Google Cloud has on Tuesday announced strategic collaborations with Malaysian airports operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad and mobility technology startup Asia Mobiliti, who are now adopting Google Cloud’s open data cloud to deliver sustainable, digital-first travel experiences.
As Malaysia approaches a full year since COVID-19 entry restrictions — such as testing and quarantine requirements — were lifted for foreign arrivals, Google Cloud also unveiled new solutions and resources that are now available to help organizations in Malaysia innovate with generative artificial intelligence (AI) quickly, securely, and responsibly, and seize growth opportunities amidst the country’s tourism rebound.
“When we consider tourism’s economic impact, there’s often a focus on the contribution from core areas like aviation and accommodation – and rightfully so,
“But our analysis also highlights tourism’s impact on other sectors, from financial services to healthcare, to retail and transportation,” Google Cloud Indonesia and Malaysia Regional Director Megawaty Khie said in a statement.
According to her, the firm is committed to empowering organizations across industries with intelligent, data driven capabilities to make smarter business decisions and be part of an integrated ecosystem that delivers world-class visitor experiences.
She said the collaborations with Malaysia Airports and Asia Mobiliti, supported by its partners CloudMile and PointStar, will enhance their ability to serve travelers with personalized, digital-first offerings powered by their secure and scalable open data cloud.
“This also builds on our existing work with airasia Super App to help micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) grow their revenue streams,” she added.
To stay ahead of spikes in passenger traffic in and out of its five international airports and 17 domestic airports in Malaysia, Malaysia Airports — with support from CloudMile — has also migrated its digital real estate to Google Cloud’s open, scalable, secure, and energy-efficient infrastructure.
By using Google Cloud’s database management services to break down internal data silos, Malaysia Airports is enhancing its ability to push real-time airport and flight information to millions of passengers, thereby allowing them to enjoy smoother experiences from check-in to immigration to boarding to baggage collection.
“As our industry recuperates from the effects of the past few years, it’s critical that we find the ability to both optimize costs and ramp up our operations,” Vijaykumar Dayinde, Chief Information Officer, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad.
According to him, the firm’s choice of CloudMile as its longstanding partner and Google Cloud as its primary cloud provider gives the them the right combination of automated solutions and deep innovation expertise to deliver high-quality and safe digital-first passenger experiences at scale.
“Google Cloud’s open data cloud will provide a strong yet flexible foundation for Malaysia Airports to fulfill our vision of becoming a global airport group that champions connectivity and sustainability, and serve as the gateway for tourists to discover and enjoy all that Malaysia has to offer,” he added.
To enable seamless and more sustainable multimodal transport experiences for tourists in Malaysia, Asia Mobiliti, is also building and running its mobility-as-a-service platform for businesses and consumers entirely on Google Cloud’s open, scalable, secure, and energy-efficient infrastructure.
With support from PointStar, Asia Mobiliti has also deployed Google Cloud’s advanced analytics and business intelligence tools to give its business to business (B2B) customers access to real-time insights that help them better respond to commuters’ needs.
“The concepts of sustainable tourism and sustainable mobility are deeply intertwined,
“At Asia Mobiliti, our goal is to help digitize all modes of transport and connect them with each other, thereby enabling seamless and on-demand multimodal transport experiences,” said Ramachandran Muniandy, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Asia Mobiliti.
While tourists tend to be the biggest consumers of multimodal transport services, he opined that citizens stand to benefit too.
“An effective multimodal public transport system reduces the need for private or single occupancy vehicles. This then translates to reduced road congestion and carbon
emissions,
“It was a clear choice for us to build our platform on Google Cloud’s open data cloud, given its leadership in data science and it being the only cloud provider that is powering its infrastructure and services using 100 percent renewable energy,” he added.
To help organizations innovate with generative artificial intelligence (AI) quickly, securely, and responsibly, and seize new growth opportunities amidst Malaysia’s tourism rebound, Google Cloud has also unveiled new generative AI solutions and resources for businesses in Malaysia.
To make career paths in generative AI more accessible to individuals, Google Cloud has made ten generative AI skills development courses available at no cost under its Cloud Skills Boost Program.
The firm has also announced the general availability of Generative AI support on Vertex AI to help organizations accelerate their AI journeys.
To support more seed to Series A startups in Malaysia who use AI as the core technology to develop primary products or solutions, the Google for AI Startups Cloud Program is also now available to cover their cloud costs of up to $350,000 over two years.
“Generative AI will have a profound impact on community and commerce,
“By making new skilling courses, pre-trained models, developer-friendly tools, and startup support available in Malaysia, Google Cloud is reinforcing its commitment toward empowering organizations of all sizes to build and deploy their own generative AI applications with ease and speed, while protecting their data, applications, and users,” said
Khie.