This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 25, 2021 - October 31, 2021

OpenSys (M) Bhd has entered into an agreement with TNBX Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Bhd, to purchase Malaysia Renewable Energy Certificates (mRECs) equivalent to the annual power consumption at four of its offices and operation centres. 

Additionally, it has extended the scope of the purchase to include the energy consumption of the bill payment kiosks that OpenSys provides to Tenaga, making Tenaga’s bill payment kiosks the first “green” payment kiosks in the country. OpenSys currently supplies about 200 units of bill payment kiosks to Tenaga’s customer service centres.

A Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a certificate that represents the delivery of 1MWh of renewable energy to the national grid, together with all the associated environmental benefits of displacing 1MWh of conventional power. An REC is a tradable, market-based instrument that is produced for every 1MWh of renewable energy generation, allowing the owner of the REC to claim the rights to the renewable energy generated.

The implementation of an REC system will increase market demand for renewable energy as every purchase of an REC will contribute to more funds for the renewable energy developers to build more renewable energy assets. Consequently, more RECs will be available in the market and, eventually, there will be less dependency on brown energy to power up the nation.

OpenSys owns and operates buySolar, a fintech marketplace for renewable energy that focuses on solar solutions and financing. buySolar is actively driving the adoption of solar PV panels for homes and businesses to save on electricity bills, while contributing towards long-term environmental sustainability. 

mRECs are issued by TNBX on the International REC Standard Foundation (I-REC) registry, which is trusted internationally. TNBX is currently the only provider of RECs in Malaysia, with certification from I-REC.

ThoughtFull, a Southeast Asia-based healthtech start-up that enables seamless access to end-to-end mental healthcare services for all, has raised US$1.1 million (RM4.58 million) in seed funding, one of the largest seed rounds for the digital mental health sector in Southeast Asia.

Its investors for this round include The Hive SEA, Flybridge and Singapore-based Vulpes Investment Management, in addition to several family offices and angel investors across Asia-Pacific.

ThoughtFull’s proprietary architecture on its mobile apps ThoughtFullChat and ThoughtFullChat Pro enables users to access, and mental healthcare professionals to provide, personalised best-fit mental healthcare. ThoughtFull partners with employers, insurers and pharmaceutical companies to provide solutions across the preventive to curative spectrum — from self-serve tools to one-on-one bite-sized coaching and insights-driven therapy.

Since its inception in 2019, ThoughtFull has grown to serve users across 43 countries with a professional network spanning 14 locations. The company has partnered with corporates, insurers and academic institutions to not only bring the service to a wider audience but also drive its product validation through clinical research. The pandemic has also provided a tailwind to employer demand and ThoughtFull’s enterprise business has grown more than tenfold since its launch.

The latest investment will be channelled into ThoughtFull’s continued growth trajectory, clinical research and product development, including a focus on deep-tech developments. ThoughtFull’s service is currently available in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, with plans to expand further into Southeast Asia. 

IBM hasunveiled a global plan to provide 30 million people of all ages with new skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow by 2030. To achieve this goal, it is announcing a clear road map with more than 170 new academic and industry partnerships. The effort will leverage IBM’s existing programmes and career building platforms to expand access to education and in-demand technical roles.

“Talent is everywhere; training opportunities are not,” says Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman and CEO. “This is why we must take big and bold steps to expand access to digital skills and employment opportunities so that more people — regardless of their background — can take advantage of the digital economy.” 

IBM’s plan to educate 30 million people relies on its broad combinations of programmes and includes collaborations with universities and key government entities — including employment agencies. Partnerships extend to NGOs as well, particularly those that focus on groups such as underserved youth, women and military veterans. 

In Malaysia, IBM and Politeknik Balik Pulau (PBU) recently announced a collaboration to establish the IBM SkillsBuild@PBU Learning Institute. The collaboration, the first of its kind for IBM in Malaysia, is expected to benefit nearly 800 students at PBU annually. 

Under the collaboration, PBU will tap into the IBM SkillsBuild platform to access free accredited learning content, badges to certify learning, and career development coaching from IBM experts. Among the industry-led modules that will be added into the programme are cybersecurity, data science, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. 

For more information, go to https://www.ibm.com/skills/2030.

Ivanti, an automation platform that discovers, manages, secures and services IT assets from cloud to edge, has named Jeff Abbott its new CEO effective Oct 1. He succeeds Jim Schaper.

It says in a press statement that Abbott, who served as Ivanti president from January 2020, has, together with Schaper, led the company through tremendous progress in the last 18 months, including doubling its revenue to more than US$1 billion (RM4.17 billion) and investing in and supporting the customer and employee base through an organic and acquisition growth strategy.

Abbott has more than 25 years of experience in large software and services companies, including Accenture, Oracle and Infor. As Ivanti president, he oversaw all aspects of product and go-to-market strategy and execution, including product development, product management, marketing, global sales, customer experience and operations. 

Through recent acquisitions, including Pulse Secure, MobileIron, Cherwell and, most recently, RiskSense, Ivanti has bolstered its solutions and created a holistic zero-trust security and IT service architecture to solve problems presented in the “new normal” working environment.

Ivanti also announced three new appointments to its board of directors. Abbott will join new co-chairpersons Chris Heim and Dan Mayleben, both industry leaders with experience driving growth and creating long-term value in software companies.

Heim is the executive chairman of HelpSystems, a cybersecurity and automation company, where he was previously CEO. Mayleben was chief financial officer of HelpSystems. The two put greater focus and investment into cybersecurity, building a large-scale organisation that today provides critical infrastructure software to over 20,000 customers worldwide. 

Southeast Asian companies can apply for the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund (AEF) until Nov 28. This year, HSBC is the title sponsor of the event and it will be working with AEF to promote the event to start-ups worldwide and encourage interaction and experience sharing among entrepreneurs.

The top 100 entrants will be selected by the judging panel and enter the pitching phase in December. The top 10 will participate in the finals early next year, competing for a total of up to US$4 million (RM16.68 million) in investment and other various awards. Hong Kong Cyberport Management Co Ltd and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp, co-organisers of the event, will take part in a joint investment to provide further support for the start-ups. 

The top 10 finalists of JUMPSTARTER 2022 will have the opportunity to participate in exchange programmes and/or market research activities managed by AEF in Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China.

In addition, JUMPSTARTER 2022 will arrange for industry experts to share their experience, helping start-ups understand more about the market environment in the GBA and expand their business network, so as to identify opportunities for future growth. 

JUMPSTARTER 2022 is open to start-ups that have been operating for less than five years and plan to expand into Hong Kong or other cities in the GBA. There will be four online sharing sessions in early November that will target start-ups from cities in mainland China, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GBA and Southeast Asia. 

Since its establishment, the AEF has invested about US$80 million in 55 start-ups, attracting co-investment funding of about US$2 billion. Its investment portfolio includes green technology, educational technology, fintech, medical and healthcare, logistics and e-commerce. 

Interested parties can visit www.jumpstarter.hk/tc for more information.

Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Sarawak (Tegas), through its Tegas Digital Innovation Hub, is partnering with Shell to organise the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme for Sarawakian entrepreneurs and innovators. This programme will run virtually from Nov 6, 2021, to Dec 5, 2021.

The Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme seeks to help budding Sarawakian entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and, possibly, be a part of the Shell Malaysia value chain in the future. The programme aims to inspire start-ups and social enterprises to innovate and produce real business solutions that meet today’s socioeconomic needs.

Those selected will participate in online bootcamp workshops on entrepreneurship development and get the chance to attend a series of workshops that will assist them in generating or enhancing their business ideas, test their business models and prepare them to be successful business owners who can present or market their business ideas for further growth.

“This strategic partnership between Shell and Tegas via the Tegas Digital Village and Digital Innovation Hub aims to accelerate the growth of local start-ups and social enterprises, in line with the Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy 2018-2022. We are proud to partner with Shell for the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme for the fifth consecutive year, and work towards creating an inclusive innovation entrepreneurship ecosystem in Sarawak,” says Tegas chairman Datuk Len Talif Salleh, who is also assistant minister of urban planning, land administration and environment.

“Since the introduction of the programme in 2016 and our partnership in 2017, Shell and Tegas have supported around 400 entrepreneurs from all over Sarawak through LiveWIRE. Our notable alumni include Thirst Malaysia, Ahmad Tamar, Sluvi, Mariadra Beauty and Kun Product.”

The five winners will receive a grant of RM15,000 each from Shell and Tegas, as well as mentorship and post-programme support. Other benefits include free access to Tegas Digital Innovation Hub in Kuching, Bintulu and Miri, a green lane to participate in Tegas Digital Village scale-up programmes and access to the Tegas ecosystem network.

To apply, go to https://bit.ly/sarawaklivewire2021 or email Tegas at [email protected].

MX Vertical is an advanced ergonomic mouse that combines science-driven design with the performance of Logitech’s MX series. The mouse places your hand in a vertical “handshake” position rather than a palm-down horizontal one. It also has a textured surface to aid gripping, with a scroll ring and two click buttons placed on the side where your index and middle fingers rest.

Logitech claims its advanced optical tracking means users move the mouse four times less than usual. The mouse’s 57° side angle is said to decrease pressure on the wrist, reduce muscle strain and improve posture, with reviewers saying that holding the mouse feels surprisingly natural. Its unconventional shape is definitely an interesting addition to the computer table.

The mouse retails for US$99.99 (about RM415) on the Logitech website, logitech.com.

Beam me up, Bezos!Star Trek actor William Shatner, 90, became the oldest person to go to space on a trip that lasted a total of 10 minutes and 17 seconds. Shatner was taken aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard rocket on its second-ever crewed trip to space, after Bezos himself went in July. The four-person crew reached an altitude of 107km, experienced microgravity and came back, landing in the Texas desert.

We are taught that human beings are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest. Books ranging from Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince (fiction, taken as a primer for how to manipulate to get ahead) to William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (fiction, taken as fact or at the very least, a realistic portrayal of what would happen if a group of boys were stranded on an island and forced to survive by their wits) reinforce this point of view.

But what if they are wrong and people are fundamentally good, with an instinct to cooperate rather than compete? Rutger Bregman — whom many may know for his famous TED talk, “Poverty isn’t a lack of character; it’s a lack of cash” — does not buy into the accepted idea of how humans are.

In Humankind: A Hopeful History, he sets out to look at the most famous studies and events of the past 200,000 years, the ones that trip lightly off the tongues of students of psychology to prove man’s fundamental evil nature, from Stanley Milgram’s Yale shock machine to the Stanford prison experiment to a famous study done on two groups of boys that seemed to replicate and confirm the Lord of the Flies scenario.

What he finds is both fascinating and groundbreaking and provides a different, fairer and perhaps more humane view of humanity. Perhaps humans are not as bad as they are made out to be. Read this if you want some data to prove that point. Available at Kinokuniya (RM59.90).

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