The National University of Malaysia (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia – UKM) will be a state-of-the-art Selangor formation and training centre to be launched at any time during the year, according to the Menteri Besar (MB) of the state of Selangor.
UKM was chosen because the university played a key role in the development of the country.
The Selangor state government has also allocated RM50 million to design and accelerate the process of establishing a Smart State so that it can be completed by 2025 based on the master plan set in 2016.
The MB made these comments during a speech at the Interview and Dinner Program in conjunction with YAB Dato ‘Selangor Chief Minister’s Visit, at the Silk Hall, Mother Zain College. The Selangor state government aims to e declared a Smart State by 2025.
The Smart State is a lifeline to the state government’s effort in building a good infrastructure for the convenience of the people and foresight.
For this year, UKM will be the first university for the Explore Tour series with the Selangor Menteri Besar. Last year, the program was stopped at the University of Selangor (Unisel) and the University of Technology Mara (UiTM) campus of Puncak Alam.
It was noted that the university is a platform where students can explore and help develop solutions for potential and future challenges.
The tour series was designed to strengthen the relationship between MB Selangor and the UKM campus community and to expose and promote the agenda regarding Smart State Selangor.
Smart State Selangor
The state government of Selangor has laid out three main objectives under its Smart State mission:
- Productivity: provide enabling infrastructure to support the job of the new economy and to compete regionally/globally for high-quality jobs.
- Liveability: create an ecosystem for citizens to be happier, healthier and wealthier. To be supported by the ubiquitous digital infrastructure which makes Government services instantly and conveniently available anytime, anywhere.
- Sustainability: to safeguard the cleanliness of the environment for future generations.
An example of these objectives being pursued is the development of the smart parking system – which has a complementary application.
In a recent press release, it was noted that the state government is targeting one million Smart Selangor Parking (SSP) smartphones users this year.
People should take full advantage of the application compared to the old method of using coupons or coins to pay for parking.
The state is also offering additional free credit to encourage people to use it. If they add RM100 they will get RM3 credit and RM1 for RM50 reload.
The SSP introduced in July 2018 is now the country’s number one parking application with 10 out of 12 local authorities in Selangor using the app, in addition to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
According to another report, Selangor is on track to become a premier Smart State in ASEAN after finalising three joint undertakings in smart city development with foreign companies.
State investment arm, Menteri Besar Selangor Inc (MBI), inked agreements in November 2019 through its subsidiaries, namely SMARTSEL Sdn Bhd, KDEB Waste Management Sdn Bhd (KDEB) and Smart Selangor Delivery Unit (SSDU).
The undertakings were finalised at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona this week. The challenge is to ensure that the people would benefit from the collaborations and similar efforts that they may have in the future.
The joint undertakings run echo the country’s ‘Shared Prosperity Vision 2030’, a 10-year goal to restructure Malaysia’s low-skill labour-intensive economy into a knowledge-based economy.
SMARTSEL has entered into a partnership with Global Reach Technology UK and Dune Global Sdn Bhd to maximise the latest in Wi-Fi and Hotspot technology.
Meanwhile, KDEB will collaborate with Turkey-based software company to provide a holistic solution for waste management and city cleaning operations with artificial intelligence and machine learning.
SSDU has teamed up with Urbaser Spain and Mancuso Energy Sdn Bhd on smart waste management solutions.
