KUALA LUMPUR: The Selangor state government plans to hold discussions with telecommunications service providers (telcos) soon to hasten its digital transformation.

In line with the government’s desire to transform Selangor into a smart state by 2025 , Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said that working with telcos could potentially speed up the process of achieving the goals.

“I may discuss with telcos and local authorities (moving forward), which can be a win-win situation (for both parties),“ he told reporters after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) and CelcomDigi Bhd, today.

He added that the goals involved industrial factors, such as the development of managed industrial parks, “and a part of it, includes smart industrial parks”.

Amirudin said that collaborating with telcos as strategic partners could assist the digital transformation and accelerate growth in the state.

Meanwhile, the MoU between CelcomDigi and MPAJ involves the digital development of Hulu Kelang.

With the 10-year partnership, both organisations will collaborate to explore and implement potential 5G technology solutions delivered on a solid fibre optic infrastructure, with an ambition to build a smart city ecosystem that will elevate the livelihoods of residents and accelerate the growth of businesses in Hulu Kelang.

This collaboration is in support of MPAJ’s, Smart City Framework, a plan developed in January 2022 to transform Ampang Jaya into a smart city with a focus on smart infrastructure, smart economy, smart community, smart environment and smart governance.

CelcomDigi will oversee the coordination and implementation of the smart city-related solutions and technologies specifically in Hulu Kelang district, the pilot project area for the development of Ampang Jaya Smart City.

The company will spearhead a sandbox that brings together an ecosystem of interested parties with smart city solutions such as innovators, entrepreneurs, startups, technology providers as well as device manufacturers, to test their products and services in a live environment and potentially implement these solutions in the Hulu Kelang smart city initiative.

As part of its smart city initiatives to-date, MPAJ has installed closed-circuit television, Wi-Fi and smart junction solutions in several locations within MPAJ’s administrative area.

Commenting on the collaboration, CelcomDigi CEO Datuk Mohamad Idham Nawawi said that the partnership with MPAJ is targeted to build a feasible smart city infrastructure and ecosystem model.

“We aim to leverage the best of local and global technology partnerships to develop this ecosystem, which hopefully can serve as a model to

benefit other municipalities, with the net effect of having an interoperable network of smart city solutions in more areas across the country.” he added.

In conjunction with the MoU, Amirudin also launched MPAJ Convention Center and public park valued at RM 33.6 million located in Taman Melawati, through a joint funding of allocation between Selangor state government through the State Economic Development Unit (UPEN) and Sime Darby Properties Bhd.