I was invited as one of the panelists at Property Report Congress Malaysia 2016 (August 11, 2016) which discussed the following areas:
- How do we define a “smart city”? Which smart cities are the international benchmarks?
- What kind of infrastructure and public spaces differentiates a smart city like Cyberjaya?
- How can the “smart” factor impact on, or improve our daily lives?
The panel is moderated by Christopher Boyd, Executive Chairman, Savills Malaysia and the rest of the panelists are Mahadhir Aziz, Head of Technology Hub Development Division Cyberview Sdn Bhd, Dr. Renard Siew, Group Sustainability, Sime Darby Berhad and Dr. Thomas Tang, Managing Director, Kuala Lumpur Centre for Sustainable Innovations Malaysia.
During the whole Congress, a lot of things goes across my mind regarding how IOT and Smart City initiatives can play a role property development. The current economic situation doesn’t help the market, and every developer is trying to find ways to attract more investors and purchasers, offering a more affordable property for end-users and making the place more liveable.
When building a Smart City, it should be a citizen-focused approach. Inputs and feedback from citizens are utmost important to get their buy-in. Most Smart City deployments failed because they did not get the buy-in from the citizens themselves. And most of the times, they are not aware that such smart solutions exist.
Here’re some suggestions for Cyberjaya:
- Be a Playground for Smart City Ecosystem – The creative juices of the Smart City innovators need to be tap. Allow the Accelerators and Startups to showcase and test the acceptance of their innovative solutions. Provide them a platform where they can connect to bigger players that can support and nurture them. Allow them to access and log into some of Cyberjaya facilities – systems or databases.
- Platform to Market – We understand the issue of limited funding, but Cyberjaya (or Cyberview) can play a significant role in marketing the products. Nothing beats the words that come from the “horses mouth” in the form of brochures, presentations to investors, websites, blogs, articles, press releases, etc.
- Championing the Cause – There are many stakeholders within the city thus barriers need to be lowered or broken down. Decisions need to be fast and data need to be open. Appoint a “Chief Smart City Officer” for Cyberjaya that has the vision and commitment to bring the dream to reality.
Nothing beats the words that come from the “horses mouth” in the form of brochures, presentations to investors, websites, blogs, articles, press releases, etc.
About the Author
Dr. Mazlan Abbas is an IOT Evangelist, Thought Leader and CEO of REDtone IOT. You can follow him on LinkedIn at https://my.linkedin.com/in/mazlan/ or Twitter at http://twitter.com/mazlan_abbas . For further details, check out http://about.me/mazlan.abbas
