Premier: SMA, Land and Survey building big data for land in Sarawak

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Abang Johari delivers his speech during the SMA event.

KUCHING (May 24): The Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) and Land and Survey Department are collaborating to build up big data for land in the state, said Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

The Premier of Sarawak said the big data for land in the state will include things such as land topography and soil structure, and the extensive data collected would generate further information to assist the relevant authorities.

“One of the examples where big data can help is that when there is a hill situated right at the centre of the road to be constructed.

“From the information on the soil structure and the topography of the hill obtained, it would quickly assist the relevant authorities in determining whether a tunnel should be built to cut across the hill or the road needs to go around the hill,” he said during SMA’s Hari Raya and Pre-Gawai celebration last night.

On the policy to digitalise Sarawak, he said it is timely because global and national statistics have revealed that the digital economy is yielding fast growth.

He cited information from the Department of Statistics Malaysia showing the country raked in RM279 billion in terms of revenue from e-commerce in 2020, while the third-quarter of 2021 showed an increase of 17 per cent growth in the industry.

E-commerce contributed 11.5 per cent towards Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, compared to 8.5 per cent in 2019.

“An international report even said that the digital economy has been anticipated to contribute 25 per cent of global GDP, which means a value of US$25 trillion.

“The figures showed that e-commerce activities are thriving yearly and we believe that in 2022, these activities will increase further as some places that used to be internet blind spots may already be connected by this year,” he said.