KEYNOTE 1

Professor Stefanos Kollias

Founding Professor of Machine Learning, University of Lincoln, UK

“Modelling for the detection of subtle – but significant – events in signals and data: A personal journey from expert systems and neural networks to deep learning”

Professor Stefanos Kollias is the Founding Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Lincoln, UK, starting from September 2016. He has previously been Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece since 1997 and Director of the Intelligent Systems, Content & Interaction Laboratory. He is an IEEE Fellow. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the European Neural Network Society (2007-2016). He has produced world-leading research activity in the fields of machine learning, intelligent systems (with emphasis on artificial neural networks), semantic multimedia analysis, semantic metadata interoperability and affective computing. He has published 108 papers in international journals and 300 papers in proceedings of international conferences. His research has been highly referenced (about 8000 citations with an h-index of 41 in Google Scholar). He has supervised more than 40 Ph.D. students. He has led his group participation in more than 100 European R&D projects, in which his group funding has been more than 20 million euro.

KEYNOTE 2

Lt. Colonel (PA) Professor Ts. Dr. Hjh. Norazah Mohd Suki

Professor of Marketing and E-Commerce, Universiti Utara Malaysia, MY

"The Role of industry 4.0 in marketing & tourism industry"

Professor Ts. Dr. Norazah Mohd Suki is a Professor of Marketing and E-Commerce at Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia. Professor Ts. Dr. Norazah recently received the Prominent Topics in Research Award at Malaysia's Research Star Award (MRSA) and CREAM Journal Recognition 2018 for her contribution in research that is related to Behavior, Recycling, and Green Purchase. Her research interests include electronic marketing, E-commerce, M-commerce, consumer behavior, mobile learning and areas related to marketing. She was the recipient of several international awards such as IGI Global Winners of the Seventh Annual Awards Excellence in Research Journal, Highly Commended Paper in the 2015 and the 2017 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence, Best Paper Awards, and Best Presenter Awards. She has mentored several post-graduate students, published more than 300 papers in referred journals, book chapters, books, and conference papers. She is also involved in several research projects. She is also the editor of a SCOPUS indexed book. She has sound experiences as a speaker to public and private universities, government bodies on courses related to Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SP. SS), research methodology, etc.

WORKSHOPS

Workshop 1: Data Security: Responding to Cyber Security Threats

Speaker: Loganathan Muniandy

Speaker’s Profile: Cybersecurity professional, trainer, and consultant with solid 9 years of experience in information security, penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, digital forensic, security governance, security architecture, IT security project management and worked with numerous clients from different backgrounds and countries. Possesses the extensive knowledge, expertise and hands-on solution in the area of Cyber Security.

Workshop Info:

Each of us understands information is the single most valuable commodity. A lot of breaches have been reported over the years. Malaysia is no exception and has experienced massive data breaches. In 2017, personal details of some 46.2 million mobile number subscribers in Malaysia were sold for RM 3,000 for 10,000 records. In 2018, Malaysia has rocked again with Astro IPTV data leak and the data was sold online for RM 4,500 for 10,000 records. 1MDB, SingHealth, Facebook- Cambridge Analytica scandal - we all know that there is no such thing as 100% security. The question is, how do we anticipate before and respond after the incidents?

Workshop 2: IR4: Demand and Supply for IR4 ready Professionals

Speaker: Vel Muruga

Speaker’s Profile: Experiences over 10 years in Business Process Automation using IR4 pillars even before they became industry standard. Worked on Automation projects in USA, Europe, China and Africa for various government and private organizations. Possesses the extensive knowledge, expertise and hands-on solution in the area of business process automation.

Workshop Info:

Industrial Revolution 4 is the buzz word now but how much we know about IR4? What are the 11 IR4 pillars? What are the job opportunities IR4 provides and what kind of jobs it’s going to take away? Is Malaysia producing enough professionals to supply for industrial needs?

TALKS

Talk 1: Estimating the Welfare Loss due to Vehicle Tariffs in Malaysia

Speaker: Dr. Daniel Borer

Speaker Info: Dr. Daniel Borer is a lecturer of economics and business at KDU Penang University College. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics (Hons) from the University of Basel, Switzerland, an M.A. in Leadership from Open University, UK, and a Diploma in Economics from the London School of Economics. Before joining KDU, he taught economics at Swiss and German universities. He engaged in research projects for the Swiss government and has worked for the largest private bank in Switzerland. Currently, he also serves as an instructor at the NGO Pointman Leadership Institute, where seminars are held for high ranking government officials in order to promote ethical leadership and anti-corruption. Daniel is convinced that only teachers who deeply and genuinely care about their students will be able to offer a good learning experience and help students to succeed in their fields of study. Daniel is passionate about his primary field of studies, economics. His creative and bold research approaches have more than once surprised and often lead to highly valued contributions to the field. He specializes in international finance, international trade, economic growth and economics for developing countries. Another of Daniel’s newly discovered passions is gemology.

Talk Info: The Malaysian government initiated the domestic automobile production in 1985 and linked it to hefty tariffs on imported vehicles to protect the growing industry. It has often been argued that the protectionist measures were necessary due to the infant-industry argument. The infant-industry argument is reviewed and contrasted with two case studies: Japan and Spain. It is then discussed whether the infant industry argument is still relevant for the case of Malaysia’s automobile industry. Next, the welfare cost of maintaining the protection of the domestic vehicle industry imposed on Malaysians is estimated using the theory on welfare cost change as given by the Harberger triangle. It is suggested that the welfare loss is too large to justify the protection of the industry. To close the article, policy recommendations are presented to reduce the welfare loss by gradually opening the sector up to international competition.

Talk 2: Museum & Cultural Landscapes: Marking George Town

Speaker: Ms. Haryany Mohamad

Speaker Info: Graduated with a Diploma in Graphic Design and a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts from Mara University of Technology (UiTM) Shah Alam, Malaysia. She started her career as a graphic designer in 1996, before joining the Penang State Museum & Art Gallery as curator in 2001. She was appointed as Senior Curator and Director in 2006. Ms. Haryany curated visual art and museum's collection exhibitions. She has contributed articles in numbers of art publications and catalogues, and conducted numbers of community-based art/heritage project which involved local and international artists. She is one of the leading Panel and advisor for Public Art Review and National Heritage Department (Tangible Heritage). Ms.Haryany presented papers in not only locally but also internationally such as in India, South Korea, Indonesia Vietnam and Italy during

Talk Info: The Marking George Town competition was conceived not only as a way to solicit creative ideas to bring the heritage part of the city to meet with its UNESCO World Heritage status but also to preserve and interpret it in tangle and intangible aspects. George Town has the largest collection of pre-war buildings in Southeast Asia and an urban landscape that has been largely preserved since the 19th century and the city has the potentials that are associated with some of the admired old cities in Europe. George Town is known for its uniqueness, and peculiar mix of cultures that lived in such close proximity for so long. The outstandingly architectural designed buildings, houses a generation of inhabitant and their reserved ways of life that had continued since World War II.  George Town has often been described as a living museum. The inevitable accent toward tourism and the effort to preserve an existing culture prompted the competition. The competition requires intimacy and empathy with the longings of the city and the reconciliation with expected new activities targeted toward consensual kind of regeneration. Attaining World Heritage Status is not the end of this narrative. Apart from having outstanding universal values (OUV), A Conservation Management Plan and Special Area Plan are currently being prepared to give awareness to the communities on how to sustain and preserve the landscape without endangering the authenticity. In addition, the networking and relationship between museum practitioners and the social role of museums in the heritage divisions are emerging. It has become a new role for the museum to disseminate knowledge of the historical and cultural heritage outside the museum’s walls.    Subsequently, there are 52 unique and comical illustrations in the form of iron rod sculptures are installed in the heritage zones since 2010.