By Salawati Haji Yahya –
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, NOV 20 – The Caffeinated Cats group from the Brunei Technological University (UTB) with the title Project Firefighting: Emergency Response the first place winner in the Competition has been announced Brunei Darussalam Geospatial Challenge (BDGC) 2024 at the prize-giving ceremony held at Dewan Mawaddah, Setia Point Co.
Second place was won by the Geo Trailblazers Group from UTB with the project title Geospatial-Based Disaster Risk Reduction for Floods and Landslides.
While the Viso-Spectar Group from the University of Brunei Darussalam (UBD) took third place with the project title Maximizing Agricultural Efficiency through Remote Sensing Applications.
Competition in conjunction with the Day Geographic Information System (GIS) 2024 for the first time was participated by five teams from higher education institutes in the country.
Present as the guest of honor at the ceremony and then presenting prizes to the winners of the competition was the Minister of Development, the Honorable Dato Seri Setia Haji Muhammad Juanda bin Haji Abdul Rashid.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary (Planning, Land Use and Environment), Dr Nor Imtihan binti Haji Abdul Razak in his speech stated among other things that BDGC welcomes the youth to get involved with technology and geospatial data in contributing better ideas at the local and global level using GIS concept to support vision 2035 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
In addition, he explained that the ideas and creativity used in geospatial technology to achieve sustainable development will pave the way for a better future.
The ceremony also saw groups from Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University (UNISSA) and Brunei Institute of Technical Education (IBTE) each receiving consolation prizes.
Through this competition, two qualified groups will represent Brunei Darussalam in the participation The ASEAN Geospatial Challenge 2025 (AGC 2025) organized by Singapore Land Authority (SLA).
The competition provides an opportunity for participants to demonstrate their ability to use data for the purpose of visualization, analysis and problem solving whether using GIS methods to plan resilience before a disaster.
In addition, it also supports sustainable land use and proves that the use of technology and geospatial information is an important method.
Also present at the ceremony were the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Corporate and Legal), Director General of the Public Works Department, heads of departments, Chief Geomatics & Metocean (TSM) Brunei Shell Oil Company, senior officers and staff of the Prime Minister’s Department and departments under the Ministry of Development, lecturers and students from various higher education institutions as well as representatives from private agencies.
The ceremony was organized by the Survey Department of the Ministry of Development in collaboration with Network Integrity Assurance Technologies Sdn Bhd (NIAT).