KUCHING: Sarawak is looking to strengthen its push into frontier technologies through a potential collaboration involving Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), BlackBerry Limited and several international institutions.
The collaboration was among key matters discussed during a courtesy call by UKM and BlackBerry representatives on Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg at the DUN Complex today.
UKM vice chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Sofian Jusoh said the discussions focused on emerging sectors such as solar energy, hydrogen, semiconductors, quantum computing and secure communications.
“These are the areas which the state of Sarawak is very keen to work on and this is where UKM together with BlackBerry and our university partners are looking into working with the Sarawak government and institutions to develop these technologies together,” he told reporters after the meeting.
Meanwhile, BlackBerry chief executive officer and president John Giamatteo described the meeting as a strong example of cooperation between governments, universities and the private sector in tackling future challenges.
“Solutions from hydrogen to solar to silicon to secure communications are all issues and challenges facing us as we move into the next decade,” he said.
Giamatteo said BlackBerry’s role in the collaboration would centre on secure communications, encryption systems and data sovereignty technologies for governments.
“In a place like Sarawak where there are floods and natural disasters, being able to communicate to your constituents on what they should do in the event of an emergency, these are the types of solutions that we bring,” he said.
