Tech Weekly | 2 June – 8 June 2025
How a proposed national Smart City Command Centre is rewiring construction tech momentum
On 5 June the Ministry of Digital laid out plans for a National Smart City Command Centre (NSC³), pledging to knit Penang, Johor, Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur’s existing control rooms into a single, AI-ready nerve-centre before year-end. Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo told the SCEKL25 launch that the round-table of mayors will lock in standards for real-time 5G data, digital-twin road modelling and traffic-incident prediction. With Digital Nasional Berhad’s 5G footprint already covering 82 % of populated areas, the ministry wants contractors to stream IoT sensor feeds directly into the hub so potholes, cracks and flood risks trigger automated maintenance orders. Industry groups such as the Malaysian Smart Cities Alliance say the move will “end the patchwork” of proprietary dashboards and set a baseline for BIM-to-city-twin integration on public works next year. For builders, that means a common data spec is finally coming—cutting rework on as-built submissions and widening the market for analytics startups.
Innovation Snippets
1. Digital Maturity Gets a Scorecard
Master Builders Association Malaysia hosted the first Construction Digital Maturity Index (CDMI) workshop on 3 June, giving contractors a self-diagnostic tool that grades everything from cloud BIM adoption to site robotics readiness. The index, co-designed with CIDB, will inform 2026 grant schemes targeting lagging SMEs.
2. Penang’s Silicon Island Marine Viaduct
Penang green-lit a RM 390 million, 380-metre marine viaduct on 6 June, the first Malaysian bridge to mandate full precast digital rehearsals before pile-driving. The PIL2A team will feed LiDAR and tidal-current sensors into a project twin to optimise segment casting and barge logistics, slicing an estimated 12 % off programme time.
3. Twin Boom Forecast
A 3 June market brief projects Malaysia’s digital-twin software spend to hit USD 36 billion by 2033 (18 % CAGR), driven by smart-city and prefab demand. Analysts flag construction as the quickest adopter after manufacturing, with Kuala Lumpur and George Town topping deployment hotspots.
Global Radar
Swiss “White Tower” rises. The 30-metre Tor Alva in Mulegns became the world’s tallest 3D-printed concrete tower this week, proving robotic layering can handle load-bearing columns and alpine chill—insightful for Malaysia’s hillside resort projects eyeing onsite printing.
Biochar asphalt goes commercial. US-based Verde and Ergon signed an exclusive licence on 6 June to roll out low-carbon, biochar-infused asphalt that cuts binder emissions by 20 %. Malaysian highway concessionaires tracking the Green Highway Index now have a tested recipe to pilot.
Expert Insight
“Collaboration is key—once cities open their data, industry can tell us exactly which tech fixes the problem.”
— Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Digital, on unifying command-centre standards.
Stay tuned, and keep innovating on site!