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SPEECH

YANG BERHORMAT PEHIN ORANG KAYA HAMZAH PAHLAWAN DATO SERI SETIA AWANG HAJI ABDULLAH BIN BEGAWAN MUDIM DATO PADUKA HAJI BAKAR
MENTERI PERHUBUNGAN

SEMPENA:
International Conference on Soft Computing and Pattern Recognition for the year 2012 (SoCPar 2012)

PADA:
28 MUHARRAM 1434H  / 11 DISEMBER 2012M

BERTEMPAT DI:

THE CORE,
UNIVERSITI BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

 Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Alhamdullilahi Rabbil `Alameen Wasaalatu Wassalaamu `Ala Asyrafil Ambiae Walmursaleen, Saidina Muhammadin Wa’alaa Aalihiee Wasahbihee Ajama’een.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted and honoured to be present today as the Guest of Honour to declare open the International Conference on Soft Computing and Pattern Recognition for the year 2012 or known as SoCPar 2012.  I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Yang Mulia, Dato Paduka Dr Haji Zulkarnain Haji Hanafi, Permanent Secretary (Higher Education) and Vice Chancellor, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, for inviting me to this auspicious event.

First of all, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the participants from more than 53 countries to Brunei.  It is a matter of great pride for us in Brunei that University Brunei Darussalam has been entrusted to organize the International Conference on Soft Computing and Pattern Recognition for 2012 (SoCPar 2012). The recognition accorded to UBD and Brunei is a testament to the research thrusts that have been undertaken recently with the objective of putting UBD as one of the top 50 universities in Asia by 2015. University Brunei Darussalam is undergoing major restructuring at all levels to increase its international visibility while at the same time contributing to national development.

SoCPaR is an annual conference sponsored by the Machine Intelligence Research Labs (MIR) which was set up as a Center for scientific network and research excellence by the IEEE Computer Society, USA together with the IEEE System, Man and Cybernetics (SMC) Society, USA.  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the largest professional engineering body in the world with over 400,000 members. I am told that 53 scientific papers selected from more than 100 submissions will be presented at the conference. Therefore, you will be listening to the latest innovations and discoveries in the field of soft computing in this conference.

Soft computing and pattern recognition is a important and emerging field which has made direct impact on innovations contributing to the success of such  multinational industry giants as: Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, National Instruments, Hewlett Packard, etc,  and in Automation: Car manufacturing giants such as Volvo, BMW, Toyota, etc. Brunei’s involvement in this field will definitely contribute to a wide range of high tech industries in the future.

Organizing SoCPaR 2012 in UBD has enabled researchers in UBD together with key industry partners in Brunei Darussalam to engage directly with their international collaborators, in particular USA and EU industries and industry related projects under MIR Labs such a way that carrying out nationally critical and international appealing projects will not solely be in one place rather it is a fruit of MIR Labs all around the world. As per my understanding, MIR Labs identify the needs of establishing such collaboration matter for this region; in particular for rising economy in ASEAN region. Hence, this will no doubt make a big impact in research on UBD and on related industries around the globe.

The main theme of SoCPaR 2012 will discuss on Innovating and Inspiring Soft Computing and Intelligent Pattern Recognition with the aim of addressing state-of-the-art development in soft computing influencing daily life style of humanity; electronic devices used at home such as washing machines, mobile phones, cars etc, in medical informatics; expert systems used to diagnose patients, monitoring and assisting devices in rehabilitation, etc, in national needs such as ATM machines, stock market prediction, weather forecasting, assembly lines in  manufacturing plants, flight navigation systems, etc.

I have been made to understand that the outcomes of SoCPaR 2012 will have a great influence on the scientific community and also help in producing a knowledge based economy in Brunei.

UBD has just turned 25 and it is reached a significant  milestone of 25 years and having evolved over the past years by producing major workforce to Brunei Darussalam to create knowledge society. Hence, SoCPaR 2012 organizing in the UBD at a right time will allow showcasing its potential to the international arena.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to Dr Namal Arosha and the leader of the local organizing committee headed by Pg Dr Haji Norjaidi bin Pg Tuah for their relentless efforts in making this conference a successful one. I am also grateful to the various sponsors: MIR Labs, Bag Networks and numerous others who have ensured the success of this conference.

On a final note, I would like to heartily congratulate the organizers of the seminar and I wish everyone a fruitful  paper presentations and discussions ahead.

With the kalimah Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim, it gives me great pleasure to officially open the  International Conference on Soft Computing and Pattern Recognition for the year 2012.

Wabillahi Taufik Wal Hidayah, Wassalamua’laikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh​