By Hadi DP Mahmud
Banda “Can Brunei be the Google of
Halal?” The question put forward by the leader of a global Open
Source Community Project based in Berlin, Germany, called ADempiere
Bazaar, drew plenty of intrigue and interest from the audience
during the 3rd International Halal Market Conference (IHMC)
yesterday.
Introducing
the concept of “Halal” software to an audience for the first
time, Redhuan Daniel Oon said it rings an opportunity for
Brunei to position itself to become the “Google” among the
Ummah in new applications built upon successful Open Source
applications.
“What Brunei can do in the
sense of becoming a `Google’ is that it can specialise in
something and give a brand promise to the market. What
Google promised was ‘I’m faster’. So Brunei can say
something like, `I’m cleaner,’ or ‘I’m more focused
because I’m not doing anything else,” he said. While
planning plays an integral part in executing such drives, in
doing so the Sultanate should learn from others’
experiences, and not “reinvent the wheel of mistakes”.
“You have to explore the market and
identify it with the niche, and focus on that, And of course you
need to do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats) analysis,” Redhuan said, adding that it’s not a question of
what Brunei doesn’t have, but a question of what it doesn’t need. He
said halal is something that not many others would prioritise as the
top agenda.
Redhuan, an advocate of the link
between “halal” and “open source”, said the concept of “Halal”
software is not just about software to support the halal industry,
but also about the handling of the software itself.
“Just as what is instrumental
becomes wajib in pursuing hasana (excellence), it is important to
know the software itself when using it,” he said. “Commercial
interests reign supreme and often spread FUD (fear, uncertainty and
doubt) about Open Software itself. They themselves even claim to be
champions of Open Standards and Open Source, but it’s still business
at the end of the day. It is important for the Ummah to champion
Public and Social Business in Software Applications. Just like how
Dr Mohammed Yunus and Grameem Bank championed for Loan Financing.” —
Courtesy of The Brunei Times
