The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of Industry 4.0 created challenges and opportunities for us to be more creative on how we solve our problems, Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP) In-Country Value Manager Hajah Rosita binti Haji Hassan said.
At a virtual In-Country Value (ICV) Forum on Information Technology (IT) and Digitalisation yesterday, Hajah Rosita added that opportunity framing sessions on IT and Digitalisation were held in 2021 and as a result, 10 technology domains have been identified as having significant importance to the country. Hajah Rosita also shared that the Brunei Innovation Lab (BIL) will act as the nucleus to mobilise the ecosystem on this development with IT techpreneurs to be at the heart of the ecosystem, to create the solution to solve real-world problems not only for Brunei but for the global market.
The forum was held by BSP ICV Department, and supported by the BIL.
BSP Corporate Manager Haji Jaafar bin Haji Bakar officiated the event, which saw the attendance of over 30 local IT companies including startups and students from local higher institutions such as Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE), Politeknik Brunei (PB) and Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA).
Ministry of Energy ICV Director Romeo Wee Edong and DARe (Darussalam Entreprise) CEO Javed Ahmed also attended.
The ICV Forum on IT and Digitalisation is a series of events that kicked off in late 2020 to identify potential talents within the local IT industry. The initiative aims to build new collaborations with local IT companies and to promote the development of local technology entrepreneurs. As an outcome, BSP signed IT framework agreements with five local SMEs to date, two of which are i-Usahawan companies.
During the forum, attendees learnt about the oil and gas industry, as well as the BSJV company registration and tendering process and requirements to participate in business activities within BSJV.
DARe, Shell LiveWIRE Brunei, Brunei Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO), Jana Kapital Sdn Bhd and BIL also presented on entrepreneurship programmes and initiatives such as bootcamps and masterclasses that are available to local companies.
