01 Jun 2022
TM R&D’s Customer-focused innovations recognised at the Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards
In-house smart solutions for Fixed Wireless Access connectivity and customer experience platform for frontliners awarded under “Connectivity-Telecommunications” and “AI-IT Services” categories respectively
Telekom Research & Development Sdn Bhd (TM R&D), the innovation arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), recently bagged two awards at the Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards 2022, organised by the Singapore Business Review.
The Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards spotlights exceptional companies who are technology disruptors that boosts Malaysia’s economy. TM’s Fast Internet for All (FIRA) solution was bestowed the award under the “Connectivity-Telecommunications” category, while TM’s Single Platform on Intelligent Customer Experience (SPICE.ai) won the award in the “Artificial Intelligence (AI)-IT Services” category.
Commenting on these awards, Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, Chief Executive Officer, TM R&D said, “I couldn’t be prouder of my team as these awards reflect their commitment to meet the fast-evolving digital needs of today’s customers and strengthen our position as a research leader in these fields. This recognition also reaffirms our efforts in building smarter digital ecosystems to facilitate the ease with which Malaysians can embrace a more digital lifestyle, while also bringing progress to the nation.”
FIRA was introduced as a way to support the government in providing Malaysians with quality access to digital connectivity nationwide. Aimed at offering better internet service to underserved communities, FIRA uses Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) technologies to improve connectivity in rural areas across Malaysia. Since its first deployment in Malacca back in July 2020, the solution has demonstrated promising success in improving download and upload link speeds compared to other broadband services. The solution has since been implemented at a rural school in Selangor and at Pusat Komuniti Desa sites under the Ministry of Rural Development. It has also supported an IR4.0 use case in Terengganu.
“FIRA is formulated to address two common issues: coverage and speed. The solution is capable to deliver connectivity up to 50Mbps within 5-8km range, compared to a traditional 4G cell within 1km range. Furthermore, with its quick deployment procedures, FIRA can help mitigate customers’ connectivity concerns in a cost-effective and timely manner,” shared Dr. Sharlene.
SPICE.ai, on the other hand, aims to assist frontliners in their daily task of addressing customer service enquiries and requests.
Dr Sharlene explained, “SPICE.ai consists of multiple components that cover different parts of an existing customer experience system. By integrating these components, frontliners gain a more holistic view of each customers’ profiles. The solution then implements real-time analytics to improve customer experience, giving frontliners the right information at the right time which allows them to deliver a better experience to customers.”
This analytics system has been deployed nationwide for nearly two years and becomes the primary touchpoint for more than 5,000 TM frontliners in most customer interactions across multiple channels. The performance of SPICE.ai has proven to be reliable and seamless even when integrated with more than 20 existing, standalone systems and was still able to relay the processed information through one single platform, on top of providing analytics and advisory.
Established in 2001, TM R&D is the innovation arm of TM Group focusing on creating smarter ecosystems to make business and life easier for a better Malaysia. TM R&D’s solutions are clustered around four pillars namely Intelligent Platforms, Data Brokerage, Connectivity/Tools and IR4.0/Digital Solutions. Growing from strength to strength, TM R&D has won multiple global awards and generated more than 2,800 Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and 1,400 digital assets to date. TM R&D’s innovations are developed in-house and cut across multiple industries such as Utilities, Retail, Agriculture, Healthcare and Education, with safety and productivity as its top priority.
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TM and Cisco announce strategic partnership to supercharge Malaysia’s digital agenda
This collaboration is part of Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration programme and aligns with MYDIGITAL to accelerate Malaysia towards becoming a regional digital leader Malaysia’s national connectivity and digital infrastructure provider, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) and worldwide leader in technology, Cisco International Limited, today announced a new strategic partnership as part of Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) programme to supercharge Malaysia’s ambitions to become a technology-driven nation and regional digital leader. Both parties signed two collaboration agreements to pave the way for key projects focused on helping the country develop its 5G innovation platform as well as accelerate technology adoption and transformation for Malaysia’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These initiatives were introduced at a signing ceremony presided over by YB Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima TPr Annuar Haji Musa, Minister of Communications and Multimedia; and attended by YBhg. Dato’ Sri Haji Mohammad Mentek, Chief Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia; YBhg. Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din, Interim President, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission; Imri Mokhtar, Group Chief Executive Officer, TM; Dave West, President, Cisco Asia Pacific, Japan, and Greater China (APJC); and Hana Raja, Managing Director, Cisco Malaysia. Cisco’s CDA programme is a strategic partnership with governments worldwide to accelerate their national digitalisation agendas and create new value for the country, its businesses, and citizens. The programme taps on the power of private and public partnerships across a variety of sectors, including national infrastructure, education, and smart businesses and communities, to bring digital solutions to national challenges. Digitalisation initiatives that are rolled out are made into replicable solutions to cross-pollinate and contribute to Cisco’s wider CDA ecosystem which is currently present across 44 countries globally. The CDA programme in Malaysia was unveiled as a collaboration framework between Cisco and MyDigital Corporation in May 2022. It is aligned with MyDIGITAL, the government’s Digital Economy Blueprint, aimed at accelerating the growth of Malaysia’s digital economy, with a focus on driving digital transformation in the public sector, building digital infrastructure, and cultivating agile and competent digital talent. TM’s partnership with Cisco focuses on three key pillars: digital transformation in the public sector, specifically education – which will be launched at a later date; digital transformation for service providers, focusing on 5G innovation, and digital transformation for SMEs. The two (2) collaboration agreements signed today were: • 5GaaS Innovation Platform Cisco and TM will build a 5G-as-a-service Centre of Excellence to springboard 5G adoption and develop proof of concepts for enterprises and vertical industries. Supported by Cisco’s full stack of Private 5G Core technologies complete with services and support, the innovation platform will demonstrate 5G enterprise use cases realized on the reference architecture to allow businesses to visualize and implement 5G frameworks and solutions that address unique business challenges. • Accelerating Digital Transformation of SMEs Cisco and TM will drive a joint digital solution seeding programme through a proof of concept for selected SME customers. These solutions will range from the Internet of Things (IoT) to business analytics solutions for SMEs in the retail, education, and manufacturing sectors. Successful deployments will be showcased to broaden adoption within the SME ecosystem. Cisco will also launch a digital talent development initiative focused on introducing digital talent to Application Programming Interfaces (APIS) and training on how to navigate its cloud-based network, Cisco Meraki, as well as other mentoring opportunities and hackathon events. “TM is honoured to be the first company to partner with Cisco in bringing the CDA programme to Malaysia, which has the potential to benefit enterprises, consumers and over 400,000 SMEs. This collaboration builds on TM and Cisco’s 17-year partnership and will be the first of many “Innovation Sandbox” collaborations TM will drive, in our efforts to realise the Digital Malaysia aspiration and 5G objectives for the nation,” said Imri Mokhtar, TM’s Group Chief Executive Officer. "Technology plays a critical role in powering an inclusive future for all. Our CDA programme in Malaysia is focused on turning the country's digital economy blueprint into reality by leading the development of core 5G technologies and infrastructure, accelerating the digital transformation of SMEs, and nurturing a pipeline of next-generation IT talent that will continue to support its national ambitions," said Dave West, President, Cisco Asia Pacific, Japan, and Greater China. "We are thrilled to embark on a new chapter of our collaboration with TM and the Malaysian government through our CDA programme and we're excited about the opportunities ahead."
YTM and Istana Negara equips higher risk communities with disaster preparedness
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Tune Protect enters partnership with Huawei Malaysia and TM
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