KUALA LUMPUR: ARB Bhd has set up a research and development unit to focus on IT and Internet of Things (IoT) innovation.

       It said its wholly owned subsidiary ARB Lab Sdn Bhd had recently set up ARB R&D Sdn Bhd to help the group push forward its agenda to develop an R&D centre and innovation ecosystem within the country in order to bridge the gap between impactful research and patented technology.

       "“We are excited with the setup of our R&D unit, which will focus on the building of our innovation ecosystem.

       "In addition to our internal R&D works on IT and IoT innovations, we will also collaborate with local universities in Malaysia to develop an R&D centre and innovation ecosystem.

       "Our R&D unit is spearheaded by a group of experienced R&D technical committees who hold various copyrights and patents and are responsible for working closely with the industrial needs," said ARB exeutive director Datuk Sri Larry Liew Kok Leong.

       According to Dato Sri’ Larry Liew, the division will act as a centre of excellence for local universities’ researchers as it pushes for a more integrated collaboration with universities to monetise IPs and products.

       The R&D unit targets to register and commercialise more than 10 copyrights in the coming quarter of 2022.

       Under the collaboration, ARB will focus on the commercialisation activities of the IP technology while researchers can focus on developing these patented technologies.

       Currently, ARB has engaged with researchers from various local universities to commercialise the IoT systems and form numerous R&D entities that specialise in different technologies such as development of cloud applications, artificial intelligence, big data analysis, mobile IoT, etc.