The City Brain by Alibaba Cloud, which is being carried out on a trial basis in Kuala Lumpur, is expected to be rolled out to other parts of Malaysia after its pilot project is completed.

The Malaysia City Brain initiative, carried out in collaboration with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, is a significant milestone as it’s the first time for the solution to be adopted overseas.

City Brain is developed on Alibaba Cloud’s robust cloud computing infrastructure and will support Malaysia’s digital transformation with cloud technology and artificial intelligence.

Alibaba Cloud president Simon Wu said that every city faced similar problems especially in terms of traffic woes, and the City Brain was aimed at shaping a more modern and convenient transportation system.

"The scale of network is expanding rapidly, but traffic demand varies in space and time," he said during the Alibaba Cloud Conference in Hangzhou, China, today.

Wu said that by leveraging on cloud computing and artificial intelligence, the system could collect data from the traffic pattern, hence improving the city's management system, especially in transportation.

The City Brain in Kuala Lumpur, announced last year, is currently monitoring and collecting data on traffic movement especially around the city centre.

The rollout was in collaboration with ride-hailing application Grab and MDEC.

Meanwhile in Hangzhou, where the city brain was first implemented in 2017, the programme is now moving into the second phase.

"Traffic in the city has improved tremendously since the implementation and has reduced emergency response time. The City Brain will also centralise information on energy, construction and emergency rescue," he added.

The programme will encompass five core elements, namely 5G networks, high positioning system, high precision driving map, electronic signs, traffic operation and control centre and integrated application, all aimed at creating a smart expressway.

"A smart car itself could not be fully utilised if the infrastructure does not support it," said Alibaba A.I. Labs chief scientist Wang Gang.

He added that it would be more economical if the sensor that captured traffic flow was installed to the infrastructure rather than installing it in individual cars.

"In order for a city to transform, it needs to have the support from infrastructure. If not, it would be a waste," Gang added.

- Bernama