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Signing Ceremony of The 5th k@Borneo Memorandum of Understanding

Posted on 04 May 2021

20 years ago, the idea of k@Borneo was born. Hence the beginning of a concerted effort among our members to identify, compile and develop information on Borneo with the aim of increasing accessibility, and ensuring intellectual continuity to support research. Towards these collective efforts, the first k@Borneo MOU was signed between eight (8) organisations on 12th August, 2002, in Kuching.

The collaborating parties from Negara Brunei Darussalam, Republic of Indonesia and Malaysia were:
1. Universitas Tanjungpura (UNTAN), Indonesia;
2. Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Negara Brunei Darussalam;
3. Tun Haji Mohd. Fuad Stephens Borneo Research Library, Yayasan Sabah Group, Sabah, Malaysia;
4. Sabah State Library, Sabah, Malaysia;
5. Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Sabah, Malaysia;
6. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Malaysia;
7. Sarawak Museum Department, Malaysia;
8. and Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, Malaysia.

Since then, one other MOU and two MOCs were signed. The MOU was signed at Universitas Tanjungpura, in Pontianak, on 20 November 2006. The MOC, were signed on 6th April, 2010, in Kota Kinabalu and on 9 April 2013 in Banjarmasin, Indonesia.

Today Ten (10) organisations have agreed to further collaborate under k@Borneo and Pustaka Negeri Sarawak is proud to host the 5th MOU signing ceremony. We are now in a different landscape and due to the pandemic caused by COVID 19, we have no choice but to leverage on digital technology in order to make our event today possible.

In this challenging time, and as with any other collaboration globally, the solidarity of k@Borneo participating organisations is equally tested. k@Borneo has come a long way. 20 years of collaborations have given numerous achievements.

Among others:
WINISIS Trainings conducted by Sabah State Library and UMS in 2002 followed by:
1. Publication of k@Borneo Bibliography: on Selected Monograph in 2003. This project was funded by Japanese Foundation.
2. First k@Borneo Website by Pustaka Negeri Sawarak, hosted under Pustaka website in 2003.
3. First digitisation training organised at Pustaka Negeri Sarawak in 2004.
4. A digitisation workshop organised by Yayasan Sabah Library in Kota Kinabalu,Sabah in 2006.
5. Development of k@Borneo Portal in 2009 which was funded by Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation Malaysia (MOSTI) through the Yayasan Sabah Group (ICSB).
6. An MOU and 2 MOC in Pontianak (2006), and subsequently in Kota Kinabalu (2012) and Kalimantan Timur (2016) respectively saw new k@Borneo members coming on board this noble quest.
7. Achievements that followed were the filing of IP for k@Borneo’s portal logo in 2010 and the launching of k@Borneo Portal in April 2010. The occasion also witnessed the International Conference & International Exhibition on Borneo being staged.
8. k@Borneo members also participated in the Malaysia Innovation Carnival Exhibition for Sabah region at UMS on 29 May 2010.
9. A compilation of k@Borneo Bibliography Selected Theses on Borneo was conducted. The bibliography was launched on April 9, 2013 in Banjarmasin, Kalimantan Selatan. The project was funded by Sabah State Library.
10. In 2013, fund supported by the Sabah State Government assist k@Borneo in identifying and digitising additional Borneo contents from Sabah,Sarawak and Kalimantan Barat, Kalimantan Tengah and Kalimantan Selatan.
11. A workshop on the compilation of Traditional knowledge of Borneo was held on 12 November, 2020, organised by Pustaka Negeri Sarawak.
12. This was followed by a workshop on the k@Borneo portal. Due to the pandemic, both workshops were carried out virtually. k@Borneo also has its share of differences and challenges,k@Borneo persevere.

Given the new challenges and different environments we, k@Borneo members must continue to cooperate unceasingly, be innovative in our approach, enhance mutual trust in order to achieve more. The sharing and collaboration must be continued.

In fact the new normal requires new focus in the way we do things. We need to be aware of sustainability, climate change, technology, geopolitics, inclusivity
and of most critical importance, right knowledge and skills.

Therefore, there is still much for k@Borneo to undertake, that is to preserve, develop and share the knowledge that we have, the arts and culture, the flora and fauna of Borneo. This is the heritage that k@Borneo should preserve. Let us ensure k@Borneo would be the “to go to” portal for information on anything Borneo.

YBhg. Tan Sri Datuk Amar (Dr.) Haji Hamid Bugo, Chairman, Board of Management, Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, also would like to thank to all members for their efforts in taking k@Borneo from inception to where it stands now — the key to knowledge on Borneo for anyone who seeks such.

The Signing Ceremony will be held virtually on Wednesday, 5th May 2021 via Pustaka official Facebook and Pustaka Sarawak Channel.