SEREMBAN: City councils in Malaysia will get a boost to enhance their smart city and urban development plans through real-time data, communication and digital technology with the country’s first centralised citizen services solution project.
This follows an announcement by digital infrastructure solutions provider Quantela Inc, which entered into a strategic partnership with Malaysia-based Geographic Information System provider MAP2U to roll out the platform for PLANMalaysia.
PLANMalaysia is an agency under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government tasked with urban planning services for the well-being of Malaysians. Under its Smart City agenda, it is involved in developing the Smart City blueprint, introducing the national Smart City platform, Smart City accreditation as well as promoting Smart City awareness and capacity building efforts.
Quantela CEO Amr Salem (pic) said: “We could see a big ambition in collaborating with MAP2U in our first citizen services solution project in Malaysia. Quantela’s technology platform is the engine that will enable Malaysian authorities to collate, control data, and take decisions to improve the quality of life, foster economic growth, develop a sustainable and safe environment, and encourage efficient urban management practices.”
Six city councils that will receive the rollout are Putrajaya, Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Petaling Jaya and Kulim. Phase one of the project – expected to be completed by December 2025 – includes creating a central platform that unifies urban observatory and digital citizen services platforms; and integrates with IoT and non-Internet of Things components across these city councils.
The platform will enable authorities to access unlimited insights and data analytics on a single dashboard. The overall vision for subsequent phases is to target 155 city councils across Malaysia, with use case in multiple smart city domains such as security, mobility, health, energy, water, and waste management.
According to Map2U Sdn Bhd CEO Datuk Azhar Ismail, the partnership with Quantela offers unlimited value to PLANMalaysia by promoting the Standard Smart City Indicator ISO 37122 as part of the Malaysia Urban Observatory’s responsibilities.
He added that the centralised solutions built on the Quantela platform will bring positive outcomes in coordinating and monitoring the urban development plan. “It empowers stakeholders with real-time data and helps communities contribute and adopt environmental, social and governance practices for our nation.”
