Alibaba's Malaysia City Brain Brings Future Innovation
Alibaba Cloud, an extension of the Alibaba Group, announced the launch of the Malaysia City Brain initiative. The initiative will be in conjunction with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL).
This will be the first time City Brain will be implemented overseas, with Alibaba’s large-scale computing engine, Aspara, powering it. Alibaba’s Cloud computing infrastructure will support Malaysia’s digital transformation along with eventual artificial intelligence (AI) developments.
City Brain’s features will include a complete suite of acquisition, integration, and analysis of big and varied data in urban locales utilizing video and image recognition, data mining and machine learning. The end goal of this initiative is to allow urban planners in the country to enhance city governance and decision-making, with Malaysia coming out on top as a true smart city.
Dato’ Yasmin Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer of MDEC, said: “The collaboration with Alibaba Group is another leap towards digitizing Malaysia where knowledge-sharing and the crossover of best practices transpire. As we set our sights on the future, we are excited about the prospects this partnership will bring to our community, and benefiting Malaysians with the tangible results of digital solutions.”
A handful of steps will be implemented to make this a reality though Malaysia is only at phase one which includes capital city, Kuala Lumpur rolling out City Brain for traffic management, enhancing mobility. This will speed up traffic flow while allowing for timeliness with emergency vehicles along with the quick routes and directions delivered through CB.
As the phases eventually deploy, start-ups, entrepreneurs, universities and research institutions will be able to utilize the implemented AI tools for even more innovation.
Simon Hu, Senior Vice President of Alibaba Group and President of Alibaba Cloud, spoke on the immersion of AI: “Cloud computing, data technology and AI has become fundamental tools for all companies and organizations to operate effectively. Building on this partnership, we are happy to see Malaysia become the first country outside of China to adopt the City Brain. Through the program, we aim to empower all Malaysian stakeholders in both the public and private sectors with the tools to enhance efficiency, advance innovation and succeed in the digital age. For Alibaba Cloud, this is the true meaning of inclusive technology.”
Edited by Maurice Nagle
