point of contact at airport level," says Antonio Bugallo, senior vice-president Systems (IT) at Iberia.
Frontier's Van Leuven is"intrigued" by the way airlines like Air New Zealand are replacing traditional ticket counters with kiosks. "But kiosks in the future will most likely become baggage tag generators and nothing more until we figure out how to print baggage tags at home."
Adds Ian Tunnacliffe, director at Travel Technology Research: "People are looking to use kiosks for provision of information and selling ancillary services. There's been some talk of selling onboard meals through kiosks and printing the voucher that you give to the crew on board. Similarly those airlines that sell lounge access or airport transfers can do so from kiosks."
But Tunnacliffe also points out that airlines without a substantial investment in kiosks are thinking about bypassing them in favour going straight to web check-in, "apart from anything else it is a lot less expensive".
Kuwait's Jazeera Airways is taking its first steps beyond self-service bookings by implementing online check-in and seat selection. Chief commercial officer Steven Greenway believes that while kiosks have become big in North America, they will not take off in his region. "We believe the Middle East will miss this for the most part and airlines will migrate to online and mobile options instead," he says. "Middle East airport facilities, apart from a few key examples, are fairly primitive and don't allow for kiosk infrastructure."
The immediate challenge is to get the existing technology used by everyone and available wherever they go.
"The medium term vision will be to do everything through whatever channel," says Edward Nicol, director of information management and chief information officers at Cathay Pacific Airways. "You don't save a lot of cost or provide fantastic service if it is only somewhere," he says.
Greater Engagement
And this is where airlines are looking to greater engagement with airports and government agencies to help fulfil the promise of all the current self-service developments.
"Security issues at airport level will have to be carefully watched," notes Iberia's Bugallo. "Airport authorities and security responsibles will have to change their processes, not only the airlines. Close co-ordination between all parties is necessary."
One critical area will be the documentation of booking and check-in processes passengers have already done at home.
Mercator's Naef says: "Most of the at home services could and should be offered on the move, but the challenge is printing of collateral such as boarding passes. So the key evolution here is electronic documentation, including 2D barcoded documents held on mobile devices. Collaboration with airport security and immigration bodies is key to making these initiatives a success."
So far and for the next few years much of the self-service revolution has been about check-in, but what will the next evolutionary leap forward? Some airlines bosses are starting to question the need for passengers to check-in at all. "Check-in is a process that is superfluous," suggests Nicol. "It will become less important."
Naef agrees: "We believe real benefits to end customers will only be achieved by challenging and redesigning some of the core passenger processes and removing hurdles in the passenger journey ie why do we need check-in at all?"
He adds: "Only if you manage to get to that level you may realise that self-service check-in is an only an interim step that was primarily introduced to reduce operational cost, rather than for the customer's benefit and may become obsolete anyway."
Ultimately self-service will be about eliminating the overall number of transactions passengers have to make.Says Josh Weiss at Delta: "The more we know about customers and are able to give them information or fix things so they don't have to interact is the way things are going."
Click here for more on how airlines are approaching IT outsourcing partnerships

Author : Gillian Jenner
source : flightglobal.com

First co-branded prepaid card for PayPal and MOL in Asia Pacific available initially for Malaysian consumers issued by EON BHD

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 15 July 2010 – PayPal and MOL AccessPortal Berhad (MOL), one of Asia Pacific’s leading payment system providers, today announced a strategic collaboration to provide Malaysian consumers with a new prepaid card, called the MOL PayPal – The Digital Card, for online shopping and gaming. Issued by EON Bank Berhad, this is the first co-branded prepaid card for PayPal and MOL in the Asia Pacific region and will be available initially in Malaysia on July 19, 2010. The new card enables Malaysians to fund a PayPal account that can be used to conveniently shop on millions of websites worldwide or to easily reload MOLPoints to purchase online games, products and services – all without the need of a credit card. Visit www.PayPal-MOL.com for more info.
“We’re continuing to build key alliances to grow our business in Asia Pacific and today we’re very excited to launch our first-ever co-branded prepaid card in the region to provide Malaysians with a new way to fund their PayPal accounts,” said Melanie Tan, Vice President of Regional Strategy & Business Development, PayPal Asia Pacific. “MOL’s wide distribution network, prepaid card experience and digital lifestyle leadership makes them an ideal choice for this venture and we’re thrilled to combine their local strengths with the ease-of-use and security of our global online payment platform.”
“We believe Asian countries such as Malaysia can take the lead in driving digital trends. The new prepaid card co-branded by MOL and PayPal will enable many more people to embrace a digital lifestyle and use computers and the Internet to shop and have fun,” said Ganesh Kumar Bangah, president and chief executive officer for MOL. “PayPal’s fast checkout, security features and consumer protections combined with MOL’s extensive knowledge and network in the payment industry in Asia will enable more opportunities for consumers, merchants and game publishers.”
The MOL PayPal – The Digital Card provides Malaysians with a faster, safer way to shop the world through PayPal. Users don’t need to enter their financial information every time they purchase an item online – they just click on the PayPal button, enter their email and password and approve the purchase. Not only is this faster, but also more secure as PayPal doesn’t share user’s financial information with the merchant. In addition, PayPal’s Buyer Protection policy provides a full refund for eligible items if users do not receive the items they purchased.
MOL has over 200 game titles under its belt. MOL has been actively equipping gamers with the most robust online game payment service in Malaysia since 2002. The Digital Card allows gamers to immerse themselves in rich online worlds such as the ultra-popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft, which boasts over 11 million players worldwide.
Shopping Benefits and Gaming Rewards for Using The Digital Card
“Many Malaysians still do not have credit cards or are not comfortable using their credit cards online, so this new prepaid card will allow them to use a PayPal account to quickly and more safely shop online as well as buy MOLPoints to play exciting online games,” said Elias Ghanem, General Manager, PayPal Southeast Asia & India. “Besides being able to conveniently top up the card at more than 15,000 physical locations around the country or via online banking, Malaysians can get a wide range of shopping benefits and gaming rewards for using The Digital Card.”

Author : MOL Global
 Source : molemoneyonline.com

PM(L)SB Quarterly Highlights, Labuan ICT Day & PETRONAS GLP Briefing & Hands On Session

PeLSSB made a presence at PETRONAS Methanol (Labuan) Sdn Bhd from 29 November to 3 December 2010 in a string of events namely the PM(L)SB Quarterly Highlights, Labuan ICT Day and GLP briefing and hands-on sessions. The numerous days were packed with activities where PeLSSB had been invited as a presenter, speaker as well as exhibitor for the events.

Beginning with the PM(L)SB Quarterly Highlights on the 29 November 2010, updates on the latest development within PM(L)SB were communicated to the staff by the management and amongst the agenda, PeLSSB had presented on the newly launched Global Learning Package that include over 800 new course titles and the utilization statistics thus far. Shared with the audience were also the complementary products, the Books24x7 online books and the Leadership Development Channel video titles.

The following days were more fun-filled and also interactive during the Labuan ICT Day as over 150 PM(L)SB staff had participated in the event which was organized by iPerintis East Malaysia. En Syed Hamid Khalid Rashid represented PeLSSB and had spoke on the vast training/learning opportunities available in eLearning while at the same time emphasized on blended learning programs. The blended learning programs as offered by PeLSSB, brings in the elements of a certified trainer into the classroom environment. Although eLearning is typically self-learning, the presence of a certified trainer would result in an enhanced and more impactful learning experience for the participants.

Concurrently opened to the participant during the numerous talks held in the seminar room were also exhibition booths located at the multipurpose hall. Panels, displays and exhibits of various types and shapes were put up by exhibitors such as CIDU, AXIS, iPerintis, TM, Maxis, Celcom, TM and not forgetting PeLSSB to name a few. Streams of participants visited the booths to gather information as well as to know more about the products and services available to them. At the eLearning booth, staff of PM(L)SB were given the opportunity to know more about and experience the new eLearning courses and complementary products available to them via their personal learning account. Some staff had also taken the opportunity to reset their password while some even brought their personal laptops to be diagnosed for difficulties faced in accessing the courseware and all were fixed on the spot.

Moving along into the remaining days, GLP briefings and hands-on sessions were organized for the staff (plant and non-plant) at the IT Training room located at the Admin block of PM(L)SB. During the briefing and hands-on session, it was an open session where participants were encouraged to asked questions related to eLearning while having the opportunity to experience for themselves the various steps to access the Learning Management System and to launch the courses at their computer terminals.

En Syed Hamid Khalid Rashid, Head of Operations, PeLSSB; giving his talk at the Seminar Room on IT & Desktop eLearning offerings available via the PETRONAS Global Learning Package

Participants of the ICT Day listening to various talks organized throughout the day

Mr. Tham Joon King, Senior Marketing Analyst, PeLSSB; explaining to a PM(L)SB staff on the flexibility and benefits of learning through GLP.

Visitors filling out feedback forms with regards to the various products and services offered to them at the booth during their visit.

Staff of PM(L)SB trying out the new courses available to them during the GLP briefing and hands-on session at the IT Training Room

MANAGE ITS IT SYSTEM (University Technology Swinburne campus Sarawak)

KUCHING – Staff from Politeknik Kuching Sarawak recently visited Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus to learn how the university provides IT support to staff and students as well as the management of its information technology assets.

The group of 12 visitors was led by Shamsuria Binti Mohd Ariffin, Deputy Director (Academic Support) of the polytechnic.

They were welcomed on arrival and briefed on the university’s IT structure and policies by Caroline Hon, Director of Administration, and Jonathan Ng, Manager of Information Technology Services Department (ITS).

“We are very impressed with the efficient structure that has been implemented at Swinburne Sarawak with regards to ITS. A total of 12 ITS staff is able to provide quality service to the whole of Swinburne Sarawak due to proper implementation of ICT policies,” said Layam Anak Engkasan, who heads the ICT Unit at the polytechnic in Matang.

Swinburne Sarawak currently has a staff of about 250 including part-time lecturers and about 3,000 students. In addition to the support services its ITS provides to staff, access to the internet and a wide range of software, such as the Blackboard learning system, that supports a wide range of courses are also made available to students.

Layam said the visit was also an opportunity to exchange knowledge on the latest ICT technologies and to build closer cooperation between the two institutions.

“We have a lot to learn (from Swinburne Sarawak) with regards to setting up a proper helpdesk or service desk to ensure that the second-line ICT personnel have more free time to attend to requests or problems.

“We also learned of some new technologies that have not been introduced in the local polytechnics as yet, such as the use of FM-200 in your data centre and BlackBoard course management system,” she said.

Layam said that some of the hardware and software at the university may be available in some government institutions of higher learning but it is also imperative that these resources be well-managed with the help of policies that define and determine how an ICT unit operates: proper procurement specifications, customer support, response-time policies, acceptable usage policies and so forth.

She said that Swinburne Sarawak was chosen for the study tour as “we wanted to visit a private institution of higher learning in order to broaden our horizons as we have mostly been communicating and exchanging knowledge only with other government institutions of higher learning”.

The delegation also stopped by at the university’s 700-capacity library to look at its self-checkout system where students and staff may borrow books without involving library staff. Biotechnology labs and the IT data centre were the other places visited.

Sri Lanka takes steps to legalise e-Transactions

Sri Lankan parliamentarians have
unanimously passed a new law that
strengthens the legal validity of electronic
transactions thus paving the way for safer
e-Commerce in the country. In bringing
the law to parliament, the ICT Agency –
a state agency established to promote the
use of information and communications
technology in Sri Lanka, played a
prominent role.
Jayantha Fernando, legal advisor of the
ICT Agency of Sri Lanka, said, “While we
initiate efforts to focus on technological
developments, the importance of ensuring
parallel developments in the Legal
framework is essential. Electronic
commerce has considerable potential for
developing countries, but the positive
impact expected from it would be
reduced if users were confronted with
doubts as to the legal value of electronic
NEWS REVIEW
commercial transactions after conducting
costly modernisation of communication
systems,” and added, “The law would
provide a firm foundation for e-commerce
transactions and give formal recognition
to e-mail communications. It also gives
recognition to electronic signatures, and
provides a structure to be established for
rules to be laid down in the future.”
It may be noted that entrepreneurs had
so far been refraining from high value
business to business transactions due to
uncertainty surrounding e-Transactions,
which resulted in the slow growth of e-
Government activities. “Most countries
including India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Korea
and Singapore have introduced e-
Transaction legislation to recognise this
activity based on the United Nations
Commission on International Trade Law
(UNCITRAL) Model Law on e-Commerce
of 1996 and the Model Law on e-
Signatures (2001),” Fernando pointed out.

FE Sponsors RM 90,000 Towards CyberCare ICT and Sentul Community Service Program!

REPORT BY DIRECTOR LEADER SP WONG.
FusionExcel is pleased to sponsor RM 90,000 (comprising Cash and Quantum Science products) towards CyberCare ICT and Sentul Community Service Program. CyberCare, founded by its Executive Director Mr Cheung Yuk Wai, is a community project initiated by a group of young people in Malaysia to use information technology to connect youth in orphanages and underprivileged children to help them bridge the digital divide. This project was tied up with an internship program for Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Perak Campus where they effectively apply all the learning in personal development (with Life Coach Sharmini Hensen) and ICT training to make a difference to themselves and also to those around them. At the heart of CyberCare social program is the setting up of technology infrastructure comprising computer equipment and internet access to connect these youth into an electronic community. To date CyberCare has linked 90 Homes/Orphanages, connecting over 5000 youth. With this infrastructure in place CyberCare has implemented e-Workshops and CyberCamps to promote the use of IT amongst the youth to improve the quality of their lives. Since its inception, CyberCare has enrolled the support from Microsoft, Samsung, National IT Council Malaysia (NITC), Swiss Development Corporation (SDC), Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), Demonstrator Application Grant Scheme (DAGS), Symantec and Hewlett Packard among its sponsors. FusionExcel is proud to be one of its latest sponsors by sponsoring ICT training for these underprivileged children. There are basically 3 groups of underprivileged children involved in this project. They are children from Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, Hope Orphanage Home and Jaz Homes from Teluk Intan, Perak. The objective of the program is to give an opportunity to these children to develop their full potential and confidence to bring them into society. At the end of the training, a talent time event was held on 10th April 2011 at HGH Convention Centre, Sentul to showcase what these underprivileged children had learnt. FE's sponsored 9 years old Natasha Andrea Oon, 2 times World Junior Golf Champion was invited to the talent time show to share her experience and to give words of encouragement to these underprivileged children. The crowd was very impressed with Natasha's achievements. During the talent time, Presidential Director Willy Toh had the opportunity to share about FE's products as well as to conduct a few demonstrations on stage. The crowd was amazed at the demonstrations and paid full attention to his interesting sharing. Even those who were outside the hall were glued to the TV screen as they watch Presidential Director Willy Toh's demonstrations from outside the hall. We wish to thank FE Founder CEO Paul Ting, Founder Director KS Lee for their charitable hearts and to FE Management for the support of this event!