By Adam Azman
PETALING JAYA, May 15 — It is vital for Selangor to be included in the federal government’s Data Centre Task Force (DCTF) to ensure the state’s views and concerns are adequately represented amid the industry’s continued expansion.
State executive councillor for investment, trade and mobility Ng Sze Han said the Selangor government had previously applied to become a permanent representative in the federal-level special committee overseeing data centre development, but has yet to receive approval.
“Previously, the state government had applied to become one of the permanent representatives in the special committee or task force so that its views are properly considered in discussions and decisions involving data centres,” he said when met at the ‘CXO Closing Gala: The Final Ascent’ event held at M World Hotel here last night.
Ng was responding to calls by Menteri Besar Dato' Amirudin Shari for the federal government to include states in the DCTF, which is responsible for ensuring the sector’s sustainable growth.
Amirudin said he had taken note of concerns raised by Selangor residents over potential issues associated with data centres, including higher water usage, power supply instability and possible noise pollution affecting local communities, and that inclusion of state representatives in the task force would offer valuable insights to Putrajaya.
“If I may recommend to the Digital Minister (Gobind Singh Deo), all state governments should also be represented in this task force so that we can collaborate, plan better and analyse the exact volume of data centres needed nationally to drive forward Malaysia’s ambition of becoming an AI nation by 2030,” the menteri besar said at an event earlier yesterday.
Meanwhile, Ng said Malaysia is seeing encouraging progress in artificial intelligence (AI) development through initiatives introduced by the Digital Ministry.
He also noted that programmes launched to promote AI adoption have received positive response from both industry players and the public.
“I can see there has been progress and we have seen the Digital Ministry launching various initiatives to (promote) AI, and I think the response has been quite positive,” he said.
