9 August 2021 – Professor Datuk Dr Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) lauded the effort to create an energy sustainability community of best practices and innovations at the inaugural opening of the Convention on Promotion of Energy Sustainability Best Practices, or COPE-BEST 2021.
Citing Henry Chesborough [2020] as one of the strong advocates of open innovation, the 7th Vice Chancellor of UTM emphasized that, best practices and innovations tend to flourish in an environment of collaborative, or open innovation where knowledge and intellectual properties are synergistically shared across organisations and disciplines. Datuk Fauzi stressed on the need to explore external ideas and external paths, apart from internal ideas to market and advance technologies in order to achieve breakthrough innovtions, and more importantly, build resilience to ensure organisations continue to survive and thrive beyond COVID19.
Datuk Ahmad Fauzi also shared that, well before the COVID19, UTM had officially launched a unique partnership model known as the AIMS4STAR Consortium of Academia-Industry Government Society for Synergistic Transformation to advance UTM commitment to democratize innovation across stakeholders through quadruple helix partnership. According to Datuk Fauzi, COPE-BEST 2021 exemplifies the true spirit of AIMS4STAR by bringing together over 240 participants comprising policy makers from across 6 ministries, 70 private companies from SME and large corporations, 25 universities and research institutions, and also members of numerous professional societies such as MAESCO, MAREEM, IChemE, IEM, MBOT to name a few. Datuk Fauzi was pleased to see COPE-BEST paving the way towards a vibrant AIMS4STAR partnership to enculture and proliferate best practices and innovations across the energy industry.
Datuk Ahmad Fauzi concluded his opening address by congratulating the organizing team led by UTM spinoff, Optimal Systems Engineering, in collaboration with UTM PROSPECT, UTM Campus Sustainability Office, MGTC, and MAESCO for the noble initiative to establish the COPE-BEST community of practice. He expressed gratitude to the sponsors of the event, namely Suruhanjaya Tenaga as the platinum sponsor, Ditrolic solar as the gold sponsor, Concord Group and Green Lagoon Technology as the Silver Sponsors and Bis Way Energy as the Bronze Sponsor. He also thanked the speakers and all those who have contributed in one way or another in the organization of COPE-BEST, and wished participants a great experience at the conference.
