An aspiration to help raise the standard of living in a rural community has inspired two enterprising students to develop an innovative e-commerce application that could aid the rural economy.
INTI College Sarawak Bachelor of Computer Science students Stivalen ak Lepon and Ho Hui Chung created an online portal named “Agro-Craft.net” that enables the rural community in Ulu Padawan to tap the e-commerce potential of the Internet without being too dependent on technical developers.
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 Stivalen and Ho (3rd and 1st from left) with Dr William Wong, Chief Executive/Principal of INTI College Sarawak (2nd from left) and Tay Chung Ang, Head of Bachelor of Computer Science programme, after winning the second prize. |
The students’ effort drew not only the interest of their peers and the faculty at INTI but also the attention of judges at the recent Sarawak Open Source Competition 2011, where Agro-Craft.net won the second prize of RM1,500.
Organized annually by Sarawak Information Systems Sdn. Bhd. (SAINS), Sarawak Open Source Competition promotes ICT utilization and facilitates contribution to Open Source technology by students from institutions of higher education in the state.
“Agro-Craft.net which uses Joomla, an Open Source content management system, is easy to use and accessible to everyone,” said Stivalen who hails from Kampung Assum of Ulu Padawan. “With it, we hope to contribute positively to the betterment of the Ulu Padawan community where agriculture and tourism are core economic activities.”
For INTI College Sarawak, Stivalen and Ho’s achievement is a reflection of its long standing tradition of excellence in holistic education. Indeed, education is not all about exams and classrooms, but includes mankind’s determination to fly the flag of creativity and innovation.
INTI is a part of Laureate International Universities, the world’s largest private education network with a presence in 29 countries, with more than 60 accredited universities and 130 campuses, serving more than 675,000 students globally.
For further information on INTI College Sarawak, please call 082-570888 or visit the campus at Jalan Stampin Timur in Kuching.