Smart City Expo Kuala Lumpur (SCEKL), the Southeast Asian edition of the Smart City Expo World Congress by Fira Barcelona, was held from 17 to 19 September at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. With the theme “AI Cities: Shaping Our Digital Future,” the first edition in the region brought together global leaders, innovators, and city planners to explore how digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping mobility and urban life. As AI is also becoming an integral part of road transportation, Asian Trucker met with some of the exhibitors to find out how they can contribute to enhancing logistics.

Rich Trees Consultancy Sdn Bhd stood out with a AI-backed solution that was unexpected: tree management. Using AI, Rich Tree Consultancy would scan and inventory trees. Primarily, this application would be used in forestry departments, but has also a very real and useful connection to road transportation. 

Many of our roads in Malaysia are lined with beautiful trees. Often, trunk roads meander through gorgeous forests with trees making for an amazing scenery. However, trees can also become a hazard when they fall or when branches drop onto roads. Knowing when to cut a branch or tree could make the difference between a safe and an unsafe road. 

Utilising AI, Rich Trees Consultancy is able to analyse trees with regards of damages to the tree, identifying those trees that may become a safety risk. Targeted maintenance, such as pruning, felling or relocating the tree can then be administered with pinpoint accuracy. Deploying this technology also means that the analysis of the trees can be done much faster than through individual assessment in person. Mr Aidi Adel told Asian Trucker that "We are able to scan and analyse hundreds of trees very quickly. As we use technology, the assessment is free from bias and consistently applied, within the set parameters." 

In the context of urban planning, this AI tool can be used to plan for the management of Carbon credits for companies.