THE Penang Island City Council (MBPP) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IBM Malaysia in an effort to expand its smart city initiatives and enhance its delivery of public services in the state.
The MoU was signed by MBPP mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang and IBM managing director Catherine Lian in Komtar today and it was witnessed by State Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo.
Speaking at the ceremony, Jagdeep said the state government has collaborated with technology leaders, including IBM, to further improve the quality of the services such as solving city problems, lessening energy and resources consumption, and preparing the city for future growth.
“I believe that with the expertise of technology leaders such as IBM, such collaboration can help in our journey to become a smart state.
“In order to become a smart state, we (state government) have completed several projects while there are few other projects in progress or close to completion,” said Jagdeep.
Under the terms of MoU, IBM will provide advisory, technical expertise and consultation around four key technologies, namely cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) which are related to MBPP’s smart city implementation.
According to Yew, MBPP is confident that the collaboration with IBM will help transform the local government administration, accelerate economic growth and improve the quality of life of Penangites.
IBM has helped cities such as Almere (Netherlands), Lyon (France) and Nuremberg (Germany) to improve the quality of their public services.
Story by K. Thaarshenii
Pix by Darwina Mohd Daud