KUALA LUMPUR: A young girl hears intruders outside her house while she is in her room. Instead of dialing 911 on the house phone and risk alerting the intruders, she sends an SMS to the police.

Minutes later, the police arrive on the scene and apprehend the suspects. This quick preventive action is made possible by Dapat Vista Sdn Bhd, the service provider for the Rakancop (Friends of the Police) SMS e-community project.

It’s no wonder that this company beat 17 other finalists to win the MSC Malaysia Asia Pacific Information and Communications Technology Alliance (Apicta) Prime Minister’s Choice Award because of its contribution to the community.

The 10th annual Apicta awards, billed as the Oscars of the ICT industry, took place last night at the Putra World Trade Centre here.

Dapat Vista also won the Best of e-Inclusion and e-Community Apicta Award for the service.

The Rakancop service enables members of the public to SMS the police to report crimes, make enquiries on summons, and even notify the police on traffic-congested areas.

Superintendent Alwee Abdul Ghani, the assistant director of operations at Bukit Aman for the Royal Malaysian Police, said there were 1.2 million SMSes received last year.

“The whole idea is to fight crime together with the public. Our target is to respond and act within 15 minutes of receiving an SMS from the public,” he said. “Sometimes our response time can be as quick as 6.5 minutes.”

Alwee said the police in other countries, such as Germany, Hong Kong and Bangladesh, are studying the Rakancop system because of its efficiency.

The police started using the system in 2004 and it has undergone several upgrades.

Aziz Arshad, chief executive officer of Dapat Vista, said the system also saves the police time and effort, such as when the public wants information on summonses.

“The motorists just send an SMS and the system searches the police database before sending a return SMS with the relevant information,” he said,

Dapat Vista will go on to represent Malaysia at the Apicta International 2009 awards, which will be held in Melbourne, Australia, in December.

The awards comes with a prize — one representative from Dapat Vista will get to attend a week-long entrepreneurship development programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States in January, next year.

More glitter

Another notable Apicta award winner is the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu).

Mampu director-general Datuk Normah Md Yusof said she was pleasantly surprised that the unit won the Best of e-Government and Services Award for its mySMS 15888 service.

“We are surprised because our project is only about a year old. With this SMS 15888 short code, people can access the services of various government agencies via their mobile gadgets,” she said.

With it, users have access to Employees Provident Fund withdrawal forms, the checking and paying of traffic fines online, and other government services.

Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, chief executive officer of the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) which organises the awards, said there is a record 383 nominees this year — the highest ever in the event’s history.

He said that over the past 10 years, the MSC Malaysia Apicta awards have been instrumental in developing a pool of small- and medium-scale technopreneurs for the nation. The awards have also helped these innovators go on to bigger and better things, as well as penetrate the global market.

For instance, last year’s Apicta award winners Sarawak Information Systems Bhd and Les Copaque Productions Sdn Bhd, made impacts at the biennial United Nations World Summit Award ceremony that was in Monterrey, Mexico, last month.

Sarawak Information Systems was chosen as the best entry in the e-Government & Institutions category while Les Copaque Productions received a Regional Special Mention for Asia in the e-Entertainment & Games category.

The history of the MSC Malaysia Apicta awards goes back to 1999 when it was first introduced to showcase the country’s ICT sector. MDeC is guardian of the MSC Malaysia initiative to leapfrog the country’s knowledge economy.

Pikom — the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia — partners with MDeC to organise the Apicta event.

Source: http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2009/10/9/technology/20091009174118&sec=technology

The service is part of Dubai eGovernment’s strategy of providing information and online government services by supporting government departments with a range of advanced electronic systems and synergistic services such as ePay, eLearn, and eHost, among others. The SMS feature is among the innovative electronic solutions developed by the Department to improve the quality of electronic services. The new service is currently undergoing its initial phase, which is limited to the Judiciary and Public Prosecution areas, but is expected to expand to include many other government authorities in the near future.

“We continue our quest to provide innovative solutions and high-level services that complement the ongoing transformation of Dubai as a global economic hub. The provision of online service platforms, in a society where speed and efficiency are key elements to achieve success, is an important step to achieve sustainability and support the emirate’s development process,” said Ahmed Bin Humaidan, Director General, Dubai eGovernment Department.

Commenting on this step, Isam Isa Al Humaidan, Dubai’s Attorney General, said: “This move is the beginning of a new phase in the provision of judicial services in view of its role in facilitating legal procedures, reducing the time taken and minimizing general costs, which contribute to strengthening the national economy and promoting social development in Dubai and the UAE in general. We have also adopted this service to support our future plans to upgrade our services to the highest global standards, in line with Dubai’s march towards development and electronic transformation.”

“Through our online portal, www.dxbpp.gov.ae, we facilitate online inquiries on cases, registration applications and many other services that expedite and simplify procedures through the use of the latest technologies, swith the aim of achieving our goal of easing the lives of people and businesses interacting with the government,” he added.

Meanwhile, Thani Abdulla Al Zafeen, CEO, Dubai eGovernment Department said: “It is because Dubai is a regional pioneer in applying eGovernment systems that we are committed to further developing our services and adopting world-class standards to keep pace with the rate of growth and development in the region and throughout the world. The launch of this new service complements the e-transformation process, which we initiated when we began operating in 2001. We certainly will work in the coming period to expand the service to include various other areas.”

Dubai eGovernment’s comprehensive web portal, http://www.dubai.ae, allows citizens, residents, visitors and businesses access to electronic services which include among others payment of municipality fees, visa application for relatives, health card renewal, company registration, and payment of RTA fines.

Jika PNS tidak pernah memanfaatkan fasilitas Taperum maka berhak mengajukan permohonan pencairan pengembalian tabungan perumahan PNS jika PNS tersebut berhenti bekerja karena pensiun,meninggal dunia atau sebab-sebab lainnya.

Namun Alisjahbana menyatakan, duplikasi dan NIP yang tak terdaftar saat BKN mendata ulang PNS pun dapat menghambat proses permohonan pencairan.

PNS pun dapat mengetahui status pemanfaatan Taperum melalui layanan SMS dengan cara ketik NIP (9 digit) kemudian kirim ke 0813 1500 1600. Selain itu, menurut Alisjahbana, dapat meninggalkan pesan di call centre 021- 7254040 dan selanjutnya akan dihubungi oleh staf Humas Bapertarum PNS.

(source: http://jakarta.wartaegov.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4407:pns-parepare-cek-status-taperum-melalui-sms&catid=43:beritadaerah&Itemid=59  - 17/9/2009)