In Malaysia, the Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST) has partnered with IDT to conduct a smart city pilot.

The pilot includes validating the advantages of intelligent street lighting in reducing energy consumption, supporting smart city applications and making lights more interactive for residents.

The two parties are conducting two intelligent street lighting projects following a successful pilot in IDT’s Malaysian office.

The initial phase of the first project involves upgrading 92 streetlights in the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone in the Malaysian state of Penang.

The street lights are being fitted with weather-proof 6LoWPAN wireless mesh network modules and replacing their outdated sodium vapour bulbs with lamps comprised of much more energy-efficient and dimmable light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

The IDT wireless modules provide reliable connectivity to the city’s IT cloud infrastructure, enabling staff to completely control and continuously monitor the lights.

The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of December 2019.

The second project involves upgrading 36 luminaires in a parking area of the University of Science Malaysia in Penang. University students will use the upgraded streetlights to test a variety of smart city applications, including asset management and fleet management.

“Driven by the mission to develop an open city platform through collaborative partnerships, CREST is initiating the open city labs programme to develop innovative solutions for the betterment of the community, focused on smart living, smart mobility and the environment, which is in line with the Malaysia Smart City Framework launched in September 2019,” said Jaffri Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer of CREST.