'Tough and challenging year'. This is how I found most people describe the year 2021 in their postings that wrap up 2021 and welcome 2022. We spent more time working at home in 2021 compared to in 2020. Yet, I believe that we have accomplished a lot. If not more, certainly not less.
I talked about agility in my previous posting. Agility is the impetus that kept us going come what may. We completed our 5-year roadmap amidst the pandemic and online meetings. We relied heavily on ICT and we considered ourselves lucky to be coming from the computing fraternity. We've been using all these online technologies even before the pandemic. It's just that now we have to increase the frequency of their use. We can also fix simple glitches ourselves and perform minor configurations. Most of the time, there is always someone amongst us who can come out with a workable solution for the glitch.
2021 was also the year where we successfully and finally managed to establish the Tan Sri Leo Moggie Distinguished Chair in Energy Informatics. Though endowed and offered by our parent company, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in recognition of Tan Sri Leo's tremendous contribution to the development of the energy sector in the country, and upon his retirement as TNB's president for almost 20 years, the setting up process is far from a breeze. Rounds of paperwork, interviews, meetings et cetera that were made even more challenging with the uncertainties of the pandemic. Establishing a professorial chair is not something that you do often. Looking for the standard operating procedures that were just not there prompted us to figure out ones. All these while trying our best to take into consideration all opinions, determined to do it right the first time.
Nevertheless, it was worth the effort. Apart from the funding to promote and spearhead research and development in the relatively young area of energy informatics, and the potential collaborations that it entails, it also gave us reason to be featured in the newspaper :)
All in all, we might not be the best people on our own, but together, we certainly make the best team.
Then, came the 7th International Visual Informatics Conference (IVIC'21) that we had successfully hosted the first time it was championed by other than the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The experience gained from the roller coaster ride of organising the conference amidst the uncertainties of the pandemic, with the last minute yet major changes, is just priceless. The colleagues (and hence, strength) that we had managed to muster, some in the middle and some at the very last minute, who provided unconditional support and help that had made the ride a lot easier are just beyond words. You guys are just awesome!
The list doesn't stop here of course. These are on top of the usual things that we have to do as a research institute, governed by our yearly key performance indicators. All in all, we might not be the best people on our own, but together, we certainly make the best team. I've no doubt of that. With all that we had been through in 2021, I believe that we came out of it few times stronger and more ready to face the challenges of 2022 and beyond.
Happy new year everyone! Have a blessed and yet another great year ahead.
Yours truly,
Hazleen Aris
January 4th, 2022
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