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UCTS team wins Unesco TechCul award

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A team from University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS) in Sibu with their project ‘Cultural Engagement in Digital Interactive Museum (CEDIM)’ has won the Unesco TechCul 2021 Entrepreneur Award.

KUCHING: A team from University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS) in Sibu with their project ‘Cultural Engagement in Digital Interactive Museum (CEDIM)’ has won the Unesco TechCul 2021 Entrepreneur Award.

It is recognition of the innovation and excellence in developing digital solutions for the culture and creative sector.

The student team of Service-Learning and HCI 3553, led by the staff of UCTS’ School of Computing and Creative Media, worked with Fuzhou World Heritage Gallery to digitise its collection and archives.

The team contributed 400 gross man-hours of community service and developed six Augmented Reality (AR) applications, a database, the gallery’s website, and a digital game based on the story of Fuzhou arrival and early settlement in Sibu.

Digitisation of its present and future collections is one of the gallery’s strategic objectives.

Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, in October last year Unesco launched the TechCul Initiative to bring together technology and culture leaders with startups and entrepreneurs to develop innovative digital solutions to address challenges faced by the culture and creative sector across the Asia-Pacific region.

A total of 443 participants from 34 countries registered for the Unesco Online Ideathon event.

After reviewing the submissions of ideas, the Unesco selection team shortlisted and invited 25 teams to enter the dedicated pitch event, which was held on Jan 9.

The final evaluation was then made upon seven criteria: relevance, business potential, solution design, technical implementation, scalability, collaboration, and inclusiveness.

“My colleagues, the gallery staff, students, and I are delighted to receive this award and we are ready to replicate the model in other cultural institutions of Sarawak,” said Associate Professor Dr Tariq Zaman, CEDIM project leader.

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