PENANG, 25 June 2018 – “With the advancement of technology, studies and research on digital criminology should be improved and given particular attention by the academia in data collection as well as in solving the problem that arises.”

The Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Professor Datuk Dr. Asma Ismail stated the above at the opening ceremony of the 10^th Annual Conference, Asian Criminological Society (ACS), with the theme ‘Re-evaluating Insights on Crime and Justice: Contemporary Issues and Challenges’ here today.

“The use of electronic media is increasingly widespread, especially in the era of Internet of Things (IoT) and the Industrial Revolution 4.0, leading to the rise in digital crimes through the misuse of information to commit other crimes such as murder, rape, robbery and so on,” she said.

USM is also proposing to establish a First Degree in Criminology, which will combine a variety of disciplines and departments such as the USM School of Social Sciences, School of Health Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, which at this point only offer postgraduate courses,” she added.

According to the Chairman of the Conference who is also a criminologist, Associate Professor Dr. P. Sundramoorthy, education and courses offered at the undergraduate level are truly necessary and USM will be the first university to offer such a programme in the country. Sundramoorthy lectures at the School of Social Sciences.

The three-day conference which is held at G Hotel in Penang, is organised by the School of Social Sciences, in collaboration with the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) and is attended by over 150 delegates from over 20 countries including Spain, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and other Asian countries.

Also present were the Chairman of MCPF (Penang), Dato’ Seri Syed Jaafar Syed Ali; President of ACS, Professor Dr. Chuen-Jim Sheu and Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Professor Dr. Azlinda Azman. 

Translation: Puteri Najwa Othman/Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin