GRM to set up four AI centres in Malaysia, Singapore
02 Oct 2023
Sarawak-based Global Resources Management Digital Solutions Sdn Bhd (GRM) is planning to set up four advanced artificial intelligence (AI) data centres in Malaysia and Singapore.
One each of the data centres will be located in Sarawak and Singapore and two in Peninsular Malaysia.
GRM executive director Slyvester Wong said the data centres will cater for high-computing AI servers with AI-ready high-capacity workload.
“At the heart of these AI centres is our commitment to green energy,” he said during the “Digital Transformation through Accelerated Application” seminar here recently.
Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, who opened the seminar, said the state authorities would study the possibility to supply green energy to power the proposed four Tier-4 AI data centres.
Johari said with Sarawak’s huge hydropower potential, the state could produce more than 20,000 megawatt (MW) of green power by constructing more dams, without having to submerge large portions of landmass.
This, he said, could be done through cascading dams which have been built in Europe, Tasmania and Nordic countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland.
State-owned Sarawak Energy Bhd currently owns and operates the hydroelectric dams in Bakun (2,400MW), Murum (944MW) and Batang Ai (108MW).
The company is currently building the Baleh dam (1,285MW), which is expected to come on stream in 2028.
Wong said GRM plans to lay two subsea fibre optic cables to connect Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
He said the South-East Asia Hainan-Hongkong Express Cable System (SEA-H2x) would be completed by end-2024 and would link Sarawak to two major Internet hubs in the world – Singapore and Hong Kong.
“This is a significant step forward in enhancing Sarawak’s digital connection,” added Wong.
SEA-H2X is a submarine cable connecting Hong Kong, Hainan, the Philippines, Thailand, Borneo Island and Singapore, with options to extend to Vietnam, Cambodia, Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia.
The SEA-H2X cable system, according to media reports, consists of at least eight fibre pairs between Hong Kong and Singapore, with a design capacity of 160 tbps (terabits per second) to meet the growing bandwidth requirement in the region.
Terabits represents one trillion bits and per second which indicates the rate at which data is transmitted.
The SEA-H2X consortium comprises China Mobile International Ltd, China Unicom Global, Converage Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc and PPTEL Sea H2X Sdn Bhd.
Wong said GRM’s seasoned technical team, backed by reliable strategic partners, will position the company to drive Sarawak’s digital transformation.
Sarawak Digital Transformation under Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 is to adopt and utilise digital technology to change the way services are delivered and businesses are conducted as well as to boost efficiency and productivity in the state’s economic sector.
Efforts under this enabler that will support Sarawak’s aspiration towards becoming a developed state include digitalising the private sector economy through technologies such as big data, Internet of Things, blockchain and enhancing digitalisation of government service delivery and infrastructure to drive ease of doing business.
The Sarawak Digital Transformation under PCDS 2030 goes hand-in-hand with Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy 2018-2022, which outlines 47 strategic actions under eight economic sectors and seven enablers to leapfrog into the digital economy.
Source: The Star
