By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Sept 14: ‘Sarawak is the most ready State for digital transformation,’ says Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment Associate Professor Dr Noralfishah Sulaiman.
She said that is one of the reasons why Sarawak was identified as the case study State in Malaysia for UTHM’s MOBILISE and TRASCEND projects which involve data convergence and developing a digital platform for the shared use of local agencies, authorities to reduce disaster impacts on communities.
“We can also see a lot of digital white documents, strategies and programs in Sarawak, other than its Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy, Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC), and Kuching Smart City Master Plan.
“Sarawak also possesses a lot of technologists, digital experts in engineering, geo-spatial, construction technology, big data and AI (artificial intelligence), not to mention that Sarawak is the only State to have a digital village.
“When I first came to (Tegas) Digital Village, I met Datu Len (Talif Salleh), and he showed me everything here. I was so excited, and I said this is the right place (for the research),” she said.
Dr Noralfishah, who is also director of KANZU Research: Resilient Built Environment research group, also applauded Sarawak’s active participation and high support from local agencies as well as authorities in the research of disaster risk reduction.
She said with its many visionary leaders, Sarawak is currently leading in terms of data convergence to combat disaster such as floods and landslides digitally.
“Sarawak is the game-changer. So, congratulations to the State of Sarawak,” she said in her keynote address during the launching ceremony of TRANSCEND Sarawak 2022 at Tegas Digital Village here today.
TRANSCEND, also known as Technology Enhanced Stakeholders’ Collaboration for Supporting Risk Sensitive Sustainable Urban Development is a platform aiming to emphasise the most recent discussions and findings that investigates processes, governance structures, policies and technology that can expedite a transition towards a risk-sensitive and transformative urban development.
The RESILIENT4WRD Lab: Resilient & Agile Cities for Future is one of the TRANSCEND outcomes which will utilise the MOBILISE digital platform as a digital tool to support agency collaboration, data and insight sharing to mitigate disaster such as flooding in Sarawak. — Dayakdaily
