A Smart City Committee has been established to coordinate efforts of various agencies in the development of smart cities across Sarawak, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian.
The Public Health, Housing, and Local Government Minister, emphasised that building smart cities requires a concerted effort among various agencies.
“The tendency is always there for individual agencies or councils to become too preoccupied with our own areas of jurisdiction. A lot of smart city initiatives will, however, require the collaboration with one another.
“I believe this is why the Smart City Committee has been created, with the leadership of Sarawak Economic Planning Unit, and the membership of various ministries and local authorities,” he said in his speech at the launch of the Smart City Workshop 2024 held at a hotel here today.
Adding on, Dr Sim said the committee serves as a platform for addressing challenges, particularly those involving inter-agency cooperation.
“If you have any difficulty in your agency in the implementation of the smart city initiatives, particularly the challenges concerning collaborating with another agency, this committee is a platform that you can bring your issues to.
“We should try as much as possible to resolve such issues through this committee. Otherwise, it will be further escalated to the State Digital Economy Executive Council.
“I trust that we will be able to work very well together since we are in one Team Sarawak,” he added.
Dr Sim reiterated that transforming Sarawak into a smart city is a collective effort requiring the commitment and collaboration of all stakeholders.
“By embracing smart city principles, we are not only addressing the immediate urban challenges but also setting the stage for a sustainable and prosperous future.
“Let us continue to work together towards making Sarawak a model of smart and sustainable urban development, ensuring a better quality of life for all our citizens,” he said.
He also highlighted importance of adopting a top-down perspective for certain areas, considering the entire state of Sarawak. This approach, he said, ensures convenience for all Sarawakians, regardless of their specific divisions or districts.
“This is the case because Sarawakians are not limited by boundaries anymore. They travel freely across nations all the time, not to mention across the divisions within Sarawak. And they own properties across the state too.
“For this reason, I understand that we have harmonised many processes across the local authorities in the last 10 years, and have also digitalised most of these processes along the way. It is now time for us to take the next step to create intelligence out of our already digitalised ecosystem.
“The residents should be able to feel that there is some intelligence in the interactions between them and the authorities, especially the seamlessness of information flow between the service-providing agencies. That should be how a city becomes known as smart,” he said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jude Toyat
Quelle/Source: The Borneo Post, 11.09.2024
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