IGMS to be in Sukan Sarawak
KUCHING: The introduction and implementation of the Integrated Games Management System (IGMS) for the coming Sukan Sarawak 2017 (SukSar) to be held in Kuching from December 14 - 17 is in line with the State Government’s vision of going into digital transformation.
Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Sarawak, Datuk Snowdan Lawan who lauded the move by Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) of working closely together with the Modernization Unit of Sarawak State Administration (UPPN) and Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd (SAINS) for the development of IGMS.
“It is definitely the right move forward and the good data management of the whole event should include the capture of par t icip at ing athletes’ performance in SukSar which can be used to improve our training and development programmes,” the minister said at the side lines at the Sarawak State Assembly yesterday.
According to him, the online athletes and event management system will facilitate the smooth running of SukSar which will be participated by 828 athletes from throughout the divisions in Sarawak and such initiatives will complement the state’s vision of becoming the future sports powerhouse in the country.
“We have utilise a similar games management system during last year’s 18th Malaysia Games ( Sukma) but the development of our very own system can actually accommodate our needs for the much needed relevant data to further develop our home grown talents,” said Snowdan on the main aim of having to develop Sarawak’s athletes and games management system.
Even though the system is server-based, he said the system can be improved and upgraded in the future in which there will be additional mobile applications to be included for the coming SukSar events.
He said the sports and athletes management in Sarawak alone must go digital in line with the state’s moves of leveraging on the digital transformation benefits which have far reaching effects on the pace of development initiatives.
“We are also glad that all of the participating athletes and their contingents are very eager to compete and they are coming to Kuching on Dec 12 and they are expected to check into the SukSar Games Village at the Raff lesia College of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak on the next day.”
“I was told that even though the final date for the submission of athletes is Nov 15 but we have already received the list from the respective contingents and this is definitely a good sign of their readiness to compete in SukSar,” he said.
The minister also announced that he will be visiting the contingents from various zones including their athletes in a series of visits starting on Nov 28 with the Northern Zone where a special briefing will be held at the Bintulu Resident Office. A total of 200 athletes are those representing the Northern Zone comprising of Miri, Bintulu and Limbang.
After that, he will be visiting the Central Zone and will be attending a briefing cum logo launching ceremony there after attending a get together session with some of the 220 athletes selected from Sibu, Kapit and Mukah.
The minister will then visit Sarikei’s Resident Office of the Western Zone and meeting some of the 173 athletes who comprise of those selected from Sarikei, Betong and Sri Aman.
He is expected to accompany the Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah on the last leg of the visit schedule to Kuching Resident Office in early December and meeting the Southern Zone athletes coming from all over Kuching, Samarahan and Serian division.
Meanwhile, the Sarawak Sports Corporation CEO Dr Ong Kong Swee disclosed that the athletes and event management system is relevant and crucial in the development of sports in Sarawak because it is commonly used in many developed countries which are well known for having world champions.
“We need to develop our own system because it can be used for future events involving local and international competitions to be held in the state but most importantly the data recording and management are very important to our athletes, officials and sports administrators,” Ong enthused.
“The integrated management system that we are developing and working on now will also be used in future SukSar…it can be the data base for our sports technical officials, coaches and even the athletes themselves,” he added.
According to him, all the relevant data captured are also valuable for managing the athletes’ training and development through the use of scientific approach and development which have been used by countries all over the world.