By Amanda L
KUCHING, Aug 17: Investors looking for land, industrial sites or development opportunities in Sarawak may soon be able to find the relevant information without first having to track down the right government officer.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said this was the intent behind Sarawak’s sovereign AI platform, which consolidates government data to support investment, development and smart-city planning.
Speaking to reporters after launching the Sarawak Sovereign AI infrastructure platform here today, he said the common data platform could bring together information on residential areas, business districts, transport networks and public transport to support more integrated planning.
“This data can be used for planning, including for us to develop smart cities, where all the data on where residential areas are, where the district and business districts are, and how the connections in the city are developed through a network, including public transport, can be developed through data obtained from the sovereign data platform,” he said.
The platform could also help investors identify suitable locations for agriculture, manufacturing and other projects before submitting their applications to the government.
“If they want to put a manufacturing plant related to biodiversity, they can enter our platform and we can show where the location is, how big the area is and what information is available,” he said.
Abang Johari said this would shorten the process by allowing investors to identify suitable sites first rather than searching for the relevant government officer to obtain basic information.
“They don’t have to search for the officer. Everything is there. That is the reason why we have this common platform,” he said.
The platform will also provide access to information on areas designated for agriculture and industrial parks, including the biotechnology park in Samarahan.
However, not all government data will be accessible, with the level of access determined by the nature and sensitivity of the information.
“There are strategic data that we can share and data that we cannot, particularly those involving security, and SAINS will determine what can be shared,” he said.
Sarawak currently has government data centres in Samarahan and Santubong.
On whether Sarawak was the first State to develop such a platform, he said he could not make that claim without information on similar initiatives elsewhere.
“But perhaps we are one of the states that have smart data storage,” he said. — DayakDaily
