MRANTI positions tech park as real-world testbed for emerging technologies

Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) is aiming to turn its Bukit Jalil technology park into a real-world testing ground for emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles, drones and smart city solutions.

Its CEO Ashran Ghazi said the initiative is part of the agency’s broader push to accelerate technology commercialisation by allowing companies to test and demonstrate solutions in a live environment.

“We are very open for companies that want to validate and showcase their technologies. We want the park to become a real-life living lab,” he said at a media briefing today.

The campus already features infrastructure to support technology trials, including a 12km autonomous vehicle testing lane and 5G connectivity.

Currently, MRANTI is exploring collaboration with Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec) to establish an autonomous mobility laboratory at the park in which the facility could support testing and certification for emerging robo-taxi technologies before wider deployment.

“We are looking at bringing robo-taxis in and running certification tests so that eventually we can work with the authorities to enable these technologies,” Ashran said.

Beyond autonomous mobility, MRANTI is also exploring drone-based monitoring systems and other smart city technologies that could be deployed within the campus.

Ashran said operating technologies in real environments helps companies demonstrate their solutions to potential customers such as city authorities.

“People do not want to just see a demo in a room. They want to see solutions operating live before deploying them,” he said.

MRANTI is also exploring the creation of a global technology sandbox alliance to help startups test innovations in multiple international markets which allows promising technologies to be deployed in other countries if regulatory or market conditions slow adoption locally.

“If an innovation cannot move fast enough here because of regulation or market readiness, we want to channel it to sandbox partners globally,” Ashran said.

He added that the approach could help ensure early-stage innovations reach the market rather than stagnating during development.