HeiTech Padu Bhd wins IoT - Transportation Award in Malaysia TEA

The company introduced a smart parking system to improve parking convenience and parking collection rates.

HeiTech Padu Bhd scored the IoT - Transportation trophy at the recently concluded Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards, presented by Singapore Business Review.

A system that utilizes machine-to-machine enabled devices and IoT technologies through smartphone application and electronic wallets, Penang Smart Parking aims to provide users with real-time information regarding parking space availability, optimize parking space utilization and cut down traffic congestion.

The Penang Smart Parking app was also designed to enhance parking and compound payment convenience via online transactions. Its automation system was also engineered to minimise operation, maintenance and enforcement costs when it comes to parking.

As part of Penang’s goal to make the state an internationally acknowledged smart city, the award-winning innovation was specially designed for the Penang City Council and the Seberang Prai City Council to improve collection rates for the Penang state government.

The solutions cover the development of Smart Parking System for public usage via mobile applications on Huawei Appgallery, Android and iOS, the generation of an enforcement management module with Big Data analytics tools, the creation of a revenue management module for payment and collection, integration services with present systems of city councils, integration services with the Road Transport Department Malaysia, infrastructure arrangement that spans intelligent parking sensor installation, bay marking and time controlled signboard installation, infrastructure setup for development through cloud hosting and the installation, as well as commissioning of handheld device alongside mobile printer to enforcers.

Known as Malaysia’s first smart parking service, Penang Smart Parking covers 36,000 state-owned parking lots throughout the island. Its features include an e-wallet for digital transactions, safeguarded payments through a speedy, user-friendly payment platform, real-time updates on parking spot availability, real-time notifications for expiring parking tickets, and a parking lot history for all included properties.

The project was implemented in two phases. As of August, 5,619 sensors have been deployed around the Penang Island and 3,300 sensors have been deployed around Seberang Perai, with plans to complete the island-wide installation by February 2021. The Penang Smart Parking app is incorporated with capabilities such as locating parking lots, transactions via mobile apps or eCoupon, parking expiry reminder, parking time extension, view and pay compound and monthly parking pass purchases. They also managed to execute mobile enforcement applications.

As of 16 July, Penang Smart Parking has garnered more than 330,000 total downloads from Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and Huawei AppGallery. The project has also seen over 100,000 active users within six months of launching.

The second phase of the project will be conducted in February 2021 with the installation of around 15,000 parking sensors. There will also be upgrades to the Penang Smart Parking app as well as an enforcement of application features.

Ultimately, Penang Smart parking helps resolve the growing number of vehicles that contribute to the increased traffic congestion in Penang. It also assists in reducing the time spent searching for parking lots in the state and automates the issuance of parking compounds. Additionally, because of the project, payments for parking compounds no longer require to be accomplished over-the-counter at city council offices and establishments.

The Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards, presented by Singapore Business Review, was held via video conferencing throughout the month of September.

This year’s nominations were judged by a panel consisting of Justin Ong, Partner and FSI Financial and Regulatory Risk Leader at Deloitte Asia Pacific; Alvin SH Gan, Executive Director, Partner, Head of IT enabled Transformation (ITeT) at KPMG Malaysia; Hari Iyer, Executive Director, Advisory at BDO Kuala Lumpur; Michael Lim Jr, Managing Director at Crowe Growth Consulting Sdn Bhd; Jade Leong, Partner, Advisory at Ernst & Young Advisory Services Sdn Bhd.

If you would like to join the 2021 awards and be acclaimed for your company’s exceptional technological innovations, please email Julie Anne Nuñez at [email protected]