Previous EUKALYPTON OPNION comments on articles posted in this blog have emphasised the importance of a strong holictic approach to smart city projects, programs and investments. This short piece below points to the dangers of letting municipal silos develop in smart city development and result in non-integrated services.

       Monday, 23 Sep 2019

Smart city players working in silos hindering development as a whole, says Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): There are too many smart city players working in silos, hindering smart city development as a whole, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Prime Minister said to overcome the issue, the Housing and Local Government Ministry has introduced the Malaysia Smart City Framework, comprising all three tiers of government as well as private sector participation to streamline and coordinate the development of smart cities in Malaysia.

Dr Mahathir said the emphasis on turning Malaysian cities into smart cities would be one of the highlights in the Twelfth Malaysia Plan.

“Smart City specifies a city’s capability to respond as promptly as possible to the issues and challenges of its citizens, it has existed for nearly 30 years but still is an ongoing topic as the development of smart cities is crucial and constantly changing with new technology and innovations.

Dr Mahathir said this in a video recording at the opening ceremony of the Cities 4.0 Conference and Exhibition 2019, which was officiated by Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin here, Monday (Sept 23).

He said the government is fully supportive in laying the foundations to build smart cities as reflected by the recent launch of the Kembara Digital Malaysia Programme that would enable Malaysians to enjoy high quality and affordable digital connectivity wherever they were.

“Leveraging on the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan, I aspire to see Smart Cities grow efficiently to become Smart Regions,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir said public transportation is one of the major concerns of Malaysians that needed to be dealt with.

“My aim is to address these pain points by implementing Smart City initiatives. We may deploy digital city solutions to develop functional, resilient and efficient mobility systems but we must remember the goal is still about the prosperity and well-being of the rakyat, ” he said.

For the record, Selangor and Penang are two states to implement smart cities while Kota Kinabalu (Sabah), Kuching (Sarawak), Kuala Lumpur, Iskandar Johor and Kulim (Kedah) are the cities under development. – Bernama

View original article at www.thestar.com.my