Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, announced Tuesday the extension of its collaboration with Sarawak Information Systems Sdn. Bhd. (SAINS), an information and communications technology (ICT) systems integrator and solutions provider in Sarawak of Malaysia.

The duo said in a statement that this collaboration aims to further enhance Sarawak’s digital public services and promote sustainable practices through innovative cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions.

The collaboration was formalized with a signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) being exchanged between Alibaba Cloud and SAINS at Alibaba Cloud Valley in Hangzhou, China on Monday.

Building on the success of their existing collaboration on SAINS’ digital cloud solution since last October, Alibaba Cloud and SAINS will delve into new realms of cooperation, focusing on two key areas including digital public services and green AI.

The collaboration is poised to further accelerate Sarawak’s digital transformation and sustainability journey by leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s robust, secure and advanced cloud technology and innovative AI-powered solutions, according to the statement.

“SAINS is committed to driving Sarawak’s digital transformation to become a developed state by 2030, ensuring economic prosperity, social inclusivity, and environmental sustainability,” said Busiai Bin Seman, Chief Executive Officer of SAINS.

According to him, extending the firm’s collaboration with Alibaba Cloud aligns perfectly with this mission.

“Alibaba Cloud brings a wealth of expertise and a wide range of solutions, to fuel our initiatives which are crucial for our goals,

“The collaboration aims to create a dynamic environment that welcomes insights, expertise, and innovative approaches to advance Sarawak’s digital journey,” he added.

Kun Huang, General Manager of Malaysia of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, said a dynamic digital economy will require a stable and strong digital foundation, including digital infrastructure, digital talents, skills and inclusivity.

“As a leading cloud service provider, it is our great honor to deepen the collaboration to assist SAINS in its mission of delivering innovative and sustainable digital public services and creating effective solutions that benefit the digital transformation of Sarawak,” he said.

According to the statement, the digital public service initiative under the collaboration aims to elevate Sarawak’s public services by integrating Alibaba Cloud’s AI technologies to streamline operations, improve service delivery, and promote user-centric efficiency.

This collaboration will identify pilot projects within public sector operations that can benefit from AI, enhancing decision-making and resource management.

In addition, the two parties also plan to create a joint framework to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of AI applications in the public sectors.

In alignment with the green AI initiative, Alibaba Cloud and SAINS also aim to collaboratively provide AI-driven sustainability solutions and professional services to support the Sarawak government in progressing towards its sustainability objectives.

Initiatives entail creating custom sustainability toolkits, which will build upon Sarawak’s current sustainability initiatives to enhance efficiency in sustainability assessments by leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s advanced cloud and AI technologies, said the statement.

By integrating cloud-based sustainability solutions, this collaboration also aims to support Sarawak Government to set sustainability benchmarks, measure the carbon footprint and implement carbon reduction strategies as well as enhancing energy management within government infrastructure, thereby assisting Sarawak to deliver more sustainable public services and achieve carbon neutrality goal.

Last October, SAINS and Alibaba Cloud embarked on their collaboration by signing a MoU as SAINS launched its a high-tech, innovative and highly secure cloud solution powered by Alibaba Cloud in Malaysia.

The newly inked partnership demonstrates Alibaba Cloud’s long-term commitment to empowering Malaysia as a high value-added economy.

Recently, Alibaba Cloud announced Malaysia as one of its key markets for the establishment of additional data centers in the next three years.

These are part of Alibaba Cloud’s ongoing investment in accelerating Malaysia’s digital transformation with advanced technologies and streamlined solutions.

As one of the world’s leading cloud service providers, Alibaba Cloud boasts a network of 89 availability zones in 30 regions across the globe, offering a highly secure, scalable, robust cloud infrastructure to support global customers embracing digital innovation while keeping sustainability in mind.

Alibaba Cloud is also the first global cloud provider with twin local data centers established in Malaysia since 2017 and has launched its first cloud-based Anti-DDos Scrubbing Center locally in 2018 serving the region.

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