Interface Design Department at Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Multimedia University signs MOU with Telenor .

The collaboration between Multimedia University (MMU) and Telenor Research and Innovation Centre Asia Pacific represents the start of a long-term relationship to further strengthen the local development and usage of mobile services. Telenor is privileged to work with the Interface Design Department at the Faculty of Creative Multimedia, MMU, to develop talents within the local ICT industry.

“The Asian markets are important to Telenor, and the collaboration with MMU highlights how important the location of our Asian Research and Innovation facility in Cyberjaya is. Our emerging partnership with MMU allows us to improve our understanding of the different market commonalities and differences and will allow us to strengthen our co-operation with local partners for the development of mobile services and applications. We believe this is in the interest of both the Malaysian mobile industry as well as the mobile users in Asia,” said Dr. Kristin Braa, Managing Director of Telenor Research and Innovation Centre Asia Pacific.

“Interface design and the application of user-centred design are new concepts in Asia. We are extremely happy to work with one of the world’s leading communications provider and mobile operator in this field. We will continue to forge ahead in the practise, training and research of interface design in Asia,” said Khong Chee Weng, the Head of Interface Design Department at Multimedia University. He adds that, “Young designers need opportunities to bridge between their design education and the real-world. Our partnership with Telenor will hopefully create the synergy in developing the awareness and in promoting well-defined user-centred approaches in the ICT industry.”

The initial collaboration between the parties includes specification, support and training for a student project within the area of Digital Communities, in which Telenor will share its competence and experience within this field. Multimedia University will provide the resources, equipment and logistics, while the entire project will be administered by a team of leading staff at the Interface Design Department. Telenor will also participate in the evaluation of the student submissions and prrewards to the winning team.

“This is a wonderful development for the Faculty of Creative Multimedia (FCM) as it situates our faculty firmly in the initiatives and founding spirit of the Mutimedia Super Corridor. I welcome the Telenor partnership and thank them for their confidence in what we are doing. The creative human resources that FCM has are key to the advancement of multimedia research and creation. I hope to see more such collaborations begun with interested partners in the future,” said Associate Professor Harold Thwaites, Dean of FCM.

The aim of the collaboration is to contribute to the competence, knowledge and experience sharing within the field of mobile services development. Furthermore, the co-operation will support business opportunities for local partners through Telenor’s global operations. Finally, it aims at making advanced mobile technologies easily accessible and relevant to different target mobile user groups.