MIMOS

MIMOS BERHAD

Type	Public
Founded	Incorporated 17 October 1984
Headquarters	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Key people	Dato’ Abdul Wahab Abdullah, President & CEO
Products	Frontier Technology Platforms
Website	www.mimos.my

MIMOS Berhad (Malaysian Institute Of Microelectronic Systems) is a strategic agency under purview of the Malaysian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). The agency is led by Dato’ Wahab Abdullah, who was appointed in July 2006, to become the premier applied research centre in frontier technologies; and transform the landscape of the indigenous industries. Towards this end, MIMOS’ mission is to pioneer information and communication technologies (ICT) to grow globally competitive indigenous industries.

MIMOS’ applied research efforts are focused on developing technology platforms upon which local industries can build products for the world market. MIMOS role essentially is to transfer or license the technology platforms to Malaysian companies to further develop these technologies into products and applications to serve the global market needs. The ultimate aim is to help move Malaysia’s ICT industry higher up the value chain and shift the economic needle.

MIMOS’ robust technology platforms provide local companies - who are MIMOS’ technology recipients - with a speedy time-to-market and price elasticity to position themselves globally. With the Intellectual Property (IP) that MIMOS has generated, we would also be able to reposition Malaysia’s indigenous industries to play in niche markets globally. This means, without having to invest in research, which has a long gestation period and high market uncertainty, the local industries are able to focus on building the brand and marketing channels.

The company is formerly known as The Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems and was founded in 1985.^[1]

Applied Research

MIMOS’ R&D focuses on six technology clusters namely Advanced Informatics, Grid Computing, Information Security, Knowledge Technology, Microsystems & MEMS and Wireless Communications.

MIMOS is the operator of KnowledgeGRID Malaysia, the national Grid infrastructure aimed to maximise high performance computing resources,^[2] incorporating a Multi-Grid Portal built on P-GRADE Portal technology.

Accolades

MIMOS is the winner of two National Intellectual Property (NIP) Awards 2009 namely the Trademark Award for KnowledgeGRID Malaysia, and Industrial Design Award for MIMOS WiWi Access Point and three Malaysia Good Design Mark Awards 2009 for agriculture data collector, MIMOS WiWi wireless router and Jen-ii under the Media and Home Electronics Products Category. MIMOS also bagged the Frost & Sullivan Growth Excellence Award - Industry Innovation & Advancement (Precision Agriculture) R&D Organisation of the Year 2007, through the application of Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) in the field.

History

In the early 1980s a group of academicians, led by Dr Tengku Mohd Azzman Shariffadeen, the Dean of School of Engineering Universiti Malaya, discussed and realized that Malaysia was a leading country in exporting electrical and electronics products but none of the product's design, brand and marketing belong to Malaysian companies.

The informal discussions involving Dr Mohd Azzman (Universiti Malaya), Dr Mohamed Awang Lah (Universiti Malaya), Dr Muhammad Ghazie Ismail (Universiti Sains Malaysia), Dr Mohd Arif Nun (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia) and Dr Mohd Zawawi Ismail (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) led to the realisation of Malaysia's need for an institute to conduct microelectronics research to support the industry and to develop indigenous products.

This realisation enabled the informal team of academicians to present the concept paper on microelectronics research and development institute to the minister and senior officers of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in early 1984.

Arising from the feedbacks, a concerted effort was made to present the idea to the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In August 1984, a deliberation on the concept paper for the formation of Institute of Microelectronics R&D was made to the Prime Minister. The purpose of the Institute was to provide critical infrastructure for the advancement of local electronic industry so that the nation can design, produce and market high quality electronic products by indigenous capabilities due to the importance of industrial and economic growth. The paper on the formation of the Institute was tabled and approved by the Cabinet on 17 October 1984.

1985 On 1 January, the Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems on record commenced operations as a unit of the Prime Minister's Department. The Institute actively started its activities in May, with the employment of 5 senior officials, in a bungalow on Jalan Kolam Air, off Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

1987 The Institute introduced the Internet by managing the RangKom project (Rangkaian Komputer Malaysia or Malaysia Computer Network).

It also conducted a presentation of the Memorandum on the Establishment of MIMOS as a corporation owned by the Government under the Prime Minister's Office.

1989 Collaborated with the Ministry of Education for the development of and introduction of Computer Integrated Education in the national curriculum. This led to the country's first, among many, education authoring tool, COMIL, to help teachers develop learning materials in BM. Other contributions include Cikgu.net, Learning Management System, Kamillion Eduweb and Bijak.net.

1990 On 20 March, the Chief Secretary confirmed that the proposal to change the status of MIMOS as a corporation could not be considered for the time being.

In August, The Institute presented a Memorandum on the Restructuring of MIMOS' Organisation Structure.

In November, MIMOS was transferred as a department under the Ministry of Science Technology and Environment (MOSTE).

1991 RangKom was turned into an Internet Service Provider, offering services to limited members of the public.

1992 MIMOS launched Malaysia's first Internet Service Provider (ISP), JARING.

1994 MIMOS was appointed as the Secretariat to the National IT Council, chaired by The Prime Minister. Dr Tengku Mohd Azzman, MIMOS' Director General was appointed as Permanent Secretary. MIMOS, through the National IT Council (NITC), played a pivotal role in the development of the framework for Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC).

Construction of MIMOS Complex at the present site, in Technology Park Malaysia Bukit Jalil began.

It also introduced Malaysia's first locally designed IC, 16-bit RISC microprocessor, Pesona.

1995 The construction of MIMOS Complex at Bukit Jalil was completed after 88 weeks. It also started the technology seminar on Microelectronics Malaysia 95.

1996 In November, MIMOS Berhad was corporatised as a company under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) with 3 core functions - R&D, National IT Policy Development and Business Development. MIMOS then moved from Commerce Square, Jalan Semantan, Kuala Lumpur to Technology Park Malaysia.

It initiated and organised two of Malaysia's main ICT events: Multimedia Asia (MMA) and INFOTECH. These events were heavily attended by heads of governments and leaders of the industries. MMA was a platform for dialogue on global ICT issues while INFOTECH (before the name change to INFOSOC) was a national dialogue to debate the effectiveness of strategic ICT initiatives.

1997 MIMOS commissioned Malaysia's first wafer fabrication plant (Fab 1) for R&D and small-scale production of 1.0 micrometre digital CMOS technology, 6-inch (152 mm) wafer, 600 wafers per month.

It fabricated Malaysia's first locally designed IC, 16-bit RISC & microprocessor Pesona, in May 1997.

It also became the first in Asia to install the T3/45 Mbit/s line, providing faster access to JARING users.

The Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCert), a point of reference for local Internet Community in dealing with computer security matters, was formed.

1997 to 2002 A total of eleven (11) Business Units, Subsidiaries and Associated Companies were established within the period.

1998 Launched the "Execute with Excellence" programme, with an aim to enhance performance and effective use of resources.

The rationalisation of certain projects led to the development of the trial commercialisation of R&D outputs, formation of business units, subsidiaries and joint-venture companies (1998–2003).

MIMOS formed a joint-venture company, DIGICERT Sdn Bhd, as the first Certification Authority (CA) to issue digital certificates in Malaysia. Formed a wholly owned subsidiary, MIMOS Smart Computing Sdn Bhd, to manufacture and supply modern, reliable and affordable PCs and related peripherals.

1999 MIMOS launched iVEST (Virtual Environment for Secure Transactions), a comprehensive end to end platform for secure Net-based communication and commerce.

It also implemented the world's first fully IP-based Malaysian network; a 2.5 Gbit/s SuperJARING backbone, from Penang to Johor Bahru.

2000 Launched Cikgu.net, a dedicated portal for educators in March 2000. It rides on iGalaksi: a portal engine developed by MIMOS.

MIMOS' business unit, JARING, began offering high-quality VOIP services with an 80% cheaper call rate compared to conventional phone call rates. MIMOS became the first Malaysian organization to join the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6) registry.

In April, OICnetworks Sdn Bhd, a joint-venture company between MIMOS and the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah was formed as the global internetworking exchange that contributes to the socio-economic growth of OIC member countries. Encipta Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, was incorporated on 8 December 2000 as a venture fund company.

2001 MIMOS initiated and started the Computer Forensic Services under the 8th Malaysia Plan.

NISER (National ICT Security and Emergency Response Centre) was officially launched by the Deputy Prime Minister.

21 February saw the formation of CIDB EConstruct Services Sdn Bhd, a joint-venture company between the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and MIMOS Berhad. Its aim is to increase the competitiveness of the Malaysian construction industry.

2002 MIMOS commissioned a new industrial-class wafer fabrications plant (Fab 2), 0.5 micrometre digital CMOS technology, 8-inch (200 mm), 3,000 wafers per month.

JARING became the first ISP in Malaysia to offer IP-VPN connectivity. MIMOS' subsidiary, My-Ms, launched Malaysia's first 0.35 micrometre EEPROM chip (electronically erasable programmable read only memory).

MIMOS took 33.3% equity in TIGER Consortium Sdn Bhd.

2003 The role of NITC Secretariat was officially transferred to the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia (MECM).

MIMOS was instructed to focus on R&D activities and to gradually separate businesses from its structure.

TITIAN DIGITAL, a project under the Bridging Digital Divide (BDD) programme, successfully launched its first test site in Kampung Pamah Kulat, Pahang. It equipped the rural community with various "digital divide bridges" from MIMOS.

iVEST successfully provided an Internet Security solution for Mykad PKI applications. A comprehensive presentation on "Protecting National e-Sovereignty" was made to the then Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and senior government officials, on 27 October.

2004 MIMOS is geared towards enhancing its R&D activities. Since business is part of its corporate structure, it will be further developed for monetisation. AgriBazaar was launched by the then Prime Minister.

2005 MyGfL pilot project was kicked-off in April. MIMOS then went on to develop Malaysia's first Cryptography protocol.

2006 Dato' Abdul Wahab Abdullah was appointed as its President & CEO on 1 July 2006 to turn MIMOS into the premier applied research centre in frontier technologies. Towards this end, MIMOS pursues applied research in frontier technologies aimed at growing globally competitive indigenous industries to move Malaysia up the value chain and ensure accelerated economic growth.

References

1. ^ "MIMOS Berhad: Private Company Information". Computer and Electronic Equipment. BusinessWeek. 2009. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=3615150. Retrieved 2009-11-13 
2. ^ Beyond the internet, Malaysian Business, 1 November 2007

External links

• MIMOS Official Website