TM One’s commitment to delivering enterprises’ NEXT advantage was recently amplified with the launch of the TM One Sandbox, which aims to accelerate the digitalisation and automation of businesses, communities and the government.

TM One executive vice-president Shazurawati Abd Karim explains that the TM One Sandbox will be instrumental in accelerating and aggregating smart services and IR 4.0 solutions to propel Malaysia’s digitalisation and automation forward.

“This platform aims to improve the availability, accessibility and affordability of technologies for all enterprises and the public sector to drive long-term sustainability and digital progress. In line with TM’s role as the enabler of Digital Malaysia, the innovations curated through this platform will contribute positively to the wider Malaysian society and the country’s aspiration to become a technologically advanced country,” she says.

The TM One Sandbox comprises three key components: an innovation platform, innovation lab and market access, which will help increase solution velocity, scalability and participation.

The innovation lab will provide a co-creating space where businesses can brainstorm, ideate, validate and test their solutions, leveraging cutting-edge technology, resources and expertise.

Market access, on the other hand, will facilitate networking and branding opportunities for customers and stakeholders, paving the way for the commercialisation of these solutions.

Through these features, the TM One Sandbox enables a collaborative and participatory approach that encourages stakeholders in the technology industry to work together towards sustainable and inclusive progress, leveraging the insights, expertise and resources of more than 80 registered partners from TM One’s 5G Sphere programme.

The TM One Sandbox launch event was an opportunity for customers to learn about the programme and an avenue for thought leadership, with more than 130 engineers, innovators and technologists attending the official kick-off in Cyberjaya. The launch also included 13 showcases featuring customer applications and innovative solutions to power the growth of smart cities and smart industries such as healthcare and manufacturing.

Bringing together experienced professionals from the 5G industry, Nor Hisham Md Nordin, TM One’s general manager for mobile and wireless, moderated an insightful panel session on global use cases and the impact of this new technology. The panellists consisted of an impressive blend of expertise — Preetha Nadarajah, chief technology officer at Nokia Malaysia; Danny Yap from Huawei’s Business and Network Consulting department; Ir Ts Mohan Dass Albert, chief technology officer at ZTE Corp; and Deep Prakash, head of enterprise business of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

During her sharing, Preetha emphasised that the global tailwinds of digitalisation, deglobalisation and decarbonisation offered opportunities for Malaysia to attract investments by placing 5G at the front and centre of its digital growth potential. She believed that Malaysia needed to be more competitive with its Asean and Asian counterparts to keep up with regional market shifts, and shared an example of Australia’s new carbon tax regulation, known as the Safeguard Mechanism, which encourages technology investments for decarbonisation. Preetha suggested that the business case is changing for consumers, with carbon taxes in Malaysia also an imminent part of the future and digitalisation investments serving to incentivise decarbonisation.

Mohan Dass added that 5G’s network slicing feature sets it apart from previous technologies and is highly applicable to the current demands in industrial applications. With 5G being the first standardised technology developed for industry, organisations should take the opportunity to invest, develop and transform their industrial applications, he added. He also emphasised that a change in mindset was needed to embrace new platforms, services and applications, and that partnerships between device manufacturers, vendor infrastructure providers and industry players would bridge the knowledge gap into how technology can increase efficiency and improve the full spectrum of operations and delivery.

Speaking about the availability of actual 5G use cases, Yap highlighted that most industries globally have not yet leveraged the use cases to their benefit. One of the challenges in Malaysia, he shared, was in developing use cases suitable for the Malaysian market and focusing on specific areas of growth. He shared that there was a significant need to develop tailored solutions for Malaysia’s market and improve collaborations within the ecosystem to develop 5G technology and use cases across diverse industries. He also noted that there was a significant opportunity in Malaysia for developing use cases suitable for smart ports, smart cities, manufacturing, healthcare and other areas.

Meanwhile, Deep talked about the importance of cybersecurity and why enterprises must consider 5G security as a key factor in their digital adoption roadmap. 5G’s cloud-native architecture, he explained, brings with it new security features, such as private networks and containerisation, which help secure data and detect threats like malware attacks faster than traditional technologies could. The increased flexibility and control over data would also help enterprises trust that the data and traffic within their system is secure, providing them with greater confidence when delivering solutions to customers.

TM One also invited two existing customers who have embraced innovation in their transformation roadmap to share their journeys at the event. Speaking about smart cities, Ahmad Jamzuri, director of the Engineering Department at Majlis Perbandaran Kuala Selangor, discussed how investing in a smart traffic light system optimised the traffic flow and reduced congestion for commuters, improving the quality of life for everyone living within that city. The project resulted not only in reduced travel times, but also lower carbon emissions — aligning the city to its sustainability goals.

Sharing his experiences in smart agriculture, Shoma Tsubota, director of Farmy Sdn Bhd, outlined the challenges of melon production via a hydroponic system. He shared how TM One’s smart agriculture IoT platform enabled Farmy to leverage automated monitoring capabilities from mobile devices and irrigation systems, with dashboard-visible fertiliser readings. This technology gave them real-time insights into their farm’s output while reducing manual calibration times — freeing up valuable resources to focus on other tasks and providing peace of mind that everything was running smoothly.

The TM One Sandbox has significant potential to revolutionise the technology industry. As technology is dynamic, TM One Sandbox’s approach enables stakeholders to identify challenges, emerging trends and opportunities in the sector, leading to innovative solutions.

Embracing the latest technologies is essential for businesses that want to remain competitive and sustainable. Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, cybersecurity and 5G can provide businesses with valuable insights, optimise operations and enable new applications and services. Furthermore, progressive technology supports the growth of the digital economy.

Companies that want to provide high shareholder returns need to pivot their future plans on growth and demonstrate strong operational capabilities that enable agility and resilience, powered by technology and innovation.

Committed to enabling customers’ digital advancement, TM One partners with the best technology providers to deliver access to the right technologies and resources to drive this innovation.

At TM One, we deliver your NEXT advantage today. The time for action is now. To find out more about the TM One Sandbox programme and successful use cases, visit https://www.tmone.com.my/5g/