MELAKA DIGITAL VILLAGE INITIATIVE A GAME-CHANGER FOR RURAL ADDRESS MANAGEMENT

MELAKA, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- More than six decades after independence, Malaysia continues to progress, with technology now playing a pivotal role in the daily lives of people in both urban and rural areas.

To ensure that technological progress benefits everyone, various initiatives have been introduced, including efforts to address long-standing issues faced by rural communities such as the absence of a permanent address.

In Melaka, the Digital Village initiative introduced by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh has emerged as a game-changer, streamlining administrative processes for rural residents who have long grappled with address-related challenges despite living in the same homes for decades.

State Science, Technology, Innovation and Digital Communications Committee chairman Datuk Fairul Nizam Roslan said the initiative is in line with the state government’s goal of empowering rural residents through social, economic and technological advancement.

“The Digital Village initiative is introduced to resolve issues of unclear and unstructured home addresses, providing great benefits in terms of management, delivery and other related services,” he told Bernama.

Fairul Nizam said under the initiative, each premise is assigned a Quick Response (QR) code serving as its digital address, which can be scanned with a smartphone to access the home’s details via the Digital Village portal.

It enables accurate recording of housing data and village boundaries, creating a structured database that can be utilised by government agencies for targeted and efficient management of aid distribution, disaster reporting, development planning and public service delivery.

The initiative is being implemented in phases through collaboration between the State Economic Planning Unit, Melaka Chief Minister’s Information and Communication Technology Division, district and land offices, Village Development and Security Committees (JPKK), Department of Survey and Mapping, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia).

“All information is integrated into a centralised system that supports systematic location analysis and address management. It uses the SIRIM Home Address Standard (MS2039:2016) and Geographic Information System (GIS) data for integration with the National Address System,” he said.

Fairul Nizam said the state government has also registered a trademark for the Digital Village logo,  approved on Oct 9, 2024, thereby granting it intellectual property protection for 10 years.

The initiative is also supported by the MCMC, which has allocated RM3.4 million for the development of the Digital Village system. Version 2.0 is currently being developed for full integration with the National Address System.

As of July, a total of 250 villages in Melaka have received Digital Village QR code stickers, involving 36,778 buildings and 143,434 residents.

Meanwhile, Kampung Bukit Duyong JPKK chairman Jafri Mamat, 58, said the initiative has facilitated clearer demarcation of village boundaries and local administration, while ensuring aid distribution is carried out more accurately without overlaps.

“As of August, 227 houses involving about 800 residents in Kampung Bukit Duyong have received QR code stickers, and 130 residents have updated their addresses on their identification cards,” he said.

One resident, carpenter Mohamad Rizal Husin, 44, said the initiative has helped homeowners sharing the same land lot to obtain individual addresses, avoiding confusion in utility bills and other registrations that were previously tied to a single name.

“With the Digital Village initiative, this issue has been resolved as each homeowner now has a personal address,” he said.

-- BERNAMA