Prepared by: AP. Dr. Rossilah Jamil

A Kick-Off Ceremony was held on 6 October 2021 to mark Azman Hashim International Business School (AHIBS), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) relationship with the defense industry. The project involves quadruple helix partners between AHIBS UTM with Open Apps Sdn. Bhd (industry), the Malaysian Armed Forces (government), and the Malaysian Armed Forces Veteran Affairs Department who is in charge of several NGOs.

For the next two years, AHIBS will develop fully sponsored officers from the organisations through its MBA programme with a concentration in Digital Innovation. The collaboration will also involve an inclusive entrepreneurship development initiative in which AHIBS will coach disabled armed forces veterans to set up businesses. The project is part of the Industrial Collaboration Programme under the Network Centric Operations of Malaysian Armed Forces 1B(1).

The Ceremony was attended by Col. T. Azharan bin T. Putra (Director of C2, Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Division), Dato’ Abdul Hamid Shaikh bin Abdul Razak Shaikh (Managing Director of Open Apps Sdn. Bhd.), Brig. Gen. Dato’ Mohd Rashid bin Abdul Razak (Retired) (Open Apps Sdn. Bhd. Advisor), Lt. Col. Mohd Zabri bin Idrus TUDM (Retired) (Open Apps Sdn. Bhd. Advisor), Lt. Cdr. Ts. Mohd. Zulhimi bin Jamaluddin TLDM (Retired) (Project Manager Open Apps Sdn. Bhd.), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosmini Omar (AHIBS Dean), and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Zaleha Abd. Rasid (Deputy Chair, School of Graduate Studies).

The project channels over RM600,000 of funds to UTM and contributes to the University’s KPIs on academic, research, and community engagement. The project is led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rossilah Jamil and her team.