Single smart card crucial to Malaysia becoming smart city hub - expert

Riyaz Ahamed, University Malaya-Wales Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics International lecturer, said another major challenge was to collaborate and share data that can be accessed through a single efficient system.

"By using this card, people can go cashless but in order to do so a policy change by the government and authorities is very crucial," he said to Bernama on the sidelines of the Greater KL and Smart City Summit 2017 here.

Riyaz said it was also vital to adjust the existing infrastructure with the new system and technology, for instance, in placing smart television sets and other new technological devices.

"Building new infrustructure is already challenging but changing the existing one is actually more difficult for a smart city transformation since we cannot replace a whole housing area with a new one," he said.

Malaysian Institute of Architects Council Member Ar Mustapha Kamal Zulkarnain said the improvement of education areas was also crucial to achieving the smart city hub ambition because it involved development of local technology.

He said youngsters must be encouraged to pick up technical skills so that they could learn from other countries and come up with innovations.

"This is an added value to the university that will help them to grow and modernise existing infrastructure," he said.

Malaysia's ambition to become a smart city hub for the Asia Pacific has come a long since the Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley area was designated as a Key Economic Area under Malaysia's Economic Transformation Programme.