Dato’ Roh Jae Yeol, Director of Corporate Affairs of Samsung Malaysia Electronics (left) presenting token of appreciation to Tuan Saiful Zahlan bin Muhamad, Deputy Director-General of Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA) (right)

Samsung’s vision to “Inspire the World, Create the Future” is not just an ambition – it is a brand promise that Samsung continues to keep so that communities are able to experience life’s possibilities through innovative technologies and solutions.

It has only been three months since its Love & Care campaign, and Samsung Malaysia Electronics is once again empowering communities as they launch the Samsung Smart Community Centre within the rural areas of RPS Legap in Sungai Siput, Daerah Kuala Kangsar, Perak. This time, the mission is to ensure that the orang asli community will have the opportunity and access to Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in this increasingly digitised world.

“As the world is becoming more technologically advanced, digital platforms have become vital for enhanced learning experiences. Connecting with communities is always at the heart of Samsung, and that is why we are constantly looking for ways to help those in need. Through this Smart Community Centre, we believe that residents of this community have been given a gateway to bridge the gap between them and the mainstream society,” said Yoonsoo Kim, President of Samsung Malaysia Electronics.

Tablet area at Samsung Smart Community Centre

The launch of the Samsung Smart Community Centre is a collaborative effort with Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP). The centre will benefit some 4,700 individuals via several Samsung products such as Samsung tablets that have been pre-installed with educational apps provided by UKM, allowing students to learn in fun and engaging ways. Apart from that, 65” UHD Smart TV, 24” LED monitors, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, and wall-mounted air conditioners have been installed for a comfortable and productive learning environment as well.

Presented at the launch of the Samsung Smart Community Centre as well was YAB Tuan Ahmad Faizal bin Dato’ Haji Azumu, Chief Minister of Perak. “Congratulations to the parties in stepping up to make a difference in people’s lives. Thanks to this initiative, the residents of RPS Legap will now receive digital education which will drive their ambitions and inspire them to achieve more. Let’s continue to support the national agenda in using ICT towards achieving a knowledge-based nation, and do our part for our community towards a better Malaysia,” he said.

With this Samsung Smart Community Centre, JAKOA added that the community is able to share a centre that is infused with collaborations between technology and education. “We have worked tirelessly over the years to provide better opportunities to the orang asli in terms of education and employment. Everyone is able to achieve truly great things in life, but only if given the right platform. Yes, there is more to be done, but we are proud of what has been done here together with Samsung for the people of RPS Legap,” said Tuan Saiful Zahlan bin Muhamad, Deputy Director-General of JAKOA.

To view the Samsung Smart Community Centre video, click below:

Signing ceremony by YAB Tuan Ahmad Faizal bin Dato’ Haji Azumu, Chief Minister of Perak at the launch of Samsung Smart Community Centre

The villager from RPS Legap happily engaging with YAB Tuan Ahmad Faizal bin Dato’ Haji Azumu, Chief Minister of Perak (front right)

Dato’ Roh Jae Yeol, Director of Corporate Affairs of Samsung Malaysia Electronics (left) presenting token of appreciation to YAB Tuan Ahmad Faizal bin Dato’ Haji Azumu, Chief Minister of Perak (right)

Fun learning with Samsung tablets

Computer area at Samsung Smart Community Centre

Multipurpose room at Samsung Smart Community Centre

For example, in the home, when a user wakes up in the morning on a rainy day, the home lights will gradually brighten, while music fit for a rainy day is selected and played in the background. A cup of coffee will be prepared as soon as the user says “coffee” while stepping into the kitchen and the refrigerator will also recommend meal ideas for the day, asking the user whether he or she would like to buy ingredients online.

In the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry, Samsung Electronics is uniquely positioned to bring this world of connected AI services to life, based on the almost half a billion connected devices the company sells every year. In fact, given the typical lifecycle of a device, there are more than a billion Samsung devices actively used around the world at any given time.

Samsung’s device portfolio also is the industry’s broadest, and includes mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and wearable devices, office devices such as PCs, signages and Samsung Flip, devices for the home such as Samsung Smart TVs, Family Hub and FlexWash and FlexDry, and much more.

At this year’s CES, Samsung highlighted its latest innovations in its vision to drive the Internet of Things (IoT) supported by AI. Samsung Smart TVs now integrated with Bixby, are able to play music and shows personalized for users, as well as show who is at the front door or what is inside the refrigerator. The Family Hub refrigerator, also integrated with AI, recognizes the voices of different family members and provides each of them with a personalized daily schedule.

Moving forward, Samsung will continue to remain focused on holistically integrating AI into a connected setting, such as the home or the office, in contrast to other players primarily pursuing implementation of AI on a few devices and services. In the following months, Samsung will integrate not only Samsung devices, but also IoT devices and sensors developed by external partners into the SmartThings eco-system, allowing a single SmartThings app to control everything. Furthermore, Samsung also plans to integrate AI into all its connected devices by 2020.

In the coming years, many IoT devices with AI support will generate a vast array of usage patterns and scenarios. How AI-enabled devices learn and analyze complex usage patterns and provide consumers with the most optimized options will be critical to the success of AI technology for the near future. In other words, the success of AI will boil down to how well the devices understand the users.

Therefore, Samsung’s perspective on AI is to build an eco-system that is user-centric rather than device-centric. To pursue that goal, we will start by building an AI platform under a common architecture that will not only scale quickly, but also provide the deepest understanding of usage context and behaviors, making AI more relevant and useful.

For the past decades, Samsung successfully introduced products and innovations by researching the lifestyle and behavior of global consumers. Paying respect to our heritage of user-centric product development, Samsung will begin an exciting journey open to boundless possibilities in new user experiences by integrating AI into the open IoT ecosystem it is currently developing. This journey will certainly be fascinating for us here at Samsung, but even more so for consumers, as Samsung takes major steps forward to bring consumers’ hopes and expectations to life.

by Larry Heck

Senior Vice President, Samsung Research America (SRA)