The fifth generation (5G) of mobile technology is quite a revolution. It enables localised and custom-tailored 5G experience in private facilities where high-speed, high-capacity, low-latency connectivity is crucial, regardless of whether or not the premises are within a public 5G coverage area. We at TM One are now paving the road for businesses to benefit from this critical driver of digital transformation.” – Nor Hisham Md Nordin, GM Enterprise Mobile, TM One
The concept of private mobile network is not new; it began with 4G/LTE. However, the previous generation of cellular technology couldn't support the speed, latency and reliability needed in today's fourth industrial revolution. As technology becomes mainstream, enterprises struggle with increasing workloads from applications and the proliferation of users and connected devices. Furthermore, increased video content, low-latency and reliability requirements, as well as thousands of intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) devices, have placed unforeseen demands on corporate connectivity.
What is Private 5G?
Like all 5G networks, private 5G is an augmentation of the 4G LTE network and it is designed specifically for an individual enterprise operating in a specific area e.g. a drilling platform in the ocean, a mining field and a factory/shop floor of a manufacturing facility. This controlled solution is especially beneficial for closed-premises requiring wireless access, high speed, low latency, high reliability and security capabilities beyond other network technologies.
At the same time, the total core network capacity can be scaled down significantly, relative to the public network. Plus, quite a few of its functionalities may be dropped altogether, for example voice services via Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Voice over New Radio (VoNR), as private network use cases would be data-centric and not mixed with public voice services.
In terms of technical specifications, private 5G is similar to the public 5G network provided by commercial mobile network operators (MNOs). The critical difference between public and private 5G is allocating priority access and isolation.i Private 5G utilises the same technology but is located entirely on-site and serves the enterprise's own environment. Therefore, the core element of the network does not reside within the MNO's trunk infrastructure, allowing the localisation of the network’s breakout point.
Private 5G networks also enable the complete or partial isolation of end-user devices from consumer networks. In comparison, most public 5G networks offer all users equal access rights, leading to network congestion and increased vulnerability. However, enterprises have flexibility – compatible edge devices can switch freely between private and public networks when isolation is not necessary.
Why Private 5G?
Wireless access technologies such as Wi-Fi, Long Range Wide Area (LoRa) as well as LTE has been solving and improving operational technology (OT) and IoT/M2M in many industry verticals such as manufacturing, mining/drilling and port/transportation for a while now. The network infrastructure evolved from a rigid wired architecture to a flexible and dynamic wireless network. However, while these technologies work well in some environments, they may not in more demanding operations that require high security, high speed, low latency and high reliability network.
5G has been designed to address that via enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) as well as a feature known as massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), which allows millions of connected devices per km2.
Private 5G also increases operational efficiency for enterprises looking to digitise their data and create new digital products. Private 5G can serve as a cheaper alternative to fixed networks for enterprises looking to replace end-of-life legacy networks and scale better mobility solutions.
Rolling out private 5G
The majority of private mobile networks deployed today are dedicated and on-premise systems. As opposed to processing information in distributed cloud architectures, the localisation of the network allows Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to churn through massive volumes of data without ever leaving the privacy and security protocols of the enterprise. As a result, enterprises can gain more control over users, devices, and data flow visibility, significantly reducing data privacy concerns and the risks of cyberattacks.
Alternatively, with the inherent nature of 5G's service-based architecture (SBA), enterprises may combine slices of the public radio network with a dedicated on-premise core network. These slices can store different control and user plane functions that utilise certain portions of a public network. Enterprises can then route network traffic to a private network or Software Defined Virtual Private Network (SD-VPN) on shared infrastructure while running the control and user plane separation (CUPS) of the core network.
Private 5G in action
Private 5G is quickly finding its place in the heart of digital-first enterprises. According to Analysys Mason, the manufacturing and transport sectors are the early adopters of the technology.ii
Private 5G has also played a paramount role in enabling a local tech revolution; case for example is unmanned operations field. Robotics and drones could be used to inspect hard-to-reach areas with remote monitoring that is enabled by robust connectivity infrastructure, even in harsh conditions. The deployment of private, on-site networks significantly accelerate the processing of information collected from the drones' visual, thermal and LIDAR sensors by localising computational processes. Crewless operations across facilities is possible using automation and robotics that ultimately rely on an advanced connectivity infrastructure, i.e. private 5G.
With the heavy industry now benefiting from private 5G in Malaysia, we foresee that Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Transportation and Ports industries would follow soon.
Read more on how municipalities benefit from 5G technology
i. https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/5g-networks/what-is-private-5g
ii. https://www.analysysmason.com/research/content/articles/private-lte-5g-networks-rdme0-rma18-rma17/
This year will see Malaysia accelerate to come up to speed with the global developments in 5G networks. We expect to see its coverage reach up to 40% by the end of 2022.i
Complementing these developments, The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) cites that 5G could contribute over RM12 billion to Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between 2021 to 2025. So while there is progress in network deployment, how can your organisation prepare for 5G?
A popular strategy is to establish a private 5G network for enterprise use cases. Private 5G networks provide your organisation with a better control to configure the network based on your specific requirements. This often involves establishing locational boundaries and configuring customised network settings.
Designed to support massive loads of operational data for industrial Internet of Things (IoT) applications, a private 5G strategy is able to expand artificial intelligence (AI) applications exponentially. In fact, it is an instrumental piece for manufacturers to realise their smart manufacturing goals.ii
Companies can’t afford to ignore these benefits. We live in a hyperconnected world where the speed and quality of services set the winners apart from the rest. As we strive to achieve wider coverage of 5G deployment, it is critical for your team to have a clear picture of how this technology can enhance your business.
To help you, we provide three best practices from the top use-cases of private 5G networks.
1. Leveraging private 5G network for smart factory practices - Fujitsu
Fujitsu Telecom Networks Limited manufactures network equipment, and were quick to deploy private 5G capabilities to support its manufacturing practices. The company’s objective is to develop a ‘human-centred’ smart manufacturing approach for all its plantsiii. This strategy aims to increase the capacity Fujitsu has to adopt technologies such as AI, mixed reality, and IoT.
Initiated at its Oyama plant, Fujitsu has built a private 5G network to facilitate the transformation of its smart manufacturing. This practice includes deploying automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) to transport materials and resources around the facilities.
Apart from autonomous vehicles, Fujitsu uses 5G to expand its video analytics capabilities for the safety of its workers. For example, its plants have HD cameras with real-time AI-powered video analysis, giving instant warnings to workers of any potential risks.
While implementation of such practices is not new, Fujitsu had faced severe limitations due to inadequate network speed and capacity. However, with 5G and its inherent advantages (such as network stability, speed, capacity, and slicing), the manufacturer can now scale these practices seamlessly.
2. Taking full advantage of IoT data with 5G – Volkswagen
A large aspect of realising Industry 4.0 practices comes from an organisation’s ability to handle continuous streams of data across thousands of connected devices on-site. Issues such as hardware costs, maintenance, and updates limit a manufacturer’s ability to adopt IoT at a greater scale. A common problem among manufacturers is IoT connectivity. Before 5G, manufacturers had limited alternatives and often faced electricity consumption, reliability, and scalability issues.
Recognising these limitations, Volkswagen recently deployed a private 5G network in collaboration with Nokia.iv The addition of Nokia’s industrial-grade private 5G network allows Volkswagen’s plant facilities real-time data streaming for IoT devices and manufacturing devices.
With the private 5G network in place, Volkswagen plant operators can leverage instant data transfer directly to vehicles during the manufacturing process. This ability enables a seamless flow of smart connected devices alongside plant workers, providing access to crucial data at much greater speeds.
The introduction of 5G to manufacturing plants allows a superior manufacturing process. Combined with technologies such as machine learning (ML), AI, and edge computing, Volkswagen can now truly take advantage of its data to improve manufacturing procedures.
3. Smart medical facility – KT & Samsung Medical Centre
KT Corp and Samsung Medical Centre (“SMC”) started their 5G journey in 2019 by co-developing 5G-powered medical services.v This partnership included a private 5G network service at SMC with specific network environments catered to the company’s operating theatres.
Continuing from that partnership, KT Corp and SMC have actively widened the adoption of 5G for their medical facility. SMC continues to adopt wider 5G-powered robots – from surgical robots and sanitisation robots to logistics robots.vi
Like smart factories, the medical centre also includes automated guided vehicle (AGV) across the facility to ease the burden of its medical workers. Furthermore, private 5G improves the partnership’s capacity to include higher-end AI capabilities for detecting potential emergency cases.
Other well-received applications include a real-time HD video analysis service for surgeons, enabled by 5G’s ability to handle high loads of data with low latency. This service extends to the education programme, teaching medical trainees with live-sync cameras during operational procedures. For healthcare players, SMC is a strong reference on how deploying 5G can enable a whole suite of smart services. The company’s success is a clear example of how 5G can allow hospitals to move forward with digitalisation.
Moving together for a 5G-enabled future
A common factor behind the success of these use-cases is the close relationships forged between industry players and network operators. This relationship is crucial for the effective implementation of 5G-enabled strategies.
Network configuration, management, and maintenance are just some aspects that industry players might have problems handling. As such, having a mutually beneficial relationship can significantly ease the process for companies to adopt 5G into their operations.
Getting private 5G right is a collaborative process that involves companies working closely with system integrators and network operators. Evidently, the go-to deployment option today for private 5G networks is a hybrid model where companies share responsibilities with network operatorsvii.
With this strategy, organisations can have a reasonable amount of control without the complexities of managing the whole network.
Learn more about TM One Smart Services here
i https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/malaysia-have-full-5g-network-coverage-2024-%E2%80%94-tengku-zafrul
ii https://www.ibm.com/blogs/digital-transformation/in-en/blog/private-5g-takes-industry-4-0-to-the-next-level/
iii https://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2021/0330-01.html
iv https://www.iotworldtoday.com/2021/12/07/volkswagen-deploys-nokias-private-5g-technology/
v https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/asia/kt-and-samsung-medical-center-develop-5g-medical-service
vi https://www.kedglobal.com/newsView/ked202109160004
vii https://accedian.com/blog/private-5g-for-manufacturing-how-to-get-it-right-right-from-the-start/
Given the fragility of global conditions and increasing emphasis on using digital innovation to build a safer, and more sustainable future for the betterment of people, we are seeing greater focus on actualising smart communities around the world.
Malaysia's focus on smart cities and smart communities is also gaining momentum and reflects the wider trend. The global smart cities market size estimated to grow from US$457 billion last year to US$873.7 billion by 2026, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.8%, according to a Markets and Markets1 report,
Taking a few steps back, the unveiling in 1996 of Malaysia’s digital economy vision, started with Cyberjaya, which was seeded as the country's smart city, within a national vision to become a digital economy hub starting with the MSC Supercorridor (MSC Malaysia) platform2.
As a smart city zone, Cyberjaya3, was tasked to become a test bed to nurture emerging technologies and to become a preferred tech investment location, according to Najib Ibrahim, managing director, Cyberview Sdn Bhd in an interview with Disruptive Asia last year4.
Jumping ahead a few years to last year, we saw two launches to spur Malaysia's smart city aspirations: the Smart City Handbook: Malaysia5 on 22 June 2021 by Malaysia’s former housing and local government (KPKT) minister YB Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin and the UK’s high commissioner, H.E Charles Hay; closely followed by the soft launch on 29 June 2021 by technological partnership think tank MIGHT6 (Malaysia Industry-Government Group for High Technology) of its Smart City Outlook 2021/22 (MSCO) report7.
Continued major smart city developments include: the Smart Selangor8 initiative, aiming to make it the most liveable state within the region by 2025; Smart City Iskandar Malaysia9, and various digital programmes under DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) under its Kuala Lumpur Smart City Blueprint 2021-202510.
In the same week of MIGHT’s report, the government announce the appointment of Swedish ICT company Ericsson as 5G development partner to build an end-to-end rollout of a SWN (single wholesale network) in Malaysia at a total cost of RM11 billion ($2.65 billion), according to a statement by Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) – which is the government entity overseeing the rollout of MyDigital11.
Interestingly, Malaysia’s announcement of its national 4IR policy, which was also in the first week of July, posited a smart city framework. As envisaged by Malaysia’s Smart City Framework under the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021-2025, of which MyDigital is a component12, the digitalisation of society and the economy is seen as vital to accelerate Malaysia’s recovery and to enhance the quality and safety life.
However, at the time of writing, the regulator Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (MCMC) and the Finance Ministry tabled a memorandum slated for 11 March 2022 to the Malaysian Cabinet for a decision on the possibility of opting for a dual wholesale network (DWP).
Regardless of the rollout approach, the 5th generation wireless technology is viewed by industry and governments as positing the potential to spur smart city growth and bring more communities into the digital arena.
Recently, the country's housing and local government minister Dato’ Sri Reezal Merican said:, “At the top of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government’s agenda is to promote the philosophy of ‘Liveable Malaysia’ in line with the 12th Malaysia Plan. ‘Liveable Malaysia’ emphasises on ensuring that the rakyat’s [the people's] wellbeing is safeguarded and defended within the purview of our ministry. Among the key focus of ‘Liveable Malaysia’ is mainstreaming digitalization in the service delivery of local authorities as well as adopting advanced technology in the development of cities within the Malaysia Smart City Framework.”
His comment came in late February of this year during the United Kingdom' virtual Smart Cities Mission to Malaysia, which again served as the latest spur to review the smart cities and smart communities aspects of Malaysia's digital transformation agenda.
Held 22-24 February, the three day mission's objectives were two-fold: to increase collaborations to encourage smart city development in local government and housing and related fields; and to introduce offerings from about 40 UK smart city solutions providers.
Speakers at the panel discussion on capitalising technology to build a sustainable and smart digital economy13 included Asia Pacific Digital Trade Network regional director Christopher Bush (acting as the moderator, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) vice president Ir Dr Karl Ng, Tech London and Global Tech Advocates founder Russ Shaw CBE, and TM One executive vice president Shazurawati Binti Abd Karim.
In her opening, Shazurawati pointed to AI as constituting a key driver today among emerging technologies, enabling new levels of efficiencies for businesses and organisations of any size as well as its use in daily lives through mobile apps for shopping, transport, banking, customer service through chat bots, cyber security detection and mitigation, and so on.
Citing a recent IDC report - IDC MaturityScape Benchmark: Artificial Intelligence in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) 14 - that revealed 42% of Asia Pacific enterprises were deploying AI albeit in isolated projects, she affirmed that: "AI offers a core capability in digital transformation and maturity levels in the region; and another research study assessing Asean suggests that AI may add one trillion dollars to the region's GDP by 2030 if we do this right."
Russ Shaw concurred with her comments the importance of AI and added 5G, blockchain among others. "We need high speed connectivity to enable emerging technologies across enterprise and public sectors including smart cities."
Indeed, founder chair of Outreach UN ITU Prize ACM for good Global Summit Stephen Ibaraki , writing from his pro bono work15 involving more than 100,000 CEOs, investors, experts and scientists, concludes that: "By 2030 AI will measurably influence and impact more than 8.5 billion people, across all sectors, and human & earth diverse ecosystems on an unprecedented scale."
"Technological impact on Malaysia with technologies through smart city adoption is rightly balanced with sustainable - green technology - considerations. Malaysia is blessed with a lot of ongoing development from an infrastructure perspective," commented Shazurawati, citing the use of technologies such as IoT sensors to detect, predict and mitigate local climate challenges such as haze, regular flooding, soil erosion, and traffic management.
Speaking to other societal aspects, she said: "Safety and convenience of the community is a high priority: For example, using AI and smart service solutions, we believe that integrated smart city surveillance such as using CCTV is only really useful with the use of analytics and AI through an integrated operations centre. Beyond public safety, we can use it as tool for cohesive disaster management, which will be enhanced with the coming of 5G. The volume and required speed of 5G will be part of the perfect recipe for smart city developments."
Shazurawati added that Malaysia's adoption would need to embrace solutions beyond CCTV such as drones to cover larger surveillance areas such as ports, platforms and refineries.
"During the pandemic, we learned to use drones to deliver medical supplies to remote areas. With regards to 5G, she said that Malaysia's aim is to roll out 5G coverage to 80% of the population by 2024 in order to deliver impactful opportunities and benefits16 through services for smart city development."
Malaysia's smart digital economy testbed cases demonstrating the potential of 5G hark back to 2019/2020 when MCMC – together with various telecoms stakeholders such as Telekom Malaysia (TM) 17, Celcom Axiata, Digi Telecommunications, Edotco Malaysia, Maxis Broadband, U Mobile, Petroliam Nasional, and YTL Communications – held 5G Malaysia Demonstration Projects (5GDP) in six states involving an initial investment of RM143 million.
At the time, Malaysia envisioned 100 use cases embracing nine verticals - agriculture, education, entertainment/media, digital healthcare, manufacturing and processing, Energy, smart city, smart transportation and tourism. Some of these use case demonstrated some of the benefits that digital technologies with enhanced communications such as 5G would bring such as enhanced security, safety and economic opportunities to communities on the island of Langkawi, and its potential as a smart island18.
Shazurawati said, "[Since then] TM One has worked with several council municipalities with surveillance, smart traffic, smart lighting, smart building projects are part of the matrix to enhance the quality of life, to use technology to raise happiness levels of a city - to develop happy cities."
This approach bodes well with sentiments from and other industry leaders. Closing the digital divide and benefitting humankind were two of the themes in a recent interview19 with UN agency ITU (Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau) 20 director Chaesub Lee. “There is a lot of talk about AI in emerging technical areas, but we want to find a practical approach,” Lee said. “We bring someone having problems they need to solve, and we bring someone who wishes to provide the solution, and then we have them meet to facilitate how to utilize AI and ML to help humankind.”
Similarly, Jouko Ahvenainen, pioneer in digital finance and data analytics, opined21 that smart city models often overlook one key component - the people in them that though 'one main objective of smart cities is to collect data to improve and develop services', the value of such developments to people and their privacy appears to have a lower priority'.
TM One's stance is to offer building blocks to the private and public sectors - such as smart premises, smart agriculture, smart manufacturing, and so on22 - to develop smart happy cities, said Shazurawati.
MDEC's Dr Karl echoed these trends by detailing some of the projects MDEC has been encouraging. The availability of data, balanced with security & privacy concerns, remains one of the challenges. The need for policy and government direction coupled with skills and right awareness are other factors to use technology to enhance productivity and generate wealth.
Co-creation, partnerships are vital to move forward, Shazurawati said. She added that global spending on smart city solutions could reach USD 2.5 trillion dollars by 2026.
"To better unleash innovation, connectivity is fundamental and we cannot live without this. To deliver services, we need to build these on a strong digital foundation - formed by cloud, data centres, cybersecurity and smart services," she said.
Shazurawati agreed with Dr Karl that data and the correct exchange of data is a powerful enabler of executing more citizen services, and applications.
"We need to be open to explore new business models with a human centred, integrated approach geared towards raising happiness levels. A strong, sustainable digital foundation with collaboration and new ways of working is the way forward," she said.
"Citizens deserve a one stop service with single-sign through a digital ID on for services as part of an effective smart city model, Shazurawati added. "Public and private partnership platforms will certainly accelerate development."
Russ Shaw echoed these statements and added that investment from both public and private capital is a critical element for smart economy and smart city development. "The importance of growth capital from both sectors is needed to enable the innovation and implementations discussed in the panel. How to encourage businesses of all sizes and Cale to measure their environmental impact. This is the importance of data as Shazurawati and Dr Karl have been speaking eloquently about."
Smart cities operate through the collection of data to improve and develop services. Establishing smart cities relies on smart data – or in other words – cohesive connections between advanced technologies, a flow of data combined with relevant culture change, and administration processes will help to heighten Malaysia’s sustainable smart city development: a trajectory fit to meet the demands of the 4th Industrial Revolution era.
Speaking back in 2017, Hazmi Yusof, managing director, Malaysia and senior vice president at Frost & Sullivan said: “Communication service providers and network service partners play a key role in forming the technological backbone to roll-out smart cities. Singtel in Singapore and Telstra in Australia have laid out US$500 million and US$100 million, respectively, to enable smart city technology platforms and infrastructure. Telekom Malaysia in Malaysia plans to build a data centre and provide cloud computing and smart services in a technology park,” said Hazmi back in 2017.
He also said, “Connectivity will be a key enabler while designing an omni-channel experience platform across all touch points including online and mobile. Data from sensors will enable new technologies to integrate softer aspects, such as customer perception and citizen awareness.”
In the pre-pandemic era, Frost & Sullivan pointed to 10 cities in Asia Pacific that were posited to become smart cities by 202523.
Technology and governance will among key enablers for participants in the smart city ecosystem in Asia-Pacific, he said. “Several government agendas in this region are driving the building of smarter cities in Singapore, Japan, China, and South Korea. Investments are expected to grow from US$55.6 billion in 2013 to US$260 billion in 2020,” he said. “Eight emerging cities also have standalone smart city projects, which when scaled-up, can achieve the smart city status by 2030 and beyond.”
The analyst firm's definition is that: 'Smart cities are cities built on “smart” and “intelligent” solutions and technology that focuses on managing and improving its citizen lives in a responsible and sustainable manner.'
Together with critical importance of balancing the pace of urbanisation with the need to manage planetary sustainability, a smart journey will separate the winners from the laggards."
As part of its smart cities and inclusive growth programme, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2020, released a paper, which24, acknowledges the timeliness of utilising the benefits of smart cities as “particularly critical to help cities and countries manage and rebound from this unprecedented global crisis.”
Moving forward, Najib, in his recent Disruptive Asia interview25, asserted that, "Cyberview is one key thread in Malaysia’s smart city story", adding that the 'new masterplan has been designed to provide dynamic synergies between companies from various industries and entire value chains, addressing one of the gaps faced by businesses today: working in silos. Its four distinctive zones will optimise productivity and amplify growth with the three tech clusters to enhance liveability, ultimately transforming Cyberjaya into the centre for global tech powerhouses and promising startups.'
During 2021, Covid-19 related challenges were added prompts to Malaysia’s public authorities to embark on a track to refresh smart city initiatives using digital smart services to upscale service levels, citizen well-being, and especially important at this time – to forge the space for sustainable economic growth and recovery.
TM One, in accord with other industry players, sees the smart city concept pivot from the ‘nice to have’ to the ‘must implement today’ for Malaysia.
Furthermore, an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) paper in 2020, released as part of the organisation’s programme on smart cities and inclusive growth26, reinforces the timeliness of smart city development as “particularly critical to help cities and countries manage and rebound from this unprecedented global crisis.”
A consistent sentiment in most industry and public conversations is that the meaningful development of smart communities and cities to deliver real benefits to people and societies depends on highly collaborative public-private partnerships, supplemented by academia.
The year 2021's Covid-19 related challenges also helped to encourage Malaysia’s public authorities to refresh and accelerate smart city initiatives to maintain as well as upscale service levels, citizen well-being, and especially important at this time – to forge the space for sustainable economic growth and recovery.
The original version of this article was first published on Disruptive Asia. (https://disruptive.asia/pushing-malaysias-smart-city-development-2022/)
1. https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/smart-cities-market-542.html
2. https://mdec.my/what-we-offer/msc-malaysia/
3. https://www.cyberjayamalaysia.com.my/
4. https://disruptive.asia/actualising-smart-communities-in-malaysia-ceo-interview/
5. https://www.kpkt.gov.my/kpkt/resources/user_1/GALERI/PDF_PENERBITAN/FRAMEWORK/Malaysia_Smart_City_Handbook_21062021_Final.pdf
6. https://www.might.org.my/
6. https://www.might.org.my/
7. https://disruptive.asia/malaysia-refreshes-smart-city-aspirations-new-might-report/
8. https://www.smartselangor.com.my/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/SSAP-OFFICIAL-26Aug20.pdf
9. http://iskandarmalaysia.com.my/SCIM/
10. https://www.dbkl.gov.my/kuala-lumpur-smart-city-blue-print-2021-2025-2/
11. https://disruptive.asia/mydigital-malaysias-bid-to-revitalise-digital-economy/
12. https://disruptive.asia/mydigital-malaysias-bid-to-revitalise-digital-economy/
13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhqrGvsxNYc
14. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=AP47369521
15. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenibaraki/2022/02/27/unesco-international-research-center-spotlights-in-2022-global-top-10-outstanding-ai-solutions/
16. https://disruptive.asia/how-digital-malaysia-will-tap-the-disruptive-power-of-5g/
17. https://disruptive.asia/how-digital-malaysia-will-tap-the-disruptive-power-of-5g/
18. https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252477061/Will-5G-turn-Langkawi-into-the-worlds-first-smart-island
19. https:/disruptive.asia/closing-digital-divide-major-mission-for-itu/
20. https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/info/tsb/Pages/default.aspx
21. https://disruptive.asia/smart-city-models-overlook-people-in-them/
22. https://disruptive.asia/2021-smoothing-transition-smart-manufacturing-malaysia/
23. https://www.frost.com/news/press-releases/10-cities-asia-pacific-poised-be-smart-cities-2025/
24. https://www.oecd.org/cfe/cities/OECD_Policy_Paper_Smart_Cities_and_Inclusive_Growth.pdf
25. https://disruptive.asia/actualising-smart-communities-in-malaysia-ceo-interview/
26. https://www.oecd.org/cfe/cities/OECD_Policy_Paper_Smart_Cities_and_Inclusive_Growth.pdf
A step into Smart City: Tackling traffic congestion
As cities around the world reopen their economic activities, traffic congestion once again beset the life of city dwellers. One way to relive the "optimised" vehicle flow, as we briefly experienced during MCO phases, is through traffic lights.
TM One, the business solutions arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), has developed a system that can programme traffic lights to respond to real-time data collected by connected cameras and sensors. The Smart Traffic Analytics and Recognition System (STARS) employs a combination of cloud and edge-based computing and analytics to automatically adjust traffic lights to optimise the traffic flow through a junction. Alternatively, engineers can remotely monitor real-time information via the STARS IoT dashboard on a laptop or mobile device and alter the sequence of the traffic lights accordingly. The solution leverages TM’s mobile network to relay data from the traffic controller unit to the IoT platform.
The information collected by the system can also be analysed to identify any faults in the traffic signals, enabling field engineers to be deployed quickly to minimise traffic disruption. The municipality can predefine various events that will prompt STARS to trigger an alarm alerting the relevant teams, enabling any issues to be identified and resolved quickly and efficiently.
Real-world Deployment – Municipalities in Malaysia
First launched in 2016 in Malaysia, STARS has been deployed by local municipalities in Cyberjaya, Kelantan, Pengerang and Penang. TM One believes it could ultimately be deployed at approximately 1,800 junctions nationwide across Malaysia.
For drivers, STARS is reducing travelling time. For example, in Cyberjaya, the waiting time for the traffic along Persiaran Multimedia was reduced by 65 per cent. During peak hours, it would take approximately 32 minutes to drive from one end of the Persiaran Multimedia to the other. However, with the new system, it takes only 8 to 11 minutes.
TM One has now transitioned to STARS 2.0, which is able to analyse six months or more of traffic data to enable predictive analysis so that traffic lights can be programmed based on a range of external factors, such as weather, events and holidays, as well as real-time traffic data.
With the rollout of 5G connectivity in Malaysia, TM One had piloted the 5G-enabled smart traffic light solution in Subang Jaya city and Langkawi Island, as part of the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) Demonstration Project. The 5G capabilities allow the streaming of real-time video from road-side cameras to artificial intelligence systems that can estimate waiting times for each vehicle, count the number of vehicles, classify them according to type and recognise vehicle registration plates. Capable of detecting ambulances, police cars and fire engines, the system will be able to automatically adjust the operations of traffic lights to let these emergency vehicles drive through a junction safely.
Both traffic light junctions in Subang Jaya city and Langkawi Island were specifically selected due to traffic bottlenecks at peak hours, and with the pilot implementation, there was notable reduction of long vehicle queues for both junctions. With 5G connectivity finally being rolled out and ready for service soon, road users will definitely welcome the full implementation of 5G-enabled smart traffic light management.
Originally published and updated from: APAC Internet of Things Case Studies
The Majlis Bandaraya Seberang Perai (MBSP), which is the largest local authority in Malaysia, has made a great stride forward in its journey to revolutionise its customer service through digital transformation.
Despite limited resources and facing the challenge of covering a large geographic area, the mainland half of Penang, comprising 738 square kilometers with a population of 1,145,200 people, MBSP has set out to successfully slash turnaround times in managing citizens’ voice complaints and complaint collections. Incidentally, COVID-19 related lockdowns further exacerbated pressure on state councils tasked with the problem of effective customer engagement engaging, especially with utilisation of digital channels which had become critical in the 'new normal'.
Strategically, MBSP also needed to maintain the momentum of synchronising with the enhanced customer-centric goal adopted by the council's other departments and functions. The first step of MBSP's journey towards serving the customer faster and better started in 2019 when the “Digital State 2030” was launched.
Consequently, MBSP collaborated with TM One Business Services to benefit from business process outsourcing (BPO) services, which helped to establish a contact centre equipped with world-class solutions to build and improve customer service excellence. As a one-stop centre, MBSP Customer Experience Contact Centre (CX Premier) serves individuals and businesses by providing different services, including business, commercial and individual support, to facilitate the ease of doing business in Seberang Perai. CX Premier also serves as a vital link between citizens and community groups or organisations that work with municipalities at MBSP.
A milestone in MBSP's transformational journey. CX Premier delivered some immediate wins:
“The collaboration with TM One through their CX Premier has helped MBSP Call Centre improve the quality of service delivery and no complaints are dropped or missed. It makes MBSP more efficient in receiving complaints and delivering services to solve all the enquiries of the public”
- YBhg. Dato’ Sr Hj Rozali bin Hj Mohamud
Mayor of Seberang Perai
Given its motto of ‘Seberang Perai Aspiring City of Tomorrow’, MBSP is naturally committed to provisioning a first-class customer experience in line with expectations of today's digital first-world.
Despite the pandemic, MBSP must remain digitally connected to customers to help address their issues. Additionally, MBSP needs to integrate its array of different services under its umbrella into one single channel, which is more customer-centric. This entails a more strategic approach in interconnecting with other departments and functions within the council. Part of the journey entails overcoming security, training and business continuity hurdles in order to unlock operational benefits.
When MBSP made the strategic decision to turn to CX Premier to prevail over its operational challenges and to empower an effective, seamless digital experience for their customers, it was ideally positioned the council to facilitate seamless communications with the public within a new normal of pandemic related restricted social interaction.
On a broader level, the overall digital solution is helping MBSP to achieve its objectives by delivering the following strategic technological drivers:
TM One has played an important role as the data aggregator for MBSP by sharing business-related insights through quarterly business meetings. This information has benefited MBSP to improve the back-end operation towards improving their complaint resolution timeline through focused improvement strategies.
MBSP has been able to reduce processing time for applications and complaints, as well as improve response time to customers. The citizens are now able to obtain the services and assistance that they need in a more efficient manner, which is greatly benefiting them. The call centre also employs trained operators who are able to provide better customer service and this will enable MBSP to resolve the public complaints and enquiries more quickly and efficiently.
CX Premier is delivering exceptional customer service with performance levels exceeding previously committed targets. In addition to taking good care of voice transactions, CX Premier is also at the helm of managing digital transactions, which include e-aduan on a web platform, emails, e-pintas and itegur apps, among others. As well as expertly assessing and implementing the most appropriate technologies and processes, TM One addressed key areas connected to a more effective Service Level Agreement (SLA) to resolve complaint cases.
Today, 93% of the customer’s calls to CX Premier will be answered within 20 seconds. TM One has also actualised MBSP's digital interaction journey by managing a total of seven (7) different channels six (6) of which are digital channels such as email, social media, mobile applications, and web portal inquiries. An exceptional customer journey has been innovated on an integrated interactive platform of telephonic and digital channels.
Apart from this, our recent WFH strategy has helped MBSP sustain its customer service operations without any interruption throughout the pandemic period. The strategy has ensured the customer operation functions without interruption even after adhering to 60/40 workforce conditions by Majlis Keselamatan Negara Malaysia (MKN) & Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM). This approach has also improved the productivity of the agents with a safe and comfortable working environment.
With TM One Business Services taking care of operational aspects of MBSP’s one-stop centre, MBSP is now ideally positioned to focus on serving the people faster and delivering superior levels of performance. This success story is another stride forward in revolutionising MBSP's efforts to achieve its Digital State objectives, which is pivoting on putting its customers' interests at the heart of all of the city council's services.
Most of us know Singapore for its advanced digital economy. The renowned digital hub is also home to one of the most vibrant technology ecosystems in the Asia Pacific region. Leading technology companies, including FAANG — Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google have established a significant presence in the island city-state.
And for a good reason. Singapore’s pro-tech government contributed heavily to their current global standings. The Smart Nation initiatives, among others, have been rolled out to leverage technology solutions to maintain global competitiveness as a developed nation and enhance the livelihood of Singapore citizensi.
One area of national interest is robotics and how it has enabled the country’s vision for driverless vehicles in transportation. Singapore has been an early supporter of automated driving due to its constraints in land and workforce, and is already one of the most autonomous vehicles (AV)-ready countries globally, according to the KPMGii. In its pursuit to improve urban mobility, the government set up the Committee on Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore (CARTS). The committee, in charge of spearheading local AV-enabled land transport concepts, went on to sign an MoU with R&D agency A*STAR to set up the Singapore Autonomous Vehicle Initiative.
The government even established the first AV test center in 2017 to support the Center of Excellence for AV testing and research. In 2019, Singapore expanded its AV testing area to almost 1,000 km to cover all public roads in the west region. It also started a program to retrain 100 bus drivers as AV safety operators to serve three new towns with driverless buses.
With the third-highest population density in the world that will grow by 30% within 20 years, Singapore can’t keep up by buying more buses or creating more subway lines. In addition, Singapore has an ageing taxi driver population. Data from Southeast Asia’s Grab shows that Singaporean taxi drivers are unlikely to accept a passenger booking request that originates from or leads them to remote locations. The need for more public buses also highlights the labour gap as not many people fancy driving buses at night.
Therefore, Singapore turns to AVs to potentially fill the transportation need while freeing up road space, narrowing down the number of private vehicles and combating the issue of congestion and air pollution. AVs have also become a part of the nation’s land transport master plan to make Singapore a “45-minute city”. They will prove helpful in connecting the last mile journey. There are even plans to design roads in Singapore specifically for driverless cars. Plus, amendments to the Road Traffic Act and the TR68 draft national AV standards' publishing cements the fact that Singapore is more than serious about this.[iii]
The first trial for self-driving buses occurred back in 2015, and since then, several other attempts have been conducted, including driverless taxis developed by nuTonomy. The MIT spin-off technology startup conducted the world’s first public trial for self-driving taxi services in a partnership with Grab several days ahead of Uber in Pittsburgh. The company gave out several no-cost rides on a by-invitation-only basis within a 2.5 square mile radius in Singapore’s ‘one-north’ business district. The ‘robo-taxi’ services used six modified Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV equipped with proprietary self-driving software, integrated high-performance sensing, six sets of LIDAR devices – including one that constantly spins on the roof, and two dashboard cameras to measure changes in traffic lights and provide a 360-degree object detection view.
nuTonomy works closely with the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), which focuses on improving quality of life with technology. According to nuTonomy, Singapore is the perfect place for the technology, iterating that the regulatory environment, infrastructure, driving habits, traffic rules obeyance, and the weather could help the country reduce the number of on-road cars from 900,000 to 300,000iv. This would replace almost 780,000 traditional taxis while ensuring waiting times of below 15 minutes.
Other similar trials in Singapore involve driverless buggies in the Jurong Lake District and the autonomous shuttle bus from the NTU campus to Cleantech Park, among others. More recently, ST Engineering, SMRT and SBS Transit operated a three-month trial for their self-driving bus service that takes passengers around Singapore’s Science Park and Jurong Island during off-peak hours for only SGD 0.20 (USD 0.15).
There is no questioning that fast and reliable communication networks build the foundation for driverless vehicles to operate on. AVs regularly collect and capture environmental data from built-in cameras and sensors before making a fully independent decision on navigation, especially in unexpected traffic conditions.
5G is a core facilitator to this autonomous feature, especially its holy trinity of speed, latency, and reliability. High-speed connectivity is essential to build awareness of traffic information and enables AVs to chase the city’s ‘green-wave’. Here, quick data processing and pre-emptive decision-making are paramount, especially when AVs move at higher speeds. Ultra-reliable low latency communication (uRLLC) unlocks the ability for AVs to receive, process and convert data into prompt decisions, all within a fraction of seconds.
Rapid data processing is crucial in both short and long-distance vehicle-to-everything (V2X), as it helps amplify key safety AV features. AVs often use onboard connectivity solutions to link their computers to the manufacturer’s network. It is critical that AVs do not send all the data back to central data centres for processing as this consumes valuable seconds needed in making quick, autonomous decisions.
The deployment of 5G-enabled edge computing significantly minimises the response times in AVs, as edge servers can process time-sensitive data using 5G’s lower latency and high computing capabilities. The rest travels back to remote servers. This allows for new uses cases such as sending hazard alerts in car-to-car communication and enhanced battery efficiency as car analytics occur off-the-vehicle.
The challenge, however, is coverage. By nature, 5G frequencies struggle to reach areas previously in the scope of network generation, which means that more infrastructure is needed, especially on busy roads. Operators will need a mere 10x denser infrastructure to provide adequate coveragev. Hence, the mmWave frequency for 5G will be strongest in large cities over the next 5 to 10 years as telecom service providers install small cells at scale. Expect AVs to provide better experiences in urban areas as governments invest in smart city initiatives.
Automation of vehicles doesn’t happen overnight. Reliable and fully automated driving is the final stage of a rather lengthy process. Innovations such as intelligent assistance and autonomous steering will come and go, while many new features come online. But one thing is certain; 5G will be the piece that completes the puzzle.
That is exactly what Singapore is building on. GovTech has begun around ten trials under the 5G@Sentosa project, including those to operate autonomous vehicles using high-speed 5G links. The government body will look to increase the number of tests on 5G uses cases to 30 by the first half of 2023. As APAC 5G investments pick up (~78% of companies are investing or planning to invest within the next two to three years), the technology will continue to play a significant role for autonomous vehicles to become a reality, not only for Singapore, but globallyvi.
Sources:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/nutonomy-driverless-taxi-singapore/
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/singapore-launches-driverless-taxis-ahead-of-uber-and-the-us/
https://www.smartcitiesworld.net/news/worlds-first-public-trial-of-robo-taxi-service-in-singapore-869
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/others/news/worlds-first-self-driving-taxis-debut-in-singapore-1450096
https://pacetoday.com.au/first-self-driving-taxis-singapore/
https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/25/12637822/self-driving-taxi-first-public-trial-singapore-nutonomy
https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/1/12337516/delphi-self-driving-car-service-singapore
https://soyacincau.com/2021/02/02/singapore-tests-its-first-commercial-self-driving-bus-service-it-costs-less-than-rm1-per-ride/
https://www.mot.gov.sg/Transport-Matters/motoring/detail/driverless-vehicles-a-vision-for-singapore-s-transport
https://disruptive.asia/grab-launches-driverless-car-booking-service-singapore/
https://www.dsf.my/2020/07/singapore-tops-malaysia-in-self-driving-cars-acceptance/
https://www.cio.com/article/3294207/how-singapore-is-driving-the-development-of-autonomous-vehicles.html
https://www.eeworldonline.com/startup-bringing-driverless-taxi-service-to-singapore/
https://car.harman.com/insights/articles/5g-must-have-autonomous-vehicles
https://www.alcansystems.com/satellite-and-5g-an-essential-partnership-for-the-future-of-connected-cars/
https://www.rantcell.com/do-autonomous-vehicles-need-5g.html
https://www.telekom.com/en/company/details/5g-network-as-foundation-for-autonomous-driving-561986
[i] https://www.csc.gov.sg/articles/digital-government-smart-nation-pursuing-singapore%27s-tech-imperative
[ii] https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2018/01/2018-autonomous-vehicles-readiness-index.html
[iii] https://www.globalmasstransit.net/archive.php?id=43417
[iv] https://gadgets.ndtv.com/others/news/worlds-first-self-driving-taxis-debut-in-singapore-1450096
[v] https://www.alcansystems.com/satellite-and-5g-an-essential-partnership-for-the-future-of-connected-cars/
[vi] https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252508259/Singapore-pulls-ahead-with-public-sector-5G-trials
