In December 2020, the Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences (FSKM), Universiti Teknologi MARA, (UiTM), Malaysia, successfully hosted an international workshop – the third ASEAN Workshop on Information Science and Technology (AWIST2020). AWIST 2020, a collaboration between four institutions, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), and Universitas Komputer Indonesia (UNIKOM), was done via webex.
The workshop was hosted by UiTM and broadcasted live from the Global Learning Space, FSKM, UiTM Shah Alam via CISCO Webex. The workshop session was officiated by the Vice Chancellor of UiTM, Emeritus Professor Datuk Ir. Dr. Mohd Azraai Kassim.
The workshop started with 2 days of knowledge sharing with a keynote speaker from Oracle Malaysia, 4 invited speakers, one each from the four collaborating institutions. There were four sessions which showcased 27 presentations on latest research findings related to artificial intelligence, entertainment science and technology, intelligent robotics, software engineering, knowledge management, image processing, and internet of things. AWIST2020 attracted participants from various countries including Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Hungary and China.
On the 3rd day, a roundtable discussion was held to look into potential collaboration activities which included joint grant applications (e.g. Sumitomo, The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Toshiba International Foundation Grants, Microsoft, AI for Accessibility Grants Application, ASEAN IVO, and Malaysia-Spain Innovating Programme (MySIP); AWIST Webinar that covers variety of topics related to research, special lecture and student (e.g. graduate on time, viva, scientific writing); and also sharing of expertise information from the participating institutions.
This collaboration hopes to continue in AWIST2021 and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Malaysia will be the host in conjunction with the 5th International Multi-Conference on Artificial Intelligence Technology (MCAIT2021) in August 2021.
International partnerships between universities are beneficial to not only academics, researchers, and students but also to the world as a whole as global partnerships foster relationships between institutions and industry.
AWIST has provided a platform for collaboration that has proven to continue and flourish. The success of AWIST2020 has rooted from its good teamwork and commitment from its members despite the differences in languages and culture.