From detecting rising floodwaters to spotting crashes and clearing routes for ambulances, connected infrastructure is giving Malaysian cities the ability to respond to emergencies before a human operator even makes the first call.
At the centre of this push is the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which is working with state governments to connect existing urban infrastructure through 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), smart systems and real-time data.
The aim is not to build futuristic cities from scratch but to make the places Malaysians already live in more responsive, connected and safer.
Through its smart-city initiatives, MCMC is helping to build the digital infrastructure that allows authorities to monitor traffic, detect hazards, manage emergencies and respond to disruptions more quickly.
The difference could be measured in seconds and minutes such as an early flood warning, a faster ambulance journey or an incident detected before congestion spreads.
Universiti Malaya Institute for Advanced Studies senior lecturer and urban planning expert Dr Fong Chng Saun said the success of such efforts should ultimately be measured by what residents experience, rather than the amount of technology installed.
“From an urban-planning perspective, the ultimate measure of a smart city should not be how many sensors, cameras or digital systems it has but whether people experience a city that is safer, more responsive, more accessible and easier to live in,” he said.
That could mean shorter emergency response times, safer journeys, more reliable infrastructure and better information when floods, accidents or other disruptions occur.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment senior lecturer Dr Muhammad Ammirrul Atiqi Mohd Zainuri said conventional monitoring often relied on cameras and human operators to identify problems, creating delays between an incident and a response.
“The integration of 5G and IoT shifts this paradigm to automated, real-time action, primarily by eliminating response lag,” he said.
He added that for example, connected cameras could detect a collision and trigger an alert, while AI-powered traffic systems could adjust signals dynamically and help clear routes for emergency vehicles.
He also said the same principle could apply to floods and other hazards.
Fong said instead of waiting for residents to report rising water or a blocked road, connected systems could detect the problem and alert the relevant agencies, allowing them to respond sooner.
He added that this was where smart-city technology moved beyond simply monitoring a city to actively helping it respond.
“These technologies are to enable a transition from monitoring to action.
“A flood sensor, for instance, becomes meaningful when its information triggers an early warning, activates traffic management, alerts emergency responders and gives residents enough time to avoid a dangerous area,” he said.
Transport safety is another area in which connected infrastructure could have an immediate impact, said Universiti Putra Malaysia Road Safety Research Centre head Assoc Prof Dr Law Teik Hua.
“Smart city transport technologies may offer earlier identification of road issues and faster response times to address road incident concerns.
“That could include detecting crashes, broken-down vehicles, sudden congestion, floods, obstructions or faulty traffic lights, allowing police, ambulance services, road maintenance teams and traffic managers to respond sooner.”
However, Fong said the bigger ambition is for the systems to work together rather than operate as isolated pieces of technology.
For MCMC, the value of smart-city infrastructure therefore lies not simply in connecting devices, but in creating systems that allow information to move quickly enough to support better decisions on the ground.
For residents, the impact may be largely invisible.
They may never know that a sensor detected a hazard or an AI system redirected traffic – only that an ambulance arrived sooner, a dangerous road was closed earlier or a flood warning came before the water did.
Fong said the ultimate goal was not to create cities filled with technology, but cities better equipped to anticipate problems and protect their people.
“The smartest city is not necessarily the city with the most technology. It is the city that uses technology, planning and good governance together to protect people and improve everyday life.”
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Harith Kamal
Dieser Artikel ist neu veröffentlicht von / This article is republished from: The Sun, 08.10.2026
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