City councils in Malaysia will get a boost to enhance its smart city and urban development plan through real-time data, communication, and digital technology with the country’s first centralised citizen services solution project. This came at the back of an announcement made by digital infrastructure solution provider Quantela Inc., who entered into a strategic partnership with Malaysian-based Geographic Information System (GIS) provider MAP2U to roll out the platform for PLANMalaysia.
Amr Salem, CEO, Quantela shares, “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 Bahru, 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-IoT 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 Dato’ Gs. Azhar Ismail, CEO, Map2U Sdn Bhd, the partnership with Quantela offers unlimited value to PlanMalaysia by promoting the Standard Smart City Indicator ISO 37122 as part of Malaysia Urban Observatory (MUO) responsibilities.
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.
Dato’ Gs Azhar adds, “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 help communities contribute and adopt environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices for our Nation.”