CYBERJAYA, Malaysia — Signage for IBM and Hewlett-Packard is emblazoned on looming grey office buildings along the wide roads of Cyberjaya. In smaller buildings down the street, developers sit behind large monitors, creating online games, mobile apps and popular 3D animated YouTube series.
Despite the presence of both big and small tech players, the Malaysian city, a 30-minute drive south of its cosmopolitan big sister Kuala Lumpur, no longer aspires to be the next Silicon Valley. Instead, developers say, it will be Malaysia’s own unique global tech hub — a testing ground for innovative ideas and a breeding ground for new ones.
But the journey from a former palm oil plantation to a cutting edge tech empire has proven as winding as the many looping roads that spiral from the highway toward the office building that houses Cyberview, the company behind the development of Malaysia’s self-proclaimed “smartest city.”
Read more in this series:
► How NASA and the UN are using location intelligence to build smart cities in developing countries
► What makes Medellín the poster-child of sustainable transport?
► Opinion: Digital revolution(s) — Cities on the frontline
► Taking the smart route to inclusive, sustainable and connected cities
► Opinion: World’s poorest nations stand to gain most from tech investment
About the author
Kelli Rogers@kellierin
Kelli Rogers has worked as an Associate Editor and Southeast Asia Correspondent for Devex, with a particular focus on gender. Prior to that, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has reported from more than 20 countries.