Last 26 August 2009, CISCAI Project Coordinator, Dr. Jose Edgardo Aban visited the headquarters of the  Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)  Secretariat in  South Jakarta, to initiate cooperative  projects between the two entities.  Dr. Alexander Lim and Mr. Emir Rio Krishna,  Head and Technical Officer, respectively, of the  Science and Technology Division of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Department  hosted the meeting. 

 

The meeting  was initiated  in  the light of the current developments  in the   emergence and spread of infectious diseases, particularly  the A (H1N1)  Swine Flu  and other emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (EIDs). The meeting explored the possibility of  harmonizing  and  aligning the  initiatives  of the CISCAI project  with  the overall agenda of the ASEAN Plan of Action on Science and Technology  2007-2011 (APAST).

Ms.  Piranti Savitri, CISCAI Financial Officer and Project Assistant (PA), with the assistance of  ASEAN Foundation's (AF)  Finance Officer (FO), Ms. Yussy Agastuty   conducted  a three-country  mission to Lao PDR (Information Technology Research Institute – ITRI), Thailand (National Electronic and Computer Technology Center – NECTEC), and Vietnam (NetNam Corporation), to review implementation of the CISCAI operational activities,  relative to CISCAI Project’s financial/fund management and procurement processes. The financial monitoring visit was conducted from 3 to 14 August 2009,  in those three  countries.

One of  the highlights of  the AF-CISCAI Team’s visit was the  orientation on  the  use of the  newly-launched, web-based  Online   CISCAI e-Procurement System (CePS).  The CePS  orientation session was conducted by Ms. Savitri among  finance and administrative staff   CISCAI’s  institutional partners, the ITRI, NetNam, and NECTEC.  Under the CISCAI Project, the CePS   has replaced the manual  and tedious  bidding procedure.  It is also envisaged  that the CePS  will be able to enhance  the over-all  bidding  processes within the tenure  of the CISCAI project, by providing the   proper and secure venue  for all eligible service and product providers to participate.