14 December 2023 - Last weekend, Unified National Networks Sdn Bhd (UNN) had the opportunity to showcase its IT-related suite of products and services and present what it believes could be the building blocks for a Smart X at the Brunei Smart Mobility Expo 2023. The event, which was held on 08-10 December 2023 at BRIDEX Jerudong was organised by Brunei Shell Marketing Sdn Bhd in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications, and National Road Safety Council and supported by UNN.
Smart X is a term used to describe an intelligent ecosystem, comprised of automated or autonomous solutions and systems that digitally transforms the industries and nation into a more productive, efficient, and sustainable future.
Since its establishment in 2018, UNN has been imbuing core ICT components to the national network infrastructure to support and enable Brunei Darussalam’s Vision 2035 of advancing the country into a smart nation.
During the expo, UNN Digital Exploration and Program Manager Vernon Yong highlighted UNN’s vision to be a pioneering digital platform to connect the nation and to be a trusted ICT-service enabler to drive growth and innovation for industries.
“As our way of life becomes increasingly digital and demand for a safe, satisfying, enriching and productive online connectivity has risen, UNN has invested in key initiatives and programs to build and modernise the nation’s ICT infrastructure,” said Yong.
To-date, 93.1% of Brunei’s populated areas are fiberized with home broadband speed increasing by 400% from average 20Mbps (in 2019) to minimum 100Mbps (in 2023) while 92% of the nation is equipped to receive mobile services from base stations that provide 5G services with average mobile internet speed increasing by 300% from 20Mbps (in 2019) to 80Mbps (in 2023).
“An increase in coverage means an increase in the foundational means to connecting everyone and everything to one another, which is the first building block towards a Smart X,” Yong explained.
Over the past 2 years, UNN had introduced locally hosted commercial cloud services called Infrastructure as a Service or IaaS (Dec 2021), Distributed Denial of Services or DDoS (February 2022), and Penetration Testing or PenTest (January 2023) to its suite of products and services and offering customers the ability to host their IT infrastructure safely in Brunei, complying to Brunei’s data residency and data protection requirements whilst offering customers the flexibility to scale up or scale down their IT infrastructure base on their business needs.
UNN further embarked on a giant leap in its digital vision with the construction of one of the most advanced data centres in Southeast Asia in March 2023. The soon-to-be internationally certified 51,000 square feet data centre facility equipped with the latest technology and redundant system is slated to be ready early quarter 2024 to host a wide range of mission-critical applications and services, from financial services to healthcare and government services as well as enabling onboarding of low latency gaming and cloud services.
“A resilient cybersecurity framework supported by cutting-edge IT infrastructure to host and manage data digitally are the second and third building blocks for a Smart X as they ensure secure evolution and foster resilience in our interconnected, technologically advanced society,” Yong concluded. “Achieving a Smart X vision requires connecting everyone and everything to the digital space, supported by IT infrastructure and fortified by cybersecurity measures.”
UNN Head of IT Special Project Management Samson Wong added, “UNN will continue to enhance connectivity infrastructure and invest in ICT infrastructure to further enable the nation’s growth and development that caters to the Bruneian landscape, and empowering industries to build and innovate towards an intelligent ecosystem aligning with Brunei Darussalam’s Vision 2035 of a smart nation.”
