3 October 2017, Iskandar Malaysia, Johor: The Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) earlier today inked two Memorandums of Understanding for initiatives in smart technology and urban observatory during the Invest Iskandar Malaysia 2017 Symposium at Phoenix Hotel, Forest City, Johor. This move sets the momentum for Iskandar Malaysia to be a Smart City.
Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, Chief Executive of IRDA indicated that Iskandar Malaysia made further inroads in realizing our smart city plans consistent with the Government’s acknowledgement of the need for smart city developments that focus on strengthening infrastructure to support future growth and quality of life as contained in the 11th Malaysia Plan 2016-2020.
“We will continue to ensure that the economic corridor’s development is carried out strategically to transform it into a Smart City as guided by our Comprehensive Development Plan ii 2014-2025 (CDPii).” said Datuk Ismail.
Memorandums of Understanding Exchange witnessed by YAB MB Johor
The MoUs represent collaborations towards implementing a few components under the CDPii. Witnessed by the co-chairman of IRDA, YAB Dato’ Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Menteri Besar of Johor, the MoUs are between:
1. IRDA an MIMOS Sdn Bhd on collaboration in developing smart technology that will be utilized in ‘Smart City Solutions’. This agreement will enable MIMOS to develop and install a ‘Smart Community Applications’ in Kulai and Sedenak, develop ‘Big Data’ implementation for IMUO, sharing relevant information to promote MIMOS technologies within the Iskandar Malaysia community and also in any others area of cooperation to be mutually agreed upon by the parties.
2. IRDA and SAS Institute Sdn Bhd on collaboration for Iskandar Malaysia Urban Observatory (IMUO). Both parties have agreed to collaborate on the design, development and implementation of the IMUO which shall contribute to the potential capital investment, expertise on the analytics platform with spatial analytics, descriptive analytics, predictive analytics and prescriptive analytics which includes data collection and management.
Datuk Ismail added that IRDA welcomes these commitments and encourages organisations that have investment interest in Iskandar Malaysia to collaborate together towards achieving Iskandar Malaysia’s vision of becoming a Strong and Sustainable Metropolis of International Standing.
The IMUO is a ‘single window’ where information and data is collected, kept and analysed in a smart city environment, which becomes a platform that can translate knowledge into policy and informed decision making. This will enhance and improve development and spatial planning, provide better public policies that are benchmarked to international standards, and better coordinated policies and planning processes with subnational governments.
The framework of IMUO was approved at IRDA’s Approvals and Implementation Committee which was held on 25th July 2016.
IMUO is one of the Big Moves stated in the CDPii 2014-2025 under Big Move 5: “Iskandar Malaysia Urban Observatory” where it functions as a central data centre, a knowledge hub, a monitoring and assessment centre, and technical services. The IMUO will be implemented in phases which are inter-related and involve various stakeholders in the process, from now until 2025.