PUTRAJAYA: Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), eMooVit and Ericsson recently organised an event to demonstrate the use of 5G application in the development and deployment of autonomous buses in Malaysia.
Minister of Digital Gobind Singh Deo and Minister of Transport Anthony Loke Siew Fook were present at the event, which included a visit to the eMooVit lab and a ride on the autonomous bus leveraged by 5G technology.
Commending eMooVit, and its team of brilliant local talents, for leading the charge in autonomous vehicle development in Malaysia together with DNB, an agency under the Ministry of Digital, and its strategic partner Ericsson, Gobind said his ministry and the Transport Ministry shared a common vision for a Digital Malaysia. “One that includes a modern transportation landscape powered by next-generation vehicles that are safer, more efficient and more sustainable.”
He also anticipated the coming together of more ministries in similar programmes under the country’s digitalisation plans as it provides people-oriented services to meet the needs of the people.
Autonomous public transportation is being trialled and deployed in many cities across the globe, from Shanghai to Hamburg. In May 2024, the UK introduced the Automated Vehicles Act where we will see self-driving vehicles on its roads by 2026. Now, we’re seeing the same technology being developed in Malaysia by a Malaysian company. Each autonomous vehicle’s system is customised to the road and traffic conditions, passenger demands and local laws.
–WE