With its noble objective of expanding the knowledge of Information Technology and computer usage in the country, Persatuan Komputer Brunei Darussalam (PKBD) or the Brunei Darussalam Computer Society was borne by a group of dedicated computer enthusiasts in 1983.

2001 is another fruitful year for the society.

THE COMPUTER EXHIBITION - BITEX®

The society believed that the exhibition is fundamental to the creation of IT awareness and IT application in the society, where it gives opportunity to view the latest technology and products. Last year was another successful run for BITEX®, held between 26 to 30th April 2001, at Setia Kenangan Shopping Mall. The exhibition was officiated by Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Pg Hj Maidin b Pg Hj Hashim. Concurrent activities held were public lectures, seminars and radio quiz.

This year BITEX celebrates its centennial year. With support from various agencies, PKBD feature another attractive activity, of which visitors who bought a computer at the exhibition has the chance to win the Grand Prize of air ticket to Shanghai, and for those who bought smaller items, has the opportunity to win attractive prizes including electrical appliances, gift vouchers to name a few.

BURSARY AWARDS

PKBD endeavours to encourage the growth of community of learns who will confidently employ IT to pursue knowledge and skills and to enhance their learning experience in an information-driven and global society thus the conception of the PKBD Bursary Awards for top students in ICT field.

The Inaugural Bursary Awards took place on 14th January 2002 at Pelangi Hall, Riverview Hotel, officiated by Yang DiMuliakan Pehin Orang Kaya Putera Maharaja Dato Hj Abu Bakar bin Hj Apong, Permanent Secretary to Ministry of Education.

The inaugural award was open to all 'O' level secondary students in government and private schools. The winners were chosen based on their academic performance in Computer Studies and also the quality of their coursework projects, assessed in 3 aspects; originality, creativity/innovativeness, and practicability.

The three recipients are
1. Md Hamdani Mustafa - SM Sayyidina Hasan
2. Lim Yee Yin - Maktab Sains PSBS
3. Christina Chong Ai Jien - St Andrews

PKBD plans to hold the awards annually and future plans include expanding the categories of awards to include students who sat for PMB Examination.

ASIA PACIFIC INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AWARDS (APICTA)

Another project undertaken by PKBD was Asia Pacific Information Communication Technology Awards. APICTA gave recognition to ICT professionals and computer students for innovation and creativity in the fields of ICT in the Asia Pacific region.

PKBD involvement in 2001 was the hosting of APICTA working committee meetings in May and November 2001, and the coordination of Brunei's participation to the Inaugural APICTA held in Kuala Lumpur in September 2001.

Brunei sent 3 nominations through the 'Ampa Fairly Rationalisation, -Engineering Information Management Solution (AFRP-EIMS) - ProjectWise and SCADA Remote Telemetry Unit Replacement (RTU)' projects from Brunei Shell Petroleum, and Airline Recipe and Menu System (ARMS) from Royal Brunei Airlines.

Besides Brunei, eight other countries also participated in this prestigious event including Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam. A total of 74 project were nominated with each one vying for the 10 different awards categories. The awards for the 10 categories included education, health, security, e-government and services, industrial application, communication application, entertainment application and student projects.

1. Ampa Fairley Rationalisation - Engineering Information
Management Solution (AFRP-EIMS) - ProjectWise.

AFRP-EIMS project provides an effective global project management system for Ampa Fairley Rationalisation, connecting to a number of consultants and contractors in Brunei and this system is to provide a cost effective solution for managing and controlling the workflow of the project documents(including drawings) during the lifecycle, minimizing overheads and life cycle costs. A strong dedicated project team with a mixture of business and technical skills and excellent support from the IM function contributed in meeting the deadline and budget. This is reflected as the team won the inaugural Engineering BSP Team award.

2. SCADA Remote Telemetry Unit (RTU)

The Remote Telemetry Unit (RTU) project is the replacement of Westinghouse and OTIS RTU system infrastructure with Motorola MOSCAD RTU. The drives for the replacement were obsolescence, advance applications, data integrity, high data resolution and maintenance costs.The innovations to MOSCAD RTU are communication flexibility, TCP/IP based network,Open System interconnects protocol ISO's, third party application and toolbox software. The RTU is now capable to monitor the real time applications, enabling more controls and help to optimise production. The applications and systems that can be interfaced to RTU are Permanent Down Hole Gauge, Sand Detection System, Multiphase Flow Metering, Gaslight Optimisation and Remote SSV opening.

3. Airlines and Recipe Menu (ARM) Airline Catering System
Benefits
- Cost & price menus fast and effectively
- Create dish, recipes, yield & stock databases quickly for effective cataloging and search retrieval
- "WHAT IF"- analysis allows you to measure the impact of product substitution immediately
- Build your expertise into the system to re-use your knowledge of catering factors over
and over again
- Dynamically link recipes to other recipes, dishes or menu
- Reduce data entry significantly by using templates
- A User Interface that takes advantage of the latest Windows features
- See all the information on one screen - no need to switch in and out of windows
- Connect to your existing inventory system to get the latest prices with one simple click
- Can be adapted to suit Restaurant & Catering Industry

Brunei showcased RBA Online Booking Facility in the country booth stand. The Online Booking Facility was first launched in Brunei on 1 August 2001 by Minister of Communication and now offers its customers the booking facility to Denpasar, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Singapore and, Surabaya.

The society strives for the continuous support from BIT Council Secretariat to ensure continued involvement of Brunei into the APICTA.

PUBLIC LECTURES

PKBD continued its undertakings to disseminate up to date information on ICT . In 2001, some of the topics covered:
- Regulation Regime governing Internet in Brunei Darussalam delivered by Pg Kasmirhan Pg Hj Mat Tahir, Senior Counsel at Attorney General Office who is also the Vice President of the society.

- E-Commerce Use in Small Medium Enterprises delivered by Dr Afzal Seyal, a senior lecturer in Institut Teknologi Brunei, and Honorary Fellow of the society.

- Career in ICT Talks delivered by private ICT companies, held during BITEX ® 2001 Exhibition.

- Brunei National IT Development, Brunei - Indonesia Strategic Alliance, Asia Pacific ICT Awards; presentations to key government officials and visiting APICTA 5th WGC members that took place at Al-Mahabbah Room, Ministry of Communications.

EDUCATION

On 9th November 2001, PKBD and Singapore Computer Society signed an MOU on Certified Information Technology Project Manager (CITPM) Programme, a certification scheme for IT Professionals. CITPM programme seeks to recognise competency and knowledge in 13 areas of IT project Management, and intended for those who intend to make a career in information systems or communications technology as an IT project manager and those who are an experienced project manager who wants recognised professional qualifications.

Membership into Brunei Darussalam Technical and Vocational Education Council (BDTVEC)
The society boosted another achievement in the field of education when its Secretary General was appointed as council member of Brunei Darussalam Technical and Vocational Education Council since 1st November 2001. This Council oversees matters pertaining to Technical and Vocational Education at the national level.

MEMBERS' GATHERING

Members' get-together continues to be a regular feature of the society, exchanging ideas and news. In 2001, the society saw the departure of Mr E T Yeow, a long avid member of the society left Brunei, after finishing his contract as computer studies teacher in SOAS College.