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ISITI successfully completes Sixth eBorneo Knowledge Fair 2017
Sunday 29 October 2017, 08:00am
To Thursday 09 November 2017
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ISITI has accomplished yet another huge milestone on its path to transforming social communities into a knowledge-based society with the conclusion of the sixth eBorneo Knowledge Fair 2017 (eBKF6 2017).  Popularly known as the eBario Knowledge Fair, this rebranded three-day event took place from 25-27th October 2017 for the second time at Ba'kelalan, in the heart of Borneo. For the first time, the event introduced “Drive-Thru Workshop & Innovation Walk” which started as a road trip from Lawas to Ba'kelalan with a stopover at Long Semadoh for the participants to meet the residents and experience local food and culture.  The main purpose of the Drive-Thru was to allow participants to experience the terrain and gain insight into the lives of communities from the highlands in Sarawak.

Globally acclaimed for showcasing the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in development of isolated rural indigenous communities, this bi-annual event brought together ninety two participants, representing various stakeholders such as WWF-Malaysia, Forum Masyarakat Adat Dataran Tinggi Borneo (FORMADAT), researchers from UNIMAS, UPM, Cornell University, Cambridge and University of London, as well as members of the indigenous communities from Ba’Kelalan, Bario and Long Lamai. Also present were indigenous communities from Long Pa'sia, Pos Sinderut and Pos Lenjang (Pahang), Pos Balar and Pos Gob (Kelantan) as well as communities from Krayan, Indonesia.

This unique mix of participants along with an unconventional conference setup that focused on a participant-driven open unconference setting, was one of the highlights of this event. The event also encouraged intellectual discourses and the exchange of productive dialogues, creating valuable networking opportunities and fostering knowledge sharing among community members, researchers, policy makers and practitioners.  

Before the opening of this event, a pre-workshop was held in the evening of 24th October at Dataran Bandar Lawas as a social gathering for the participants.

The event formally kick-started on 25th October with a welcoming speech by Professor Dr. Narayanan Kulathuramaiyer, Director of ISITI, UNIMAS who highlighted the key role ISITI has played over the decades in bridging technology-people’s gap with its flagship eBario project. Professor Narayanan also applauded the contributions made by the communities in sharing their local indigenous knowledge and emphasized that the everlasting relationships built out of trust and mutual respect between the community and researchers was one of the key strengths of ISITI.  In his talk, Professor Narayanan stressed how digital technologies have touched all aspects of our life and it is inevitable to move towards a digital economy. 

On this occasion Professor Dr. Gabriel Tonga represented YBhg Datuk Vice Chancellor of UNIMAS to officiate eBKF2017 and shared his appreciation to ISITI for its work with the communities.

The event also marked the launching of the eBorneo Knowledge Fair Book which captures the milestones achieved and the journey ahead for ISITI. 

The event commenced with a series of workshops, keynote talks and paper presentations covering the theme of “Community-Based Sustainability” and acknowledging that sustainable development and environmental protection go hand-in-hand. The invited keynote speaker, Professor Tim Unwin who is the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D and Professor Emeritus of Geography Royal Holloway, University of London highlighted that the shift from ICT for Development (ICT4D) to Development for ICT (D4ICT) needed to bridge gap from growing digital inequalities created by ICTs.

 Professor Tim who participated in eBKF for the first time also shared his enthralling experience of travelling through the terrains and meeting with the highland communities.  

Professor Dr. Roger Harris, a visiting professor at ISITI, spoke of the increasing threats from climate change especially to the residents of highlands in Borneo, and emphasized the capabilities local communities have in using their indigenous knowledge to preserve their fragile eco-system and provide important insights to researchers into adaptation methods that can mitigate its effects. In his talk, Professor Roger also highlighted the Tagang system of preserving the fish and river eco-system at several villages in Sarawak which contributed immensely to environmental protection and offered lessons to be learnt.  

The event also saw active participation of speakers viz. Cr. John Tarawe and Garen Jengan representing communities, and speakers from agencies such as Alicia Ng from WWF-Malaysia and Edward Anak Muol from Minerals and Geoscience Department Malaysia (JMG).

The eBKF6 2017 was a big success as it not only promoted knowledge sharing among the community members, researchers, policy makers and practitioners but it also covered on the most crucial and timely issues of climate change, biodiversity and environmental threats, which is impacting the livelihoods of highland residents.  The event was an excellent opportunity for the residents to share some of their challenges living in the highlands which will prompt researchers, policy makers and practitioners to step forward and contribute in sustainable development of the highland communities in Sarawak.  The event was sponsored by Maxis, Unit Perkhidmatan Pemodenan Negeri Sarawak (UPPN), SEB, Helios, Indo Cafe, Lee Ming, Teh Boh & Riso Trading.

 
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