FINAS partners Spacetoon International to produce documentaries and bring Malaysian content to the world

FINAS PARTNERS SPACETOON INTERNATIONAL IN TIE-UP TO DEVELOP DOCUMENTARIES

Co-production deal will help internationalise Malaysian content and facilitate transfer of technical knowledge needed in ensuring development and production of quality content by Malaysian producers

 

FLARE STUDIOS WITH THE SUPPORT OF FINAS WILL JOINLY PRODUCE A LIVE ACTION SUPERHERO MOVIE WITH SPACETOON RUSSIA

Tomok to star alongside Russian actress and celebrity in what is dubbed to be Malaysia’s first international sci-fi action-packed superhero movie

KUALA LUMPUR, 4 June (Thursday) – In a further effort to put Malaysian content on the global map, FINAS striked a deal with Spacetoon International, one of the largest youth and children’s content networks and broadcasters in the world.

The Memorandum of Understanding is for the co-funding of five 30-minute documentaries within 2009. Both parties will each invest USD25,000 for every documentary project. The total investments for all five documentary projects will be USD250,000.

 In addition, Spacetoon will leverage on its international network of distributors to market the content globally.

Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim said the partnership provided a significant breakthrough into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market.

 He said Spacetoon was also present throughout the world and had the knowledge on how to produce content that meets international standards.

“FINAS will have instant access into a few countries and additionally, the documentaries will have the right flavour to capture the interests of global audience,” he added.

The minister added that it would be a good learning experience for the Malaysian producers and he hoped that there would be a transfer of knowledge that would catalyse more quality productions locally.

He said the documentary on Malaysian “identities” would help to promote and sell the country in the most subtle way.

On another note, Malaysian animation studio, Flare Studios Sdn Bhd signed a joint-production deal with Spacetoon Russia LLC with the support of FINAS to produce a live action superhero movie entitled Mantera for worldwide release.

Although a live action movie, Mantera will be heavily fused with CGI and digital “special-effects” while Spacetoon Russia will provide its expertise in various aspects of international movie-making, particularly in live explosion techniques (pyrotechniques). The recent “One In A Million” champion Tomok will play the lead alongside a Russian celebrated actress. It will be co-directed by a prominent Malaysian movie director alongside a famous Russian movie director.

Mantera will be the first of many international collaborative efforts with third parties – the collaboration will be a good opportunity for production exposure, international product marketing and networking.

This will enable local production houses to work alongside directors and film experts from overseas – which will also include weapons, explosives and pyrotechnic experts.

Spacetoon believes that this movie will be a huge success as it is targeting the youth and young adults which represents 60% of the population of the countries that it currently has presence.

In addition, Spacetoon will help with the marketing of the documentaries and  movie. Through Spacetoon’s established and expansive networks, Spacetoon will help to promote the co-production with Malaysian producers as well as market the documentaries and movie through its offices in Korea, India, Russia, Indonesia and Middle East and North Africa. In total, Spacetoon has strong presence in more than 23 countries worldwide.

“I think this is a very good collaboration as it gives market access for local content and made possible with Spacetoon's international distribution network,” said the parent company Spacetoon Media Group President and CEO Fayez Alsabbagh.

He said the company was expanding at a rapid pace and the recent developments in Malaysia were natural given the potential of the country’s creative workforce. Spacetoon's business footprint covers the Middle East, North Africa, Indonesia, Korea, Hong Kong, Canada, Japan, and India. Closer to home, in Indonesia, Spacetoon has successfully launched Spacetoon's Children's TV.

“Malaysia is our choice naturally, given the country’s strong pool of human capital and talents in the areas of multimedia, creative and digital technologies,” Fayez added.

He said the collaboration would see the children’s content media giant and Flare Studios producing contents for Spacetoon’s own channels as well as other globally appealing contents with focus on creating intellectual properties for added and sustained values.

The parent company, Spacetoon, is an integrated media group involved in TV, Radio, licensing, merchandising, online and interactive products, with operations now extended to Indonesia, Korea and India.

Spacetoon possesses the rights to the largest library of Arabic-dubbed animated cartoons in the Arab world. 

In addition to the extensive global animation collection, Spacetoon's in-house studios produce proprietary children’s programmes that increase awareness of the outside world - the environment, education, health, and family values.

Organisations such as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) use Spacetoon television as a medium to deliver important public service announcements to the emerging young generations.

– Ends –

Al-Soma: “Cooperation with Malaysia will significantly contribute to the success of our own e-government program.”

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 6 July, 2008 – One of Saudi Arabia’s leading ICT figures arrived in Malaysia last month to lead discussions as to how the Kingdom can best improve upon the on-going accomplishments of Yesser e-government program. Engineer Ali Al-Soma, Advisor to the Minister of ICT and Director General of the Saudi e-government program met with representatives from Malaysia’s ICT industry as well as worldwide ICT executives during the 16th World Congress for Information Technology held in Kuala Lumpur to foster new means of cooperation as the Kingdom looks to become the first country in the GCC to develop a complete e-government platform.

As a keynote speaker for the panel discussion on Doing Business in Asia, Eng. Ali Al-Soma said that Saudi Arabia’s streamlined rules and regulations have attracted more foreign investments but the Kingdom is still working on many initiatives to fully develop its human capital.

“The local ICT industry now contributes more than five percent to the Kingdom’s GDP, but our goal is to create an economy based on knowledge and learning. That’s the basis for the Yesser project, and we’re keen to explore ways of working with countries such as Malaysia who were the first to pioneer and pilot e-government initiatives,” said Al-Soma.

Launched in 1997, Malaysia’s Electronic Government initiative was launched to lead the country into the Information Age. With the aim of improving how the government operates internally, as well as how it delivers services to the people of Malaysia. Malaysia’s huge e-government initiative began in 1997 with the launch of the Multimedia Super Corridor’s E-Government Flagship Application. Since then, the Malaysian Government has made large strides in areas such as electronic procurement, project monitoring, and human resource management.

“Malaysia was one of, if not, the first to understand the concept of e-government, and what it can do for both individuals and businesses. We’ve opened our arms to Engineer Ali Al-Soma and his team as they look to develop solutions that fit into Saudi society,” said WCIT 2008 Chairman and MDeC CEO Badlisham Ghazali. “There’s no doubt that we can learn a good deal from one another and we’re looking forward to assisting the Kingdom’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology in any and every way possible.”

The Yesser project is considered to be the largest and most ambitious such e-government program in the GCC. Al-Soma and his team have been tasked by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology with developing a system that can aid in raising the productivity and efficiency of the public sector, provide better and more easy-to-use services for individual and business customers, and provide the public and businesses with highly accurate information in a timely fashion.

“We’re very keen to understand how Malaysians have taken to their own government’s solutions, and learn how we can further enhance the ongoing implementation of Yesser project(s). So far, WCIT 2008 has been particularly useful for us and we’re thankful to our hosts for their hospitality and eagerness to answer all of our questions,” added Al-Soma.

The bi-annual event, held in Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur, WCIT 2008 drew IT experts from across the globe to discuss ways and means to develop emerging markets through the effective use of ICT solutions. As a leader in technology development, Malaysia was one of the first countries globally to roll out e-government for its citizens and businesses to benefit from.

Photo Caption: Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of MDeC

-Ends-

Sage to Deliver Solutions to Drive Growth in the UAE’s Construction Sector during its Dubai Solutions Day

Executives from Sage Software, a global leader in the enterprise and small to medium size software market, is set to touch down in the UAE on the 18th March at Dubai’s Grand Hyatt hotel to unveil the company’s vision for the country’s thriving businesses. With industries such as the construction sector enjoying double digit growth year on year, Marc Van der Ven, Managing Director, Sage Software, Middle East, believes that now is the time for the UAE’s businesses to start reaping returns on their investments.

“According to the UAE’s Ministry of Economy, the manufacturing sector boomed at 15 percent growth last year in 2007 and the construction industry fared even better at 17 percent. With oil and gas growth slowing down to only one percent, the UAE’s economy is becoming increasingly diversified. However, as the business arena becomes ever more competitive, it is essential that decision makers keep abreast of the latest developments in technology to develop a competitive edge,” said Van der Ven.

With over 100 business leaders and IT executives already registered for Sage’s Dubai Solution Day, Van der Ven claims that these decision makers and channel partners are set to benefit from Sage’s extensive experience as one of the leading suppliers of management software both globally and in the Middle East today.

“The sustained economic growth of the UAE and its investor friendly environment has resulted in margins being squeezed as more companies enter from outside. With profits under pressure and customers being approached by the competition, we’ve found that mature industries such as manufacturing and retail have turned to us for technology solutions which make them leaner, more competitive, and efficient. As a pioneer in developing solutions which deliver real value, Sage has now turned its attention to the real estate sector, a market which has until today been ignored by other IT providers,” added Van der Ven.

In addition to a strong focus on the construction and real estate sector, Sage executives will be addressing decision makers from the manufacturing and services sector as to how to strengthen their business processes through software customization and proper IT utilization.

Technology professionals from Sage will also skill up UAE-based executives on how to best leverage off their technology investments as well as providing them with a vision as to how Sage’s IT roadmap will provide constant value over the coming years. “Organizations in the UAE are well aware of what technology can do for them today, and business leaders in cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi understand that IT is central to their business. However, we want them to realize where technology is headed, so that they can maximize the return on their future investments,” added Van der Ven.

Photo Caption: Marc Van der Ven, Managing Director, Sage Software, Middle East

-ends-

HITB JOINS WITH THE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION OF THE EMIRATES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER

In a battle that surpasses the fight against cyber criminals, the team at HITB will join hands this month with the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Emirates to raise funds and awareness of a disease that affects thousands of women each year. In a noble effort to raise both money and awareness for the Breast Cancer Fund of the Emirates, HITB will host an online charity auction – a first for charity efforts in the Gulf region.

HITB aims to increase awareness of breast cancer by organizing this online charity auction. The auction will be conducted via an online auction system that will be hosted within the HITB conference venue. All the conference registrants will be pre-registered as bidders and they can login via their laptops wirelessly or come to the HITB booth and make their bids via this system.

“Breast cancer is a devastating disease. Here at the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Emirates, our mission is to save lives by increasing awareness of breast cancer, to fund screening programs, and to offer support for breast cancer patients and their families by removing such barriers as limited or no health insurance, lack of transportation and childcare or language and cultural differences,” said Dr Houriya Kazim, the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Emirates.

HITB is auctioning several exciting items, including anXBox360 signed by all of the conference speakers, a PlayStation 3 signed by all of the conference speakers, and copies of Bruce Schneier's 'Beyond Fear' signed by the author himself!

“Battling against breast cancer puts everything else into perspective, including our own work against cybercrime. We personally know women who have been affected by this condition and HITB is honoured to be contributing to the Breast Cancer Fund of the Emirates. The foundation is playing a great role in adding to the research on breast cancer in general, as well as to epidemiology in the region in particular. We hope that we can aid them by raising awareness and knowledge of this disease,” said Dhillon Andrew Kannabhiran, Founder/Chief Executive Officer of HITB.

To find out more about HITBSecConf – Dubai and details on how to register for the event and the charity auction with the Breast Cancer Fund of the Emirates, please visit http://conference.hackinthebox.org/hitbsecconf2008dubai/.
Photo Caption: Dr Houriya Kazim, the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Emirates

– Ends –

ARAB COUNTRIES AT THREAT FROM POTENTIAL DISRUPTION TO THEIR LOGISTICS, UTILITY AND OIL AND GAS NETWORKS

Imagine a scenario where the Gulf’s oil and gas pipes are offline for a day, week, month, or even an hour. Imagine the losses across the region if power grids went down. Imagine if airports all over the Middle East were taken offline. What if this were to happen, and would be the effect on you? Could this happen in today’s world?

Two global figures from the security industry will address the region’s security managers and the people who are tasked with protecting us, on how to protect the region’s SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) measurement and control systems.

Used to perform and control systems found at airports, in the electricity grid, and throughout the pipeline distribution network, SCADA networks have come under increased scrutiny as they are increasingly seen as being extremely vulnerable to cyber warfare and cyber terrorism attacks.

A pioneer in Europe, Raoul Chiesa was recognized as one of the key members of the European and North American hacker scene in the mid-90s. The founder of Blackhats.it, Chiesa will be presenting at the region’s only dedicated network security conference, HITBSecConf, alongside fellow Italian security evangelist Alessio Pennasilico, member of a number of security focused organizations including AIPSI, AIP, OpenBeer, and Hacker’s Profiling Project.

“Only a couple of years back the power went down in Dubai, and a similar event happened in Bahrain before that. Thank God there were no injuries, but businesses lost tens of millions of dollars due to the power outages. The losses, both economically and in terms of human casualties, of any cyber attack would be enormous, and governments and public institutions need to be aware, they need to be ready, and they need to be prepared for the worst case scenario for the welfare of their citizens,” said Chiesa.

Under the auspices of His Excellency Mohammed Nasser Al-Ghanim, Director General of the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, the only security event in the Middle East promises to uncover even more weaknesses in today’s technology infrastructure and explain to regional security experts how to tackle these threats head on.

“We’re here in Dubai to address the major issues of today, including cyber terrorism and to raise awareness in a region of the world that is particularly vulnerable to security lapses. By bringing the best of the best, we hope to do our part to ensure that the Middle East is ready to repel even the worst cyber attacks,” said Hack In The Box (M) Sdn Bhd Founder and CEO Dhillon Andrew Kannabhiran, organiser of the HITBSecConf series.

"The conference, to be held on the 16–17th of April in Dubai’s Sheraton Hotel will host speakers and representatives from leading security and telecommunications companies such as IBM, Oger Systems, Scanit Middle East, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, BlueInfy, ArgenISS, and Telspace Systems."
To find out more about HITBSecConf – Dubai and details on how to register for the event, please visit http://conference.hackinthebox.org/hitbsecconf2008dubai/.
Photo Caption (from left to right): Raoul Chiesa and Alessio Pennasilico at HITB Kuala Lumpur

– Ends –

WHO’S LISTENING IN TO YOUR CALLS?

Do you believe your phone line is secure? Do you believe that no one is listening in on your calls? Do you think that your phone’s data, all of your contacts, messages, and photos are safe and that your internet browsing is secure? If you do, maybe you should think again.

In a Middle East first, a globally acknowledged security expert will be speaking at the region’s only dedicated network security conference, HITBSecConf, about how GSM encryption can be cracked in as little as 30 seconds using technology widely available today, or in 30 minutes through the use of equipment worth only USD$1,000.
Presented by renowned network security specialist and privacy advocate Skyper, the audience will be treated to a unique look at how the security, technology, and protocols of a GSM network operate. Skyper will also detail how to build a GSM scanner for less that USD$1000, as well as future threats to tomorrow’s GSM networks.
“Cell phone usage is evolving at an astonishing rate. We are no longer relying on our cell phones for the sole purpose of making calls, but also to send emails, to access the internet, and to store a variety of data, making our cell phones a repository of personal and business information. Unfortunately, the more dependent we become on personal electronics, the more complex they become, and the more susceptible they become to security defects. Technology for capturing and deciphering cell phone calls has become widespread and poses a real threat to each and every one of us,” explained Skyper
“Every one of us has a mobile, if not more. We’re delighted to have Skyper here to show us how susceptible we are to our privacy being violated, and our personal information being stolen. As one of the few people to pioneer practical methods for capturing and deciphering GSM calls, we’re eager to learn how to stop intruders from gaining access to our networks and shut them out,” said Hack In The Box (M) Sdn Bhd Founder and CEO Dhillon Andrew Kannabhiran, organiser of the HITBSecConf series.

The conference, to be held on the 16–17th of April in Dubai’s Sheraton Hotel will host speakers and representatives from leading security and telecommunications companies such as Motorola, Oger Systems, Scanit Middle East, BlueInfy, ArgenISS, and Telspace Systems.
To find out more about HITBSecConf – Dubai and details on how to register for the event, please visit http://conference.hackinthebox.org/hitbsecconf2008dubai/.
– Ends –

SAGE SOFTWARE WRAPS UP KUWAIT SOLUTIONS DAY

Together with its Kuwaiti in-country partners, Sage Software, the leading business software provider, concluded the Kuwaiti leg of its regional Solutions Day road show.

Focusing on empowering businesses through the adoption of the right technology for their industries, Sage technology experts met with 90 decision makers from different Kuwaiti industries to educate and discuss how solutions such as CRM and ERP can drive growth.

“Kuwait is a rapidly developing market, and businesses in the country need that competitive edge to compete not only on a local stage but also internationally,” said Sage Software Middle East Managing Director Marc Van der Ven. “Technology is one answer to the relentless pace of change in the economy today. That’s why we’re here in Kuwait, to empower decision makers through technology.”

Joined by in-country partner Arabesque, Sage and its channel community demonstrated their continuing commitment to Kuwait’s business community through investment and training.

“Kuwaiti business owners understand that it’s imperative to use technology. But which technology is the right investment, and what solutions will provide the highest return on investment. Both Arabesque and Sage have proved over and over again that we can deliver value for money as well as drive growth for our end users and their customers too,” explained Khalil du Plessis, business solutions consultant, Arabesque.

A number of Sage customers were also present to explain how they’ve benefited from the right IT choice. “Real estate isn’t the first industry that comes to mind when it comes to the technology industry, but Sage’s tailored solutions have helped us realize value from our own capital, investments and employees,” added Hani Ezzeldine, Chief Accountant, Injazzat Real Estate Development Co.

– Ends –