BUDI95 fuel subsidy initiative could evolve into a national big data platform, leveraging data from 33.4 million citizens for future planning and analysis
KUALA LUMPUR: The BUDI MADANI RON95 (BUDI95) initiative has the potential to evolve into a national-scale big data management ecosystem. This goes beyond its current role as a targeted petrol subsidy mechanism.
Senior lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Department of Computing and Artificial Intelligence Dr Mohamad Shukor Talib said the platform is a strategic big data management tool. It involves the economic profiles and behaviours of nearly 33.4 million citizens.
This data includes critical information like user profiles, transaction patterns, and monthly petrol usage. It can be leveraged for future national planning.
“Big data management requires large storage space and efficient algorithms to ensure fast access and information accuracy,” he told Bernama. He added it must emphasise security so data is not lost or manipulated.
Mohamad Shukor said through Machine Learning technology, algorithms can analyse and learn from data patterns. This provides valuable input to the government.
“These algorithms can provide information such as forecasting future petrol usage and classifying BUDI95 usage into relevant groups,” he said.
Forecasts can be based on factors like day, peak hours, festive seasons, and vehicle type. This helps the government profile users from low-consumption groups to those exceeding subsidy limits.
Senior lecturer at UTM’s Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying Dr Mohammad Zakri Tarmidi believes BUDI95’s effectiveness can be enhanced. Integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and location analysis is key.
“With this geospatial data, it can be used to map areas with populations eligible for BUDI95,” he said.
Location-based analysis can identify special ‘hotspot’ areas and help stabilise petrol logistics, especially in rural areas. It can also detect unusual usage trends via integration with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors.
Mohammad Zakri said integrating geospatial data could also help identify “white areas” with difficult access to petrol stations. This allows the government to plan incentives for opening new branches.
“Without geospatial data, BUDI95 data will only be ‘blind’ data, data that doesn’t know where and to where,” he said.
“With geospatial data, it makes this data more ‘sighted’, and data visualisation becomes better. This subsequently helps related parties make more precise and efficient decisions.”
Both academics agree that data security and privacy require serious attention. This includes using anonymisation methods and end-to-end encryption to ensure public transparency and trust are maintained.
Under the BUDI95 programme, all Malaysian citizens aged 16 and above with an active driving licence are eligible. They can buy subsidised RON95 at RM1.99 per litre, up to 300 litres per month.
The Sun Malaysia
