The Selangor state government plans to develop its own artificial intelligence (AI) model using real-time data to reduce reliance on foreign technology firms while safeguarding data sovereignty.
State executive councillor for Islam and innovation Dr Fahmi Ngah emphasised the need for a cautious and pragmatic approach to AI adoption, ensuring the state does not become overly dependent on a single platform.
“Whatever AI we’re using, whether it’s Google’s Gemini model or something else, it’s still our data feeding the AI, making it more intelligent,” he said.
“But if it involves government data, I want to build some infrastructure to develop our own local AI models specifically for government use, using government data. We would maintain it and have our own infrastructure rather than just being a user,” he added.
Dr Fahmi also warned against the risks of over-reliance on foreign AI platforms, likening it to Microsoft’s software licensing model.
“It’s like using Microsoft, do you really own the software? If, for example, what if someone decides to flick the switch off tomorrow, then what?” he said.
At the same time, the state government is considering higher land premiums for data centres in Selangor, moving away from the conventional charges currently applied across industries.
Dr Fahmi said the economic spillover effects of these centres must be examined, with a proposal requiring them to allocate a portion of their storage capacity for state government use.
“Last year, I told our land and mines office (PTG) to study whether land premiums for data centres should be the same as those for an ordinary biscuit factory. At the moment, they are.
“So, should we take a bit more from these companies? And if they set up a base here, can we make it a condition that some of their storage capacity must be allocated for us?
“Either the increase in premium is offset by storage capacity at the data centre, or we take additional premiums, or we do both,” he said.
Dr Fahmi noted that additional data storage could fast-track cloud adoption for government services.
“In this age of AI, you definitely need cloud storage. If we do this, we will have a network of distributed storage across the state, which I think is brilliant.
“It would be similar to a blockchain distributed ledger network rather than relying on specific data centres. This means we can transition to the cloud much faster,” he said.
Recently, nearly half a million Malaysian civil servants, or 445,000 officials, were granted access to Google’s Gemini to enhance public service delivery under the AI at Work 2.0 programme. The initiative follows a successful pilot project launched in December in collaboration with Malaysia’s National AI Office.
Selangor Journal
