MRT Corp, Putrajaya and Iskandar were named winners of the GeoInnovation Award at the country’s largest geospatial event, the Esri Malaysia User Conference held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on 25 October 2018.
The GeoInnovation Award recognises both public and commercial organisations for their innovative use of geospatial technology in addressing real-world challenges in industries and communities.
The recipients of the prestigious award include Perbadanan Putrajaya, Jabatan Kerja Raya Sabah, Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd, Bahagian Geospatial Pertahanan, Polis Diraja Malaysia, U Mobile Sdn Bhd and Majilis Bandaraya Iskandar Puteri.
“This year’s GeoInnovation winners are serial innovators in their respective industries. They comprise men and women adept to driving digital transformation – the people whose work embodies smart city entrepreneurialism,” Esri Malaysia CEO CS Tan said.
“They tested the bounds of what geospatial technology can do to fulfill a desire or need in their community. In addition, their use of the technology has also enabled them to solve some very pressing and real problems, for which there are no traditional solutions,” he said.
MRT Corp for example, has rolled out the first cloud-based GIS deployment in Asia to support the construction of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line (SSP Line) which comprises of 35 stations - 11 of them underground - and is targeted to be completed by 2022.
“Their forward-thinking vision of implementing a cloud-based GIS has helped their project planners and engineers achieve more optimized designs, enhanced project execution and reduced risk exposure,” CS Tan said.
“This also ensures we are able to sustainably design infrastructures to meet the present and future needs of the SSP Line which will serve a corridor of around 2 million people from Sungai Buloh to Putrajaya.”
Another great example is Bahagian Geospatial Pertahanan’s use of geospatial technology to support first responders during a flood disaster.
This initiative has demonstrated the importance of using geospatial solutions to support critical search and rescue operations in times of a disaster. By using geospatial technology, BGSP saw an enhanced collaboration between all agencies involved in the disaster response. They also saw an improved situational awareness among stakeholders, as their geospatial platform gave them the full picture of all operations happening on the ground.
“BGSP’s actionable leadership has proved that using the right technology tailored to a specific requirement can make a difference in saving lives during a disaster,” he said.
“We are honoured to have worked with these organisations in their respective journeys towards digital transformation, and are excited to see them create more innovative applications that help run communities and some of our country’s most progressive organisations,” CS Tan concluded.