CCM Water Systems' Technological Solutions Employed

Tapah - Residents of 21 Orang Asli settlements in Perak now have access to safe and clean water supply thanks to an initiative by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry to  provide 13 sets of mobile and compact ultrafiltration water treatment systems to their various villages.
The water treatment systems use ultrafiltration (UF) technology, developed by CCM Water Systems Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Chemical Company of Malaysia Berhad (CCM) and used in most developed countries that effectively improve the quality of water by removing bacteria, viruses and microorganisms. These systems also enable local sources of raw water such as springs and rivers, bore wells, ponds and even sea water to be tapped thus relieving the need to connect the rural and remote communities to the state main water supply system which will require costly and heavy investments in piping, pumping and reservoir infrastructures.
About 1,800 Orang Asli today enjoy clean drinking water as a result of the mobile treatment systems that are located in Sungai Groyang, Lubuk Peta, Kampung Batu 21, Woh Intake, Melela, Sungai Tengah and Urat, Sungai Papan, Ulu Grik, Sungai Tiang, Desa Ria, Charok Bus, Sungai Tebang and Sungai Chuweh.
Speaking at the official commissioning of the system, CCM Bhd Group Managing Director, Dato� Dr Mohd Hashim Tajudin said the UF technology enabled villagers to gain access to clean water supply for drinking and basic sanitation.
�Water is one of the basic necessities of life. Urban folks have far better facilities compared to those living in remote rural areas and tend to take water access for granted. Now, the villagers have ready and safe access to water without having to worry about contamination and falling sick,� said Dato� Dr Mohd Hashim.
UF technology eliminates suspended and dissolved solids that have different molecular weights and sizes from water. It produces water that is of better quality compared to water processed by conventional treatment systems such as sand filtration. Conventional systems normally use sand filters with a large pore size of about 20 to 30 �m to strain impurities while UF has a much smaller pore size (up to 0.01 �m). The UF filter bed develops a barrier that prevents bacteria and other microorganisms from penetrating, hence providing bacteria-free water.
Dato� Dr Mohd Hashim expressed the hope that CCM�s effort would help to enhance the basic amenities in less developed areas and boost the villagers� living conditions and their overall well being.
�In tandem with our tagline �Enhancing Quality of Life�, we are committed to delivering the best services and technical know-how that contribute towards sustainable development within the community,� Dato� Dr Mohd Hashim added.
The commissioning of the system was officiated by the Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development, YB Dato� Haji Hasan Malek.
Apart from Perak, CCM Water Systems is also the solution provider for the 23 UF water treatment systems for the project in Kelantan.  This is also another project by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development. The company has also completed numerous water and wastewater treatment projects in Malaysia and overseas.
CCM is listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia and is a key player in the fertilizers, chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry.

ARTICLES FROM:  CCM

MALAYSIA AIRPORTS TECHNOLOGIES WON THE INFORMATION SECURITY ORGANISATION OF THE YEAR AWARD

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia Airports (Technologies) Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia Airports’ subsidiary which undertakes IT business ventures, has received the Information Security Organisation of the Year in the Malaysia Cyber Security Awards 2010.

The award acknowledged the company’s effort in continuously benchmarking and improving its processes to be at par with the best in the industry. The award was presented by YB Datuk Seri Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation to Kamaruddin Mahmood, General Manager of Malaysia Airports Technologies at the Malaysia Cyber Security Awards and Gala Dinner 2010 on 27 October, held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Malaysia Cyber Security Awards highlight and recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations in the field of information security. The awards serve as acknowledgement of their innovation, commitment, industry and product/service leadership, and sound business strategies within the information security sector in Malaysia.

Malaysia Airports Technologies’ main focus is to provide Operation & Maintenance (O&M) for the entire ICT infrastructure for KLIA on a round the clock basis. Its code of ethics established the rules on information security and similarly, the IT policies also provide rules and guidelines towards sustaining security posture. 

Kamaruddin said: “IT Transformation initiatives launched in the last few years have transformed Malaysia Airports Technologies from just an O&M operator into an ICT Service provider for entire Malaysia Airports, not just KLIA. This transformation includes reorganisation, improvement of processes, cultural alignment, standardisation and ICT governance.”

He added: “Malaysia Airports Technologies has always shown commendable Information Security Governance framework and has adhered to international standards and best practices set in the industry.”

ARTICLES FROM: MALAYSIA AIRPORTS

CVT Technology In New PROTON Cars

04.07.2011

SUBANG JAYA, 4 JULY 2011 – PROTON Holdings Berhad announced today that it will be introducing Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT) technology to its upcoming range of cars. “We have been conducting comprehensive development and integration tests of the CVT with our CamPro engines and we are happy to be able to provide this option to future buyers soon,” said Dato' Sri Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, Group Managing Director of PROTON Holdings Berhad.

CVT technology has been growing in popularity amongst high-end auto manufacturers globally as it provides a smoother drive and more efficient performance to their cars. This technology, though not new, has only recently made its way into cars on a large scale with many major automotive companies successfully developing advanced CVT mechanisms that are able to take heavier drive loads compared to earlier variations.

“In the near future, CVT will be mated to our CamPro engines as an option to our range of cars along with the conventional four speed automatic gear transmission that is currently being used,” Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal said. “This feature will not only provide more than just a smoother drive but it will also contribute towards fuel efficiency and savings to the user,” he added.

In comparison to traditional automatic gear transmissions, the utilization of CVT in an engine system reduces transmission weight by up to 20 percent without compromising output capabilities. It allows the car to change gear ratios seamlessly, eliminating transmission shock, facilitating greater responsiveness and smooth, consistent power delivery. CVT also offers various driving modes to suit the driver’s preference and feel.

“In view of fuel price pressure on consumers, we know that the introduction of CVT will contribute significantly to improving their lives as it not only provides them with a smoother drive but also helps reduce fuel consumption.”

Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal highlighted that PROTON tests show that the utilization of CVT in a car can reduce fuel consumption by up to 4% with regards to urban driving and almost up to 10% for highway driving.

“Lower fuel consumption also impacts the environment significantly by reducing CO2 emissions,” he said, elaborating that the efficiency of the CVT technology integrated into Proton engines has resulted in a 5% emissions improvement.

“PROTON is consistently improving its cars; from build quality to the introduction of various technologies to enhance its engine and driving capabilities,” said Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal. “The inclusion of CVT to our next generation of cars will not only keep us on a technological par with major automakers but will also contribute positively towards providing Malaysians with greater value for their money.”

Apple Increases Legal Battle Against Samsung With ITC Case (3)

July 06, 2011, 9:25 PM EDT

(Updates with closing share prices.)

July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. filed a U.S. trade complaint that seeks to block imports of Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy S mobile phone and Galaxy Tab computer, days after asking a federal court to halt sales of the devices.

The complaint submitted yesterday with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington counters patent- infringement claims Samsung filed at the agency last week that seek to block imports of Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Cupertino, California-based Apple claims Samsung is infringing seven patents related to the technology and design of the devices.

Apple, which has accused competitors of “widespread imitation,” has taken particular aim at Suwon, South Korea- based Samsung, which had been a supplier of chips for some Apple devices. The ferocity of the legal dispute that began in April, which now includes cases in at least four countries, is surprising because the companies are partners, said Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher & Co. in San Francisco.

“It has become very public and very ugly, very quickly,” he said. “They’re just going after each other’s throats.”

Marshall said a ban on Samsung imports is unlikely. He expects the companies to reach a settlement and cross-licensing deal. He said that while Apple has been reluctant to license its intellectual property, the company “may not have a choice” in this case because Samsung has so many patents Apple may need.

Samsung representatives weren’t immediately available to comment.

Galaxy Competition

Apple rose $2.33 to $351.76 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock rose 9 percent this year. Samsung closed at 898,000 won in Seoul trading and is down 5.4 percent this year.

The ITC case, which could be heard in 15 to 18 months if the commission agrees to investigate, opens a second front in which Apple is trying to slow Samsung’s Galaxy products before they can eat into the iPhone and iPad markets in the U.S. Apple last week filed a request in federal court in San Jose, California, asking that sales of the Galaxy S 4G, Infuse 4G, Droid Charge and Galaxy Tab 10.1 be halted until a patent- infringement trial can be held.

“Samsung has followed each of Apple’s groundbreaking products with imitation products that incorporate Apple’s technology and distinctive design,” Apple told the ITC.

Market Share

Apple, once best known for its Mac computers, now relies on its iPhone for about 50 percent of sales and the iPad tablet for 12 percent, according to first-quarter figures compiled by Bloomberg. Samsung got about 31 percent of its total revenue from telecommunications devices and equipment.

Samsung introduced a larger tablet computer in February and an update to its Galaxy S smartphone, which both run on Google Inc.’s Android operating system.

Android is the most popular mobile-device operating system in the U.S., accounting for 38.1 percent of the market in the three months ended in May, according to Reston, Virginia-based researcher ComScore Inc. Apple’s iOS, used in the iPad and iPhone, made up 26.6 percent of the market.

HTC Buys S3

Apple, which filed the first lawsuit against Samsung in April, has gone after other handset makers, including Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC Corp. HTC today said it agreed to pay $300 million for closely held S3 Graphics Co., a maker of image-compression technology used in video games that has accused Apple of patent infringement. S3 won a ruling last week in which an ITC judge said Apple was infringing two of the company’s patents.

The patents in the ITC complaint against Samsung cover gestures on a touch screen, a way of presenting opaque and translucent images simultaneously, a type of push-button system, and a headphone interface that detects the presence of a headphone or handset plug. The design patents cover the unique ornamental features of the iPhone, including the rounded edges and profile.

Samsung, Asia’s biggest maker of chips, flat screens and mobile phones, has been the second-highest recipient of U.S. patents for the past four years, behind International Business Machines Corp., according to figures compiled by the Intellectual Property Owners Association. Samsung received 4,518 patents last year, while Apple received 563.

Litigious History

Jack Ablin, chief investment officer for Harris Private Bank in Chicago, which oversees $55 billion, said the aggressive legal approach makes sense for Apple.

“If you’re in the business of design, you have to protect your patents,” he said. “That comes with the territory. This is completely consistent with their entire history. They’ve been pretty litigious when it comes to defending their intellectual property.”

In response to Apple’s request for a quicker trial in the civil case, Samsung yesterday claimed that Apple “attempts to create an emergency where none exists,” and contended that, even if Apple succeeds, the case “will not affect by one minute Samsung’s ability to continue selling competing products.”

The new case is In the Matter of Certain Electronic Digital Media Devices, Complaint No. 2827, and Samsung’s case is In the Matter of Mobile Electronic Devices, including Wireless Communication Devices, Portable Music and Data Processing Devices, and Tablet Computer, Complaint No. 2824, both U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington.)

The civil suit is Apple Inc. v Samsung Electronics Co., 11cv1846, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose).

--With assistance from Zachary Tracer in New York and Adam Satariano in San Francisco. Editors: Romaine Bostick, John Lear
To contact the reporter on this story: Susan Decker in Washington at sdecker1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Allan Holmes at aholmes25@bloomberg.net

ARTICLES FROM: BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK
AUTHOR: SUSAN DECKER

iPads rule the world

Apple's tablet accounts for 89% of world usage

By Alison Lis
Super Administrator

Posted: Jun, 24, 2011 08:44 am Europe/London

Add comment

A recent report by comscore states that Apple's iPad accounts for 89% of the world's tablet usage.
The report also states that the iPad dominates the US market, accounting for 97% of all tablet sales.
Comscore has arrived at these figures by tracking online usage, so although the statistics are not 100% accurate, they still good a pretty good indication of the iPad's dominance.

Story Source: http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/6/comScore_Introduces_Device_Essentials 

ARTICLES FROM: IT NEWSER
AUTHOR: ALISON LIS

IT agency warns of critical Apple iOS security hole

The software running Apple's iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch has “critical weaknesses” that could be used by criminals to gain access to confidential data on the devices, Germany's IT security agency warned Wednesday.
Clicking on an infected PDF file “is sufficient to infect the mobile device with malware without the user's knowledge” on several versions of Apple's iOS operating system, the Federal Office for Information Security said.
The same could occur when opening a website that carries an infected PDF file, possibly opening the device to criminals spying on passwords, planners, photos, text messages, emails and even listen in on phone conversations.
“The weak points allow possible attackers to gain administrator rights and get access to the entire system,” it said.
The problem may occur on all devices — iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2 and the iPod Touch — with software versions including iOS 4.3.3, and it “cannot be excluded” that other iOS versions have the same weakness, it said.
Apple Inc. has yet to offer a patch to fix the problem, the agency added.
Apple Germany spokesman Georg Albrecht told The Associated Press he was aware of the warning, adding that Apple would not comment on it.
The agency said it was in contact with the firm regarding the security hole.
No attacks taking advantage of it have been reported so far, “but it must be expected that attackers will soon exploit the weak points,” it said.
The agency urges the devices' users to refrain from opening PDF files of unknown origin, be it as an email attachment or those opening through websites.
“Possible scenarios for attacks by cyber criminals include the extraction of confidential information (passwords, online banking data, calendars, e-mails, SMS or contacts), accessing the device's cameras, the user's GPS data as well as listening in on phone conversations,” the statement said.
The Bonn-based institution reported a similar security hole last year, for which Apple soon afterward presented a software upgrade fixing it.

ARTICLES FROM: THE GLOBE AND MAIL

AUTHOR:  BERLIN- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fujitsu reports fiscal 2010 financial results

Fujitsu Limited, a leading provider of ICT-based business solutions for the global marketplace, today reported consolidated net income of 55.0 billion yen (US$663 million*) for fiscal 2010 (April 1, 2010 – March 31, 2011). Net income fell short of the company’s January 28, 2011 projections after the March 2011 earthquake in eastern Japan caused disruption to Fujitsu manufacturing plants, regional logistics and customer facilities.
Net sales for fiscal 2010 amounted to 4,528.4 billion yen (US$54,559 million), a decline of 3.2% from fiscal 2009. In Japan, sales were essentially flat at 2,941.0 billion yen (US$35,434 million). Higher sales of LSI devices and electronic components were offset by temporary production stoppages and shipment delays. Net sales outside of Japan were 1,587.3 billion yen (US$19,124 million), a decrease of 9.2% from fiscal 2009, primarily attributable to yen appreciation and divestiture of the hard disk drive business.
Operating income surged 40.5%, to 132.5 billion yen (US$1,596 million), driven by improved Group-wide efficiency, particularly in the LSI device business.
Fujitsu recorded an 11.6 billion yen loss on damage, primarily representing the costs of restoring plant and equipment damaged in Japan’s Tohoku earthquake.
“The earthquake devastated Japan’s Tohoku region, throwing into disarray businesses and peoples’ lives,” said Masami Yamamoto, president of Fujitsu. “Tackling the challenges of minimizing supply chain disruption and power outages, we intend to leverage our expertise and state-of-the-art technologies to support economic recovery and improve the lives of people.”
Although all Fujitsu facilities are now ready to resume full production, the impact of the Tohoku earthquake has caused concern about the procurement of raw materials and components as well as uncertainties with regard to ICT investment in Japan. Fujitsu cannot at present reasonably assess how these factors will affect consolidated earnings. Consequently, business performance and dividend projections for fiscal 2011 have not yet been determined. Projections will, however, be disclosed as soon as possible.
Business Segment Results
Consolidated net sales in the Technology Solutions segment which includes the Services and System Platforms sub-segments, decreased 3.7%, to 3,014.3 billion yen (US$36,317 million). This was mainly attributable to a strengthening yen. Net sales in the Services sub-segment amounted to 2,419.5 billion yen (US$29,151 million), down 4.8% from the previous fiscal year. Sales in Japan were weighed down by constrained corporate spending, and sales outside of Japan experienced the impact of fiscal austerity measures in the UK market and the affect of yen appreciation. Net sales in the System Platforms sub-segment for fiscal 2010 amounted to 594.8 billion yen (US$7,166 million), an increase of 1.2%, boosted in part by sales of dedicated servers for the Next-Generation Supercomputer system in Japan, sales of optical transmission systems in the US, and sales of x86 servers in continental Europe. Technology Solutions’ operating income increased by 6.0%, to 162.8 billion yen (US$1,961 million).
Net sales in the Ubiquitous Solutions segment amounted to 1,125.6 billion yen (US$13,561 million), essentially unchanged from the previous fiscal year. Sales in Japan increased by 4.6%, partly due to the consolidation of Toshiba’s mobile phone business. Sales outside Japan declined by 10.3%, primarily as a result of yen appreciation. The operating income declined by 18.0 billion yen, to 22.6 billion yen (US$272 million) mainly because of increased development costs for smartphones and lower prices for feature phones.
Net sales in the Device Solutions segment were 630.6 billion yen (US$7,598 million), a year-on-year increase of 7.0%. The segment posted operating income of 20.9 billion yen (US$252 million), a significant improvement after two consecutive years of losses as a result of lower fixed costs achieved through restructuring in fiscal 2009.
Complete information on Fujitsu’s fiscal 2010 financial results, including financial tables, explanation of results and supplementary information, may be found at: http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/ir/
* All yen figures have been converted to U.S. dollars, for convenience only, at a uniform rate of US$1 = 83 yen, the approximate closing rate on March 31, 2011.
Note: These materials may contain forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements.

ARTICLES FROM: TELETIMES INTERNATIONAL
AUTHOR:  TELETIMES INTERNATIONAL ADMIN

ICT for Disabled – The Pakistan prospective

Mohammad Amir Malik

The core of confrontation posed by the emerging Information Society is the theory of universal service; and how the freedom of information and right to communicate would further evolve. According to UN Charter 1947 Article 19 of ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948’; which states that everyone has a right to, “hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
The future of today’s information age largely depends on the liberty of opportunities inhabitants have to access ICTs and their ability to employ them. Apart from its increasing importance in bringing the world  close ICTs have cemented a new way for the challenged people—physically or mentally—to enhance their life experiences.

According to World Health Organization “An impairment is any loss or abnormality of psychological or anatomical structure or function; a disability is any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being; a handicap is a disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or a disability, that prevents the fulfillment of a role that is considered normal (depending on age, sex and social and cultural factors) for that individual”. According to global statistics presently around 10 per cent of the total world’s population, or roughly 650 million people, live with a disability.

The major issues confronted by disabled people with respect to ICTs are “accessibility” and “ease of use”. People with different disabilities may not be capable of accessing and utilizing ICTs such as a blind person may not be able to use mobile phone with no text-to-speech capability, a deaf person may not communicate with the emergency services requiring spoken conversation, a physical disable person may not respond to a website using mouse-clicks, online videos may not be usable by blind and deaf people and people with cognitive disabilities may not view an different pages of a website properly.

In order to facilitate ICTs accessibility to disabled people, various economies and International institutes have introduced special e-accessibility projects along with special guidelines. United States passed an exclusive ‘Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol’ adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York signed by 82 signatories.

The USA has an extensive array of e-Accessibility related legislation and regulations, and is the international forerunner in this regard. Notable aspects include the Americans with Disabilities Act (e-Accessibility of various services), Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act (accessibility of telecoms equipment and services), and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (accessibility in federal procurements of ICTs). A number of e-Accessibility measures in Australia are underpinned by the Disability Discrimination Act which prohibits discrimination in relation to employment, education and provision of both public and private services. This has led to measures to improve website, telecommunications, broadcasting and financial services accessibility. In Denmark, under the Universal Service Obligation (USO), special telecommunications services must be made available to certain defined groups of disabled persons (Act on Competitive Conditions and Consumer Interests in the Telecommunications Market – Consolidated Act No.780 of 28 June 2007).

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an International community that develops standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web. The W3C has initiated a special Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) that aims to bring together people from industry, disability organizations, government, and research labs from around the world to develop guidelines and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities including auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, and visual disabilities.
Pakistan is a country of 169 million people having 2.49% as disabled population. The distributions of different disabilities within the defined population of disabled persons are shown in below figures.
Detail statistics of present accessibility status with and usage of various telecom services and devices by the disabled persons has been analyzed and presented here.

With regards to mobile phone usage approximately 80% of the visually impaired people are able to access only voice call facility of mobile phones, whereas, 10% of hearing impaired persons are just able to use SMS service, One of the main reason of lower usage by the hearing impaired persons is unavailability of text relay service to facilitate text-to-speech and vice versa service. 30% of the physically handicapped people are not able to use mobile phone services primarily due to devices design.
As observed from the environment around us, the advertisement and promotion brochure of telecom companies greatly impact the minds of people and compel them to use particular telecom service or package of a particular service provider. But so far these advertisement materials and other documents such as bills, registration forms and other packages information brochures of telecom companies are not fully accessible to the disabled person especially to visually impaired persons. Unavailability of Braille text in the document prevent visually impaired person to read any printed promotional material or billing information for ICT services.
Similarly access to telephone directory being offered for searching particular contact information. Disabled persons again have not been properly facilitated by this service. The hard form of phone directory is useless for a visually impaired person due to unavailability of Braille text. 40% of the physically handicapped people are also not able to utilize telephone directory services. These people could be facilitated to use directory services via electronic means.
Nowadays, Internet has becomes an essential part in performing day to day operations of telecommunication operators, websites have emerged as a convenient medium to disseminate relevant information to consumers.   However, the accessibility of websites for visually impaired persons is quite low, only 3% of visually impaired persons are able to use websites of service providers. Absences of sign language are posing difficulties for physically handicapped people towards accessing websites of market players.
Generally, the present status of e-accessibility for special inhabitants comprising 2.5% of the total population is not very heartening. A number of steps are required to ensure availability of ICT services to “Persons with Disabilities”. There is a need to make policies for equal accessibility rights for disabled persons, conduct awareness campaigns on the subject involving challenged citizens and guarantee good accessibility environment for person with disabilities.
Following set of suggestions are made to support and enhance ICTs for disabled persons in the country.

• Texts relay service, capable of handling communication via mobile, fixed telephone, fax and mail system.
• Video phone relay service may be provided after once the 3G licenses are issued. This service will offer call handling between speech and sign language.
• Access to emergency services through telephones and mobile phones for disabled persons.
• Deployments of public call phones and their KIOSK (specially installed for disabled persons) around the country.
• The telecommunication services provider may implement W3C web content standards and guidelines for disable people.This would give confidence to disabled people to access online resources of operators and their involvement over Internet.

ARTICLES FROM: TELETIMES INTERNATIONAL
 AUTHOR: TELETIMES INTERNATIONAL ADMIN

CIOs are losing control of IT

Gartner survey shows that IT investment decisions are shifting to the CFO, whose priorities are about improving business processes, efficiency

By Patrick Thibodeau 

In an increasing number of organizations, the CIO is not the person who decides what IT projects should get investment. That job now belongs to the CFO.
A recent survey by Gartner and two financial management organizations found that CFOs have "authorized" 26 percent of IT investments, an increase of as much as 15 percent from the prior year.
[ InfoWorld's Bob Lewis has bad news for traditional techies: There are no IT projects. | Get sage advice on IT careers and management from Bob Lewis in InfoWorld's Advice Line blog and newsletter. | Survey: CIOs' 2010-2011 tech and economic priorities. ]
By authorizing, this means that CFOs are playing an active role in shaping IT direction.
The survey also showed that 42 percent of IT organizations report to the CFO, and 33 percent to the CEO.
The study offers a clear warning and advice to CIOs, says John Van Decker, an analyst at Gartner.
The IT priorities of CFOs may be about improving business processes, efficiency, and using IT to gain competitive insight. The CIO, by contrast, may be less focused on business intelligence, and more interested in projects that advance cloud computing and virtualization, Van Decker said.
"There is a message in the study that IT needs to get much closer to business," Van Decker said. "If they (CIOs) don't do that I think what you are going to see is more of the control being taken away."
Another clear warning for CIOs coming from this survey was its finding that only 30 percent of respondents believe that IT is providing clear business benefits.
Even more alarming, perhaps, was a finding that "only 32 percent of CFOs said they see the CIO as a strategic partner."
This survey involved the Financial Executives Research Foundation, and the Committee of Finance & IT of Financial Executives International. It included responses from 344 qualified respondents, with 46 percent working at companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue.
Van Decker includes a caveat in this survey, namely that it reflect the bias of CFOs and what they believe is occurring in organizations.
Despite the growing role of the CFO in technology decision-making, Van Decker doesn't see the CIO's job disappearing, but it may erode if CIOs don't do a better job in working with the business.
"If the [CIO] role doesn't evolve to be more business oriented," Vandecker said, "business areas will go off and do their own thing and involve IT at a minimum."
Patrick Thibodeau covers SaaS and enterprise applications, outsourcing, government IT policies, data centers and IT workforce issues for Computerworld. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @DCgov or subscribe to Patrick's RSS feed. His email address is pthibodeau@computerworld.com.

ARTICLES FROM: INFO WORLD CHANNEL

AUTHOR: PATRICK THIBODEOU

Facebook Offers Video Chat in Arrangement With Skype

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Hoping to give its users a more intimate way to stay in touch, Facebook on Wednesday introduced video chatting inside its online social network through a deal with Skype, the Internet calling service.

Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Tony Bates, left, chief of Skype, with Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, announcing the new feature.

Related

• Zuckerberg Finds Fans on Google+ (July 6, 2011)

The new feature allows users a way to connect with friends other than just posting messages, said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and chief executive, said at a news conference here at the company’s headquarters. “It’s so easy, so minimal to use,” he said.
Last week, Google introduced Google+, its latest and most serious challenge yet in social networking, which includes video chatting for up to 10 people in an area of the site called Hangouts. So far, Google has limited the number of people who can sign up for the networking service.
To a certain extent, Facebook is playing catch-up — an unfamiliar position for a company that has grown to 750 million users worldwide, a figure Mr. Zuckerberg disclosed at the news conference. He has spent the last few years lifting Facebook past its rivals — it had 500 million users a year ago — but now faces questions about why he is following their lead.
The new Facebook service does not allow for group video chats, for example. It is also not available on mobile phones, unlike Skype’s smartphone apps.
Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Land, an industry blog, said Facebook’s new service at least lets the company counter Google’s move with its video chat. But in the end, he said, video chatting has been widely available for years in a variety of ways, like through instant messaging services, Skype and Apple’s FaceTime.
“I didn’t get the impression that people were finding it difficult to find one-to-one video chatting if they wanted to,” Mr. Sullivan said. “This potentially makes it easier for more people to get going, but I don’t see it as that hard to begin with.”
To start a video chat on Facebook, users click a button on their Facebook chat list or on a friend’s profile page. A box will then appear on the computer screen of that friend to either accept or decline the call.
Conversations take place inside a window that pops up within the browser. Downloading a plug-in is required to make and receive calls.
Video chatting will be available to all Facebook’s users in the coming weeks. For now, however, users can access it at facebook.com/videocalling.
For Skype, the partnership with Facebook provides a chance to have more visibility beyond its 170 million users. The service is free on Facebook, but Tony Bates, Skype’s chief executive, raised the possibility of eventually making paid calls available to Facebook users.
Making calls from computer to computer through Skype is free. But people who use Skype to call a landline or a mobile phone must pay. Facebook’s alliance with Skype expands an existing partnership between the two companies. Their cooperation started last year when Skype let its users connect with their Facebook friends from Skype and to get news feeds.
Last month, the Skype added a Facebook contacts tab and let Skype users send instant messages to their Facebook friends and comment on their friends’ status — all without leaving the Skype window.
But making Skype available on Facebook is risky and may, in the short term, undermine its business, said Greg Sterling, an analyst at Opus Research.
Facebook’s users will most likely flock to the new video chatting service, he said, while avoiding visiting Skype’s branded service directly.
“Obviously this is a great feature for Facebook — it’s really simple and a lot of people will use it,” Mr. Sterling said. But he added, “I think it’s going to have an adverse impact on Skype.”
Mr. Bates said: “We’ve always wanted to be as ubiquitous as possible. The long-term partnership far outweighs users moving from Skype, or visa versa.”
Microsoft is closing in on its acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion. The purchase, announced two months ago, would give Microsoft a bigger footprint in online communications for consumers and corporate customers.
Microsoft, through its Skype acquisition, would also strengthen its ties to Facebook. Microsoft bought a small stake in Facebook in 2007, and it continues to provide search results within Facebook.
During the news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Zuckerberg signaled that the Skype integration was the first of several deals that would add services to Facebook with the help of other companies.
“Independent entrepreneurs, or entrepreneurs that focus on one thing, will always do better than a company that tries to focus on a million things,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a comment that could be interpreted either as an acknowledgment of Facebook’s limits, or as a dig at Google for its broad ambitions.

ARTICLES FROM: THE NEW YORK TIMES
AUTHOR: VERNE G. KOPTYOFF

AXIATA BAGS TELECOM GROUP AWARD

The Axiata Group, one of the largest Asian telecommunication companies, received the Telecom Group of the Year award at the 8th Annual Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT Awards 2011 held here today.

PT XL Axiata TBK took the Wireless Service Provider of the Year and
Service Provider of the Year awards, while its President Director, Hasnul
Suhaimi received the CEO of the Year award.

Huawei and ZTE walked away with two awards each while Cisco Systems bagged three awards.

Other notable recipients included Ericsson for the Telecom Managed Services
Provider of the Year; Nokia Siemens Networks, Wireless Infrastructure
Vendor of the Year; and SingTel, Managed Service Provider of the Year.

The awards are given in recognition of the outstanding performance by
companies in the Enterprise, Telecom, and Serviced Provider segments of the
Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

Nitin Bhat, Partner and Senior Vice President of ICT at Frost & Sullivan said
2010 was a year of muted recovery for the Asia Pacific ICT sector and in that
environment certain players had clearly demonstrated their outstanding
performance in the market.

"Relentless focus on issues impacting their customers, product and service
innovation with unflinching execution has been the hallmark of their
performance," he said at the award presentation here. -- Bernama

ARTICLES FROM: BUSINESS TIMES

AUTHOR: BERNAMA

11 WINNERS IN CYBER SECURITY AWARDS

2010/10/27

 

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Cyber Security Awards 2010, which seeks to encourage innovation and spark strategic alliances within the local security and information and communications technology (ICT) industry, were presented to 11 agencies, companies and individuals tonight.
They were SCAN Associates Berhad for the Managed Security Services Provider of the Year category; EC Council (Information Security Education and Training Provider of the Year); and National Registration Department (Information Security Outreach Provider of the Year).
Extol MSC Berhad and Heitech Padu Berhad were named Information Security Innovative Company of the Year; Malaysia Airports Technologies Sdn Bhd (Information Security Organisation of the Year); and Sime Darby Holdings and Malaysia Airlines System (Information Security Project of the Year).

Faridah Abdul Rahman of Malaysia Airlines and Dr Mohamed Ridza Wahiddin of Mimos won the Information Security Visionary of the Year (CXO of the Year). Both also took home the Deputy Minister’s Award.

Professor Abu Bakar Munir of Universiti Malaya was awarded the Information Security Visionary of the Year (Academician of the Year) and the Minister’s Award.
The awards were presented by Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof.

Also present were CyberSecurity Malaysia Board of Directors chairman Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Azumi Mohamed, Mosti deputy secretary-general Datin Paduka Professor Dr Khatijah Mohd Yusoff and CyberSecurity Malaysia chief executive officer Lt Colonel (R) Husin Jazri.

ARTICLES FROM: NEW STRAITS TIMES

AUTHOR: AZURA ABAS

ASEAN LAUNCHES ICT MASTERPLAN 2015

2011/01/14

KUALA LUMPUR: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) today launched a plan that will harness the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) in the region, to help in establishing an inclusive, vibrant and integrated Asean community.
The Asean ICT Masterplan 2015 is comprehensive and has specific actions and projects with clear targets and timelines in six strategic thrusts to be implemented in the next five years.
"It aims to deliver four key outcomes namely ICT as an engine of growth, recognition of Asean as global ICT hub, enhanced quality of life and contributions towards Asean integration," Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said.

Speaking to reporters on the final day of the Asean Telecommunications and IT Ministers meeting in Kuala Lumpur today, he said: "We (Asean ministers) welcome and invite all relevant stakeholders and parties to support and actively contribute to the implementation of actions and measures embodies in the masterplan."

Rais said the ministers have tasked their respective senior officials to review the existing ICT cooperation.
These include amongst others the Asean e-commerce database, international mobile data roaming charges and interoperability framework in Asean projects.

"The senior officials will also need to identify available funding sources to come up with the recommendations to ensure timely implementation of the masterplan for consideration at the ministers next meeting," he said.

ARTICLES FROM: NEW STRAITS TIMES
AUTHOR: AZLAN ABU BAKAR

ICT TRAINING FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES

KUALA LUMPUR: Some 14,000 low-income families in Pahang will be given skills training in information and communication technology (ICT) under a pioneer programme called 1AZAM Komuniti IT (1AZAMkit).
“The target groups will be given training to in­crease their interest in picking up ICT skills so that they can improve their standard of living,” said Wo­­men, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
Under the RM7.1mil programme, 127 tele­centres will be set up all over Pahang to facilitate the training.
Shahrizat said the 1AZAMkit was part of the ministry’s 1AZAM programme de­­signed to help participants lift themselves out of po-verty through viable options, including em-ployment, entrepreneurship and engaging in agricultural acti- vities.
The minister also launched the 1AZAMkit programme held at SK Tanjung Lumpur in Kuantan, Pahang yesterday.

ARTICLES FROM: THE ONLINE STAR

DPM: GOVERNMENT TAKES SERIOUS VIEW OF HACKER ISSUES

KUALA LUMPUR: Attacks by hackers on several official government websites will have a significant effect on the information, communication and technology (ICT) system for the people, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He said the government took a serious view of the attacks and was awaiting a report from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on the matter.
"We will wait for the report on how the matter is to be tackled and hope that such action will not continue. We must pay attention and the responsible party, the MCMC, is now monitoring the matter," he told reporters after launching the Asean Dengue Day 2011 celebrations and Communication for Behavioural Impact (COMBI) at the national level, here Thursday.
He said this when asked to comment on several websites in the country that had been hacked by a group called Anonymous, which claimed to be based abroad and were threatening the Government's official portal, www.malaysia.gov.my.
The group took such action claiming Malaysia blocked human rights by imposing obstacles not only on the internet but also on film and television broadcasts.
Muhyiddin said the government gave its assurance that its policy of not vetting the internet would continue to be implemented.
"But if there is anyone abusing or violating several provisions in the country's law, then the MCMC has the right and power to take appropriate action.
"This should not be seen as blocking the people's freedom to obtain services through the internet. We monitor whether there are elements that can have adverse impacts on national security," he said. - Bernama

ARTICLES FROM: THE STAR ONLINE
AUTHOR: BERNAMA