KUCHING: Sarawak is considering adopting elements of the European Union’s emerging AI Grid framework as it prepares for the next phase of digital infrastructure development, says Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said the world has already moved beyond basic digitalisation into generative AI and is now entering the era of Agentic AI where systems can process tasks and deliver solutions autonomously based on vast, continuously updated datasets.
“Several European countries such as Italy and Spain have begun developing grid networks that connect data processing systems, thereby enabling real-time access to information,” he added.
“I see this model in the European Union as something we can learn from and adapt to our needs. They have started developing a grid system that connects data, and this may become the future direction.”
Abang Johari said this when met by reporters after officiating the Protect Sarawak 2026, International Conference on Data Privacy & Digital Trust here today (April 29).
He added that Sarawak does not want to rely too heavily on conventional data centre development but instead is evaluating more sustainable alternative approaches.
“We have government data centres but I am not very encouraging of this approach in the long term,” he reiterated.
“If we use up to 100 to 200 megawatts of energy, we need to consider the returns. It may be better to use that energy for other sectors that can generate more job opportunities.”
In his speech earlier, he noted that even more advanced developments are emerging, including what he described as strategic AI and sovereign AI, where nations will increasingly prioritise control over sensitive data.
“Some can be shared, some cannot be shared. In other words, you have to have a technology that will protect what we call strategic AI.
“And I may be wrong but I feel that in the next five years, data centres will no longer be relevant because they will be replaced by AI Grid. All your data will be stored there and you can retrieve that data through a very strong signal from the orbit to the Earth,” he opined.
“And I think that will be the future that we are in. And this is because of research where data AI is based on a large language model (LLM), a new technology where you get the data in real time.”
