The National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) unveiled the PIKOM Industry Engagement (PIE) mobile platform aimed at connecting ICT firms and professionals across the industry.
PIE is centred on the four key pillars of community engagement, community building, community learning and community empowerment and is part of the Association’s strategy to nurture a more dynamic and proactive ICT community in the country.
Downloadable for free via Google Store & Apple Store, the PIE app features include:
- A business directory of all members and related businesses
- A knowledge management repository hosting research papers, ICT news articles & other industry related materials
- A mobile purchase and payment engine (available from June 2015 onwards)
- A job hosting channel for firms seeking talent
- An event listing and management tool allowing members to list their events and for interested attendees to directly confirm attendance.
- A deals section to redeem special offers made available from members to members.
“PIE is part of our continuous effort to build a dynamic and pro-active ICT community in Malaysia; to create greater engagement and participation while delivering more value to members,” shared PIKOM Chairman Cheah Kok Hoong.
The PIKOM Chairman said that PIE was developed in response to helping members leverage on the PIKOM network which comprises of over 1,000 ICT companies. It will also serve as an excellent platform to connect ICT professionals when PIKOM opens membership to individuals as part of its expansion plans for 2015.
Through PIE, PIKOM is taking a fresh new approach to reaching out to member organisations and individuals across the entire ICT industry.
“There is plenty going on under PIKOM for this year– closed door events, special collaboration projects, sharing of research findings, job postings and so on. Through the PIE mobile app, we can keep our members updated on these developments and they can choose to leverage on these as they wish. Many of the application’s functions are even open to non-members,” he added.
According to CEO of The Media Shoppe and PIKOM Council Member responsible for the PIE initiative, Christopher Chan, PIE leverages on the simplicity and convenience of a QR code generated upon user registration which stores information about their event attendances, engagement patterns and buying habits. The QR code is updated with each new in-app action. This allows information to be customised to the individual user based on personal preferences and habits. In addition, each function of the app comes with user oriented features.
“The content management feature for example provides for news articles, industry research, sector-specific information and more that allows for content tagging and dynamic publishing dates. The corporate directory is comprehensive providing a complete member list, featuring product brochures, pamphlets, job openings, contact information, specialties, etc. Push notifications provide members with breaking news, new article alerts or any other desired actions,” mentioned Chan.
Other features of PIE include an intelligent payment gateway that allows seamless purchasing experience for the user from a variety of sellers, an event management system that integrates the application with booking and reservations, an attendee notification system, etc.