Kota Kinabalu: The development of a smart city is not solely the responsibility of the local authority, but also requires the involvement of Smart City Friends members, said Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) Mayor Dato’ Sri Dr Sabin Samitah.
He said members serve as strategic partners in shaping the future of the city.
Thus, the hackathon programme provides opportunities for Smart City Friends members to enhance their knowledge and skills in technology and innovation, he said during the closing and prize presentation ceremony of the KK Smart City Friends Hackathon 2026 at a hotel.
Sabin’s speech was delivered by DBKK Deputy Director-General of Management Services Faradillah Abdul Rani
(pic), who is also the organising chairperson of the two-day programme.
He said the Triple Helix collaboration approach adopted in this programme involved state and federal government agencies, educational institutions, NGOs and various strategic partners.
“This demonstrates that smart city development requires synergy and shared expertise from multiple stakeholders to share knowledge and experience,” he said.
He said DBKK wants ideas generated from the programme to be translated into real actions that benefit the community.
In this regard, he said DBKK has allocated a Mayor’s Innovation Grant worth RM20,000.00 to support prototype development and pilot project implementation.
The grant was won by a team of three members called Kamsatu.
He hoped more Smart City Innovation Ambassadors will be produced through the Smart City Friends platform to continue serving as strategic partners of DBKK.
A total of 150 Smart City Friends members representing 40 to 50 groups, consisting of youths, local communities, innovators, government agency representatives, as well as winners of the Kampungku Bersih Challenge, took part in the competition.
The programme supports the Smart City Friends Blueprint, Kota Kinabalu City Hall’s Direction Towards 2030, particularly under Strategy 5.2: Innovation and Technology.
