Welcome to BORC website! The setting up of BORC was driven by the needs for a Research Centre that focuses on Borneo as referral points for all issues related to “Borneo”. Our centre differs from other centres in Borneo because we initially focus on the built environment aspects, especially on the conservation of heritage buildings and structures. Currently, our research focuses on built environment and the integration of IR 4.0, such as our internal grant project on UCTS "Smart Home”. We are also still actively involved in the conservation of mosque, forts and the latest will be the conservation of Lau King Howe Hospital Museum in Sibu, of which we will be working with the team from School of Computing and Creative Media (SCM) for the digitalisation of the display in the museum.

However, this does not mean that we are just focusing on built environment issues. In fact, BORC has taken the emphasis of a transdisciplinary approach, which is reflected in the members’ expertise. We are currently working with Dewan Bahasa Pustaka (DBP) Sarawak to expand research on indigenous knowledge and the documentation of culture and language. We are also currently working with the Centre for Spatially Integrated Digital Humanities (CSIDH) from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) on the usage of Geographical Information System (GIS) to map areas that need attention for heritage conservation. We are also working closely with Universitas Tanjungpura (UNTAN) in Kalimantan to ensure that our work include Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Besides those institutions, we are in the proses of negotiating with Borneo Institute for Indigenous Studies (BorIIS) from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Universiti Teknologi Brunei to ensure that the rest of the region will be included in the research and training activities.

Our target is to become a Centre of Excellence in two years’ time. To achieve the goal, we are strategizing to accelerate all forms of networking, research, publications and training to meet the criteria of a COE. We are hoping that BORC will be a reference point for any future researchers who wish to embark in research pertaining to Borneo.