Iskandar Malaysia and UK West Midlands launched partnership to collaborate on sustainable transport innovation and data-driven mobility planning

The UK FCDO Global Future Cities Programme (GFCP) facilitated a successful visit by senior delegation from Iskandar Malaysia to UK West Midlands from 15-17 November 2021. A major milestone for GFCP achieved with the launch of a three-year partnership between Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) under the West Midlands Combined Authority, for collaborations on sustainable transport innovation and data-driven mobility planning.

Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between TfWM and IRDA

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Interim Managing Director for TfWM, Anne Shaw and IRDA’s Director of Technology  and Innovation, Maimunah Jaafar, witnessed virtually by IRDA’s Chief Exec, Datuk Ismail Ibrahim and British High Commissioner to Malaysia, H.E. Charles Hay.

The signing was followed by an in-depth discussion between IRDA and TfWM on common challenges faced by both authorities and a visit to TfWM urban traffic control centres led by TfWM’s Director of Network Resilience, TfWM’s data analyst and transport modeller also provided insightful presentations on their mobility data systems – all are highly relevant to the development of Iskandar’s Smart Integrated Mobility Management System (SIMMS) under GFCP.

Visit at the Transport for West Midlands’s Urban Traffic Control Centre.

The Iskandar Malaysia Delegation also met with eight other UK organisations and authorities to exchange knowledge and explore UK smart city capabilities. Among the key highlights were visit to Harper Adams University (HAU) in Telford, a pioneer in UK’s agri-engineering known for establishing the world’s first Hands Free Farm operated by autonomous tractors (jointly developed by various UK industry partners including Westfield Technology).