Maxis eager to play key role in Sarawak’s digital drive

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Gokhan Ogut

KUCHING: Maxis Bhd (Maxis) is eager to contribute to the development of Sarawak’s digital economy via Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) services and solutions, especially for the state’s anchor sectors of agriculture and manufacturing.

Chief executive officer Gokhan Ogut applauded Sarawak’s digital ambitions and Sarawak Multimedia Authority’s (SMA) efforts in helping to drive the State’s digital economy agenda.

“It is clear that there is a need to accelerate digital technology across many industries, and we want to play a role helping to advance this agenda,” Ogut remarked in an email interview with The Borneo Post.

Ogut recapped that at two key events held late last year – The Sarawak Agrofest 2018 and International Conference on Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Sarawak 2018, it showed how technology is not just driving the agriculture sector, but has the potential to really transform it.

“There is also a big push by the State Government to embrace digital technology in such sectors, and we want to be a strong partner to the government through our network leadership, digital services and connectivity solutions.

“One area that we are particularly eager to play an important role is in NB-IoT services and solutions, especially for the state’s anchor sectors of agriculture and manufacturing.”

According to Ogut, NB-IoT is a dedicated network for IoT technology which brings 5G-like capabilities albeit for lower bandwidth applications, today, and has the ability to support millions of connected things.

“The technology will power up Big Data and enable advanced data analytics to help make decisions in areas such as potential cost savings, improved efficiency and new business opportunities.

“Over the last few months, we have been reinforcing and accelerating our IoT agenda. In April this year, we launched the first commercial NB-IoT service in Malaysia, with Kuching being one of the key IoT market centres across the country where we activated our NB-IoT network.

“The launch essentially allows businesses to deploy industrial IoT applications to form new data streams, enabling actionable insights by connecting simple devices such as sensors.”

Currently, Maxis has activated 12 sites in Kuching to encourage local NB-IoT ecosystem development as well as supporting field trials with potential customers there.

Maxis also recently partnered with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to promote the ecosystem development of IoT solutions among companies to spur the Malaysian digital economy.

“One of the first of many exciting initiatives under this collaboration was the Maxis IoT Challenge, where we invited the public to develop IoT solutions to solve real business problems related to Smart Cities, Smart Manufacturing and Smart Agriculture.

“This was a great way to incentivise the industry, discover untappedtalent and for them to think differently about solving real life business problems using smart solutions, particularly in NB-IoT – whether it’s to make cities safer, improve yield efficiency for plantations, or improve manufacturing processes.

“The opportunities are immense. In fact, one of the three roadshows was held in Kuching. The fantastic response that we received was a testament to the passion and interest from talent here in using this technology for the future.”

Overall, Maxis sees a lot of potential in IoT technology for Sarawak, which can transform entire sectors to enhance production efficiency.

The group is looking at many opportunities to help businesses and industries with its connectivity solutions, especially in areas such as smart farming, agriculture and manufacturing.

“At the recent IDECS in Kuching, we signed an MoU with SMA for collaboration on IoT and NB-IoT initiatives. This will include co-developing expertise and sharing experiences and knowledge on the proven applications of IoT and NB-IoT concepts.

“Ultimately, our goal is to shape and accelerate the benefits of IoT adoption for all Malaysian businesses, and champion Industry 4.0 initiatives in the country.

“The opportunities that lie ahead are enormous, and we are just at the beginning of the journey. There is still a lot of potential for businesses to do things that was not possible just a few years back. Thanks to technologies like NB-IoT, it has opened a new set of possibilities.”