The hidden potential of IoT is slowly being unveiled before our eyes.
Technology has come a long way in terms of innovation but it still holds onto its real value of improving our daily lives. We’re expecting technology to continue becoming even more ubiquitous, and it’s no surprise that many countries are gearing up towards transforming their metropolises into smart cities.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has been one of the key players in expanding the IoT scene in our local community. From organising hackathons to come up with smart solutions to providing resources for smart sensors placed around Cyberjaya, they’ve helped the local tech scene stride forward into the future.
Their efforts are not in vain. Our scene is growing and here are 8 Malaysian startups who have taken IoT and implemented it into their businesses to help modernise our local community and bring us towards a digitally integrated lifestyle and workplace.
1) Future Integrated Networks
I’m sure many are familiar with the term “smart home” or “smart living” as some of you call it. It refers to a house where a number of interconnected electronic devices and home appliances are controlled or programmed to perform certain actions, without needing any input from a human.
Future Integrated Networks (FIN) specialises in this through their network system. Users can download the FIN App on any smartphone which will connect to the FIN Server where a secure one-to-one authentication is established with a FIN Gateway’s unique Cloud ID.
This means that all the commands will be sent via a secure connection back to the home where the FIN Gateway will receives those commands via WiFi and communicate with all the connected appliances using a frequency called ZigBee Radio Frequency Protocols.
So long as the user has the smartphone with the FIN app on it, they’re able to programme daily schedules to automatically activate and deactivate appliances. One use for this would be to switch lights on and off remotely, which could finally help ease your mind of that question, “Did I remember to turn everything off before leaving the house?”
2) DFAutomation & Robotics
The manufacturing industry is possibly one that makes the most use of IoT in this day. Experts have even predicted that Smart Manufacturing can be considered as the next Industrial Revolution.
DFAutomation and Robotics is a local automation company that focuses on creating and supplying Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) for various industrial and commercial use.
An AGV is basically a “mobile robot” that relies on sensors to guide its direction and can be programmed to transport cargo from one location to another automatically through data sharing from the sensors and the smart equipment.
The AGV has been tested and shown to be able to transport many materials such as pallets, carts, trolleys, and containers. Industries that could highly benefit from these would include manufacturing, automotive and warehousing to name a few.
3) Lockswitch
Lockswitch is a local company using IoT to build up a secure and safe system for a diverse range of assets. It leverages on the power and connectivity of the smartphone and the cloud to provide a control solution.
Their Bluetooth controller is built with both physical and network security features that can cater to a lot of applications. It can be used to provide security on doors, vaults, gates, and more. The encrypted data shared between the Bluetooth controller and their web based application allows the user to monitor and access the security system whenever needed.
This smart system is an innovative way to manage and monitor staff and vendor access into assets to improve the overall security. It also helps minimise operational setbacks such as lost keys or cards and broken locks.
4) Redtone IoT
REDtone International Bhd is an integrated telecommunications service provider catering to niche market segments. Their venture into the IoT and Big Data scene is through two of their services which cater towards Smart City Solutions.
CitiSense is their cloud-based cluster that acts as an anchor point for any IoT application and offers tools for storage, retrieval and analytics for Big Data applications. They also have the CitiSense portal that displays all the citizen-reported cases of city facilities malfunctioning.
CitiAct focuses more on the citizens. They have a mobile app that allows the citizens to report various issues to the local council where the reports will then be routed automatically to the relevant authorities.
The CitiAct dashboard is a comprehensive visualisation tool for monitoring the effectiveness of the local authorities while the CitiAct contractor app is web application that offers greater ease for on-site contractors to resolve reports assigned to them by city councils.
So these combined make for efficient communication between citizens and the authorities simply through the means of data sharing and analysis.
5) TapWay
It seems there are still a number of offline businesses that haven’t jumped on board the IoT and big data train. Traditional business owners still rely on gut instincts when it comes to making decisions which is risky compared to having analytics on hand.
Tapway specialises in providing consultation services to businesses by showing them methods using both Big Data and IoT to leverage off. They help businesses analyse these two aspects to provide their customers a greater experience.
Basically, they are able to collect data and analyse customer behaviours for specific shoplots, and give information on when traffic is at its peak, how many potential customers walk past the shop and even track how customers move in the shop and how long they stay.
6) Pipeline Network
Although the idea of IoT is growing, there are still many industries and companies that may seem a little unsure on how to properly unleash its true potential and make use of the benefits that come with this.
Pipeline Network helps companies implement the benefits of IoT through their connectivity and data management platform. They offer the service of doing a live demonstration to show how their platform can ensure the IoT services run reliably, securely, and at the lowest cost in order to improve your business.
Their goal is to make everything smarter by using embedded machine learning on their IoT wireless network.
7) BorderPass
Though travel is getting more efficient and we can get to distant countries much quicker compared to in the past, it all ends up being pointless if we all still end up having to wait over an hour at immigration.
BorderPass is a startup that is trying to address this issue by providing their services to ASEAN nationals through ASEAN airports and helping to expedite the immigration queue. They replace paper immigration forms with online profiles, sent to the destination country in advance of travel. Pre-cleared passengers get to skip the immigration queue and use a BorderPass automated gate instead.
How this is done is users will get an invitation to join the programme from their frequent flyer program. Once they accumulate enough travel history, they can join BorderPass. Details will be ported into their BorderPass accounts.
When people make a booking on their platform, BorderPass is able to transfer the booking details to the destination country so the experience will be seamless.
The startup is gearing to properly launch in national airports by this year.
8) PlantOS
Technological innovation in agriculture is nothing particularly new, what with farmers going from the first gas-powered tractor in the 1800s to using satellites to help their planning today.
So in order to meet the demand of our ever-growing population and ensuring enough food is produced, farmers have resorted to IoT in order to maximise their effectiveness.
PlantOS is a new startup focusing on smart farming. Their system combines video analytics with community driven insights on the agricultural scene to enable autonomous controlled-environment agriculture computers to operate digital farms.
Their service includes machines that can adapt to aeroponics, aquaponics, and hydroponics. The team are currently working with MIT CityFarm on Machine Learning applications to form algorithms and templates for various types of plants.
Their website is currently still in beta phase but they are hoping to launch their products soon.
Feature Image Credit: clicket.com