TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM TO MONITOR SOIL MOVEMENT IN PLACE BY NEXT YEAR

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI),is coordinating a technology platform to monitor environmental issues like soil movement in Malaysia.

The technology platform will be in place by the first quarter of
next year.

Its Minister Dr Maximus J. Ongkili said five agencies would be linked
in the exercise, namely Remote Sensing Malaysia, the Malaysian Nuclear Agency,
Astronautic Technology Sdn Bhd, the Malaysian Meteorological Department and
Mimos.

"We will be trying to link all these strategic agencies in terms of
information communication and technology data management with Grid
Computing," Ongkili said after a meeting to discuss the Mimos Roadmap Technology
Review at the Mimos office in Technology Park here Monday.

Ongkili stressed that the use of ICT was critical in the monitoring of soil
properties and soil maintenance as well as landslide issues.

Mimos president and chief executive officer, Abdul Wahab Abdullah
said by using high performance computing, it would help enhance offerings to the
community.

"This is especially important for information that would be very useful
for rural folk involved in farming," he said after the meeting.

He also explained that the MIMOS Grid Computing would spearhead the
KnowledgeGRID Malaysia, a national grid computing initiative under the ninth
Malaysia Plan.

This initiative, he said, is being carried out in close collaboration with
local universitites, research and development institutions and industries with
the objective of providing secure, dependable and comprehensive access to
computing power.