Today, a collaboration took place between UTeM, MMU, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Telekom Malaysia (TM) and Jabatan Belia dan Sukan Melaka (JBS). We have officially formed a platform named the Melaka Artificial Intelligence of Things (MAIoT).
Internet of things (IoT) is no longer something we are unfamiliar with. We understand what IoT can do to our lives, where important data can be gathered via innovative ways, enhancing not just our everyday household appliances and personal devices. With the help of data, we can organise and present info that were hard to grasp or see with our own eyes.
Smart city, smart homes, digitised & digitalised society, AI powered system, big data, cloud access etc are all possible outcomes of today's technology. What more possibilities can we further explore by consolidating artificial intelligence into the data?
I believe that for our nation to prosper, we need to understand the economy of technology advancement, in which three aspects -- tech/product, talents, and market demand -- play important roles.
It is not enough for the government to invest billions of Ringgit (that is if we even have billions of Ringgit to begin with) to invent & produce something that the general public doesn’t understand or appreciate; we cannot expect the public to actively demand IoT and contribute to its development without first laying the groundwork.
We need to create a sustainable ecosystem, where there will be:
1) talents comprised of those who are interested, committed and curious in making a difference to the world via technology
2) enough coaching to those talents, and at the same time consolidate the efforts to transform great ideas into social, economical and commercial values (youth entrepreneurship)
3) good amount of awareness and interest among Malaysians so that there will be a ready acceptance and understanding on how IoT can better our lives.
With the first ever AIoT platform formed in Malaysia, I hope it becomes a gateway to an advanced nation equipped with good tech, sustained and continuously improved by smart communities.