i-City Properties (i-City) will collaborate with China Mobile International (CMIM) to construct the country’s first smart green corporate tower in i-City, Malaysia No. 1 technology city.

According to Monica Ong, director of i-City, the corporate tower will be outfitted with 5G internet-enabled cameras and sensors to monitor the environment, energy consumption, and human traffic flow for data collection purposes.

She said artificial intelligence (AI) technology will be woven into the building fabric.

“This means that the energy used to power lights, air conditioning, and other electrical equipment can be tuned automatically based on the weather and the number of people inside the building. Resource planning for security and cleanliness too can be managed more effectively,” she said.

According to Ong, with enough data gathered, machines connected to the building will be able to identify and alert building management to peak hours as well as the number of cleaners and security personnel needed ahead of time.

“All of this is possible thanks to AI’s capabilities. This will improve sustainability and building tenant experience, which is a top priority, while also emphasising the environment and sustainability of our smart city,” she said.

Ong said with the 5G rollout this year, i-City will be working on a slew of AI enhancements to ensure that the ultrapolis maintains its position as Malaysia’s first and most progressive smart city.

The RM10 billion i-City is Malaysia’s first and only ultrapolis with a 400G capable high availability network that is ready for the deployment of 5G technology and has Multimedia Super Corridor Malaysia Cybercentre status.

Built on freehold land by I-Berhad, i-City is also integrated with a data park to meet the growing data bandwidth needs of its tenants. Since 2008, i-City has been running its first tier-3 data centre. The 70,000-square-foot data centre serves global ICT firms.

i-City will expand its data park with the addition of two more hyperscale data centres of 100,000 square feet each on 2.43 hectares of land to meet the surge in demand for cloud computing facilities brought on by the growth of the Internet-of-Things that 5G connectivity would bring.

According to Ong, the expansion of the data centres positions i-City to not only provide ready-to-deploy AI infrastructures to the i-City community, but also to improve the lives of people living, working, and visiting i-City through smart and machine learning connectivity.

Concerning the partnership with CMIM, Ong said that i-City is confident that China Mobile’s 14-year track record of developing energy-efficient technologies to address climate change through its “green action plan,” combined with its thought leadership in the metaverse space, bodes well for the direction that i-City is taking today.

I-Berhad announced a partnership with CMIM today, which is expected to further enhance i-City with the construction of the smart green tower.

Witnessing the signing ceremony between both the parties was Selangor state executive council for industry and trade Datuk Teng Chang Khim.

According to Jackie Chen Jiang Long, CMIM’s director of enterprise, the company is encouraged by i-City’s commitment to optimising the use of AI in environmental conservation.

“We look forward to working with i-City to develop innovative ICT-based solutions to help save energy and reduce carbon footprints to protect the environmental ecosystem,” he said.

Source: NewStraitsTimes, January 26, 2022