| Hakim Hayat |
UNIVERSITI Brunei Darussalam (UBD) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with tech start-up from iCentre of Brunei Darussalam Economic Development Board, Mindplus Education Sdn Bhd. The partnership intends to work on technology solutions to aid in learning and research.
At the MoU signing, UBD was represented by the Director of Centre for Lifelong Learning (C3L), Professor Abdal-Hakim Hardaker @ Glenn Hardaker; while Mindplus Education was represented by its CEO, Pengiran Khairi bin Pengiran Haji Metussin. Present to witness the signing were Rubiah binti Haji Yacub, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Corporate and Administration) of UBD; and Awangku Mohd Azri bin Pengiran Haji Metussin, Project Executive of Mindplus Education.
Professor Hardaker said that the strategic intent of both parties is to work on the project ‘Adaptive Portfolio for Personalised Learning’, which is a research project sponsored by Brunei Research Council.
This project is focused on research and development that supports a more personalised experience online and in the classroom. Mindplus is keen to provide technology solutions for research outputs from the project. Mindplus will be supporting the development of an Adaptive Learning Portfolio Tool Kit (APPL) that is underpinned by the concept of Islamic pedagogy.
The collaboration between SMEs and universities is very critical for a successful amalgamation of research and industry expertise in order to diversify economy of the country, Nurul Ain Jaafar said.
Pengiran Khairi bin Pengiran Haji Metussin, CEO of Mindplus Education and Professor Glenn Hardaker, Director of Centre of Lifelong Learning UBD, sealing the MoU as Rubiah binti Haji Yacub, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Corporate and Administration) of UBD looks on. – HAKIM HAYAT
She mentioned that innovative and entrepreneurial capabilities of SMEs can make an important contribution to real implementation and commercialisation of emerging technologies.
Pengiran Khairi said, “This collaboration made sense for both parties as this could be a good start for us to maximise technology in modern education. Brunei has massive potential in this niche market with its resourceful sources of knowledge.”
Mindplus Education is a local tech start up specialising in innovative IT solutions for learning needs.
The company had won several awards including the Ignite Open Category 2012, Brunei ICT Awards 2012, Brunei ICT Awards 2013 and the Asean ICT Awards 2013. Mindplus Education recently branched into Indonesia and released its first product for the Indonesian market called Islamic Mind Indonesia in December 2015.
UBD has closely collaborated with industry partners to enhance its teaching and research output. Last year, UBD forged partnership with international corporations such as Pixela Corporations from Japan and Sengenics based originally in the United Kingdom to create opportunities for research collaborations. UBD also worked with a technology commercialisation platform, PlaTCOM Ventures, in securing and commercialising its intellectual properties (IP).
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