STANDING AT THE FOREFRONT OF TECHNOLOGY 

Kuala Lumpur, 17 July 2017: The Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) recently organised its first Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation Day recently at its campus located at Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil.

This event was a part of APU Center for Research and Development of Internet of Things (CREDIT)’s efforts to expose students towards the potentials and development of IoT. CREDIT is the first Center of Excellence for IoT among Malaysian universities.

Dr Mazlan Abbas, CEO of FAVORIOT, Ober Choo, Technical Director of Cytron Technologies and James Lai, President of the Malaysia IoT Association (MyIoTA)were among guest speakers who delivered pocket talks on various IoT subject matters throughout the day.

In addition, the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) endorsed this event as part of its Road to the Global Entrepreneurship Community Summit 2017, a global summit initiated by the government of Malaysia to empower entrepreneurs around the world. MaGIC CEO, Ashran Dato’ Ghazi, officiated the event alongside Prof. Dr Ron Edwards, Vice Chancellor, APU and Prof. Dr Ir. Vinesh Thiruchelvam, Dean of Faculty of Computing, Engineering & Technology (FCET), APU.

With regards to the event, James Lai, as the President of MyIoTA, said, “With the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution & IoT, it is timely & great to see the involvement of APU in organising such as an event that enables industry experts to share their knowledge on IoT. We hope to see more of such events in the future to nurture future talents in IoT & address the upcoming opportunities of 4IR”.

      

 

 

 

 

When asked about the APU’s vision behind IoT and technology, Prof. Dr Ir. Vinesh Thiruchelvam, Dean of Faculty of Computing, Engineering & Technology (FCET), APU and Dr. Tan Chye Cheah, Vice President of CREDIT said, “Soon, we will be moving towards the technological capabilities of having every device connected to the internet, in which data travels among one other and we can live in a more convenient way – big data and IoT play a major role in this, and we believe this is the future of technology – this is why we became the first university in Malaysia to run programmes specialized in IoT as well as big data, to address the vital needs of the market, in terms of talent supply.”

[Original Source: Here]

My personal journey in IoT was in 2001 i.e. 2 years after Kevin Ashton (The Father of IoT) coined the term Internet of Things in 1999. I was in one of the first mobile telcos in Malaysia launched a service called “Ring-a-Coke” – the ability to buy a coke from a vending machine by just calling to a special number posted at the machine.

But actually, my journey towards the IoT tech world begin as early in the1960s. But did you know that some us have lived in this era since 50 years ago? I have… Really? Well .. not exactly… but maybe some of us have watched this cartoon series that unfortunately lasts for 24 episodes Remember the drone, video conference, smartwatch, robotics, telehealth care and 3D printing of foods.

I am amazed at how we could have imagined some technology that now exists today. And that was 50 years ago where it’s practically impossible to own or use anyone of them.
I am inspired by my late father. I still remember the nights that he always tinkered around at the back of our house repairing TV. I will follow him to the TV shops where he will his hands on the TV circuit diagram. Why he inspired me because he is just a normal clerk working in one of the government department. He must have learned electronics during his spare time.

That’s how I started to love technology. I still keep my father’s radio books since 1968.
Inventors are like drops of water that create ripples. Technology moves like the ripple of waves. And we might have several ripples now.

Remember how a Tsunami happen? It can start with just small waves that becoming bigger and bigger until it hits the shores. But we also know just before it hits the shore the water just subsides and there’s a sense of calmness.
Its just like any technology cycle – innovators are the ones that build the ripples but later people have disillusionment and wonder why there’s no full adoption. And then suddenly one day you are drown with this new tech in your daily lives. And that’s when the Tsunami just happen.

For example, the First Generation of mobile tech will be at its peak at 5th year and probably will become obsolete at the 10th year. When 1G is at its peak, 2G is introduced and lasts for another 10 years. When you hear that 5G gonna be introduce, 4G is starting to be at its peak.

We have encountered the 1st Tsunami of the Internet – Fixed Internet, now we 2nd Tsunami – mobile and the upcoming 3rd Tsunami which is still at a small ripple i.e IoT Are we going to ride the waves or wait at the beach and being hit by this Tsunami When did we (Malaysians) start to Google the words “IoT” and “IR 4.0” in Malaysia? Let’s take a step back and see where we are in the Industrial Revolution.
Manual, Electrical, Automation/Internet and Intelligence with many technologies with their own ripples such as IoT, AR, VR, Blockchain, AI etc

Where are we in the Industrial Revolution? Why is it so difficult for us to let go of the old tech and move to new tech? is it because we are too comfortable or scared to take that jump? So, how do we jump? Maybe we need that extra “push”.

IoT World was conceptualized in 2010 but it was in 2014 that I decided to frequently blog my thoughts regarding the Internet of Things. I want to share my experience regarding the trends, issues and challenges we faced as we moved towards the new era – regardless we are a normal consumer of tech or producer of tech.

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Your IoT Journey Starts Here!