| Abdul Hakiim Yakof |
BRUNEI brains are fast cracking the codes to take the country to the forefont of the current global technology revolution. As the Sultanate’s diversification efforts gather momentum, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has emerged as yet another prospective money spinner for the country.
Amply proving the country’s capability to join the global ICT bandwagon, a group of dedicated young Bruneians have started spearheading an ambitious entrepreneurial drive focussing on ICT development, which has seen a slew of mobile applications coming under global spotlight recently.
As part of efforts to grab global attention and market, the latest technological feat of Brunei will be on showcase at the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) 2017, a premier event to be held on April 2-4 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Two Bruneian mobile applications – ‘Islamic Mind’ developed by Mindplus and FarmIQ created by Vanessa Teo – will be showcased at the AIM 2017, which focuses on foreign direct investment (FDI) in growing markets.
Participants from more than 40 countries will be in attendance at the prestigious event.
In an interview, Pengiran Mohd Khairi bin Pengiran Haji Metussin, one of the founders of Mindplus, an IT solution company based in Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia, confirmed that he will be presenting the company’s flag-ship mobile app ‘Islamic Mind’ at the FDI event.
Launched in Indonesia last year, the app has received awards from the Asean ICT Awards, the Brunei Info-Communication Technology Awards (BICTA), the IGNITE Entrepreneurship Challenge and the Stevie Awards.
Mindplus is also looking at launching the app in Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia this year. “It will be the same product, but with settings specified to suit each country,” said Pengiran Mohd Khairi.
Pengiran Mohd Khairi bin Pengiran Haji Metussin and Vanessa Teo at the iCentre. – ABDUL HAKIIM YAKOF
The app, available on both iOS and Android, serves as an online platform for free Islamic education to everyone.
Its Islamic curriculum content caters to children aged five to 12, using animated characters to model social cues and demonstrate Islamic behaviour in everyday context.
Pengiran Mohd Khairi said that the contents have been approved and endorsed by several Islamic associations such as the Islamic Da’wah Centre and the Islamic Studies Department under the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Brunei and the Muhammadiyah Islamic organisation of the Republic of Indonesia.
“Our vision for this app is to make it free for everyone to learn about Islam in a fun way,” he said.
He also described the app’s community feature, which stores user information such as their names, schools and the points accumulated from participating in quizzes.
“We received $300,000 in funding for the development of the application from Syariah banks, institutions, foundations and also telecommunications,” he said.
“The CIMB Bank of Indonesia is sponsoring us to access Muslim communities in Indonesia; we have more banks coming in to support us in the coming months for the Indonesian market. With our partnership with the Muhammadiyah NGO in Indonesia, it has been easy for us to raise funds with their membership of 40 million.
“We also received support from the Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam, which has contributed a lot financially and sponsored us in the development of this app, trusting our vision of making Islamic education free for everyone.”
On his expectations of AIM 2017 in Dubai, he said, “The event itself is focussing on investment, so my objective of being part of the event is to explore more on the investment side of things: how categorised investments are over there, as investors can come in the form of venture capitalists, impact funders and CSR investors. I want to explore these series of fundings that I might have the opportunity of tapping into.
“We hope to get more support from the user community in helping us enhance our existing content by spreading it and helping us grow,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Vanessa Teo, the creator of FarmIQ, explained that the app is an agricultural business intelligence and data analytics platform focussed on helping planters increase their farm productivity.
The app provides a range of services and products that enable identification of yield gaps in the farm management process, while creating market access.
The holder of a PhD in Agricultural Modelling, a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Microbiology, and a Masters in Environmental Technology, Vanessa Teo said that she has always had an interest in understanding how the environment works and how the ecosystem provides for the human civilisation.
“Towards the end of my PhD, I wondered whether all the research I had done would impact the lives of farmers who stood to benefit from this information,” she said, adding, “I decided that I wanted to create a solution that would bridge the gap between academic research and providing information that farmers would be able to easily understand and use.
“I wanted to create a platform where information would be sent to farmers in an easy and straightforward way, so after my PhD, I travelled to Canada where I took part in a programming boot camp, as I did not have any background in computer programming. I formed a development team for FarmIQ after that.”
Vanessa Teo said that first-time farmers can utilise the app to acquire information on how to set up their respective plantations.
Two weeks ago, the FarmIQ app was officially rebranded, and the development team is currently in the phase of negotiating with potential customers from Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
“We have also considered an Internet of Things (IoT) startup, which means collecting data, performing the analytics and manipulating access to devices on farms,” said Vanessa Teo. “For instance, if we arrive at a conclusion that more water is needed on a particular farm, then a water switch can be activated from that farmer’s device.”
On AIM 2017, Vanessa Teo said that she would be willing to learn from other competitors at the event, but ensured that her app has a unique selling point.
“We are an agricultural business intelligence at the end of the day,” she said. “We gather knowledge from academic researchers and institutes. We have our own platform and system, which we deploy to the farms and we help the farmers reach certain standards. So if you are a medium-sized farmer who wants to get into the export trade, this app will guide you through the certifications and processes.
“We offer a customised solution for you, as opposed to a generic farm system. A farm management system merely collects data – but in terms of converting the data into a beneficial guide, that is where our app comes in, as we have the resources and the skills to do so.”
Vanessa Teo concluded that the next phase for the development team will be a partnership with the Royal Agricultural University in the United Kingdom, a strong agricultural research institute since 1845, with ties to many agricultural companies across Europe.
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