City assessment
How smart is Penang?
Penang scores 61.8% against the ISO 37120-series aligned smart city framework in 2026, ranked #171 of 386 by smart reach and #216 on the evidence alone, with every finding traceable to a public source.
Each criterion counts in full where the evidence shows it present, half where partial and nothing where absent, weighted by its category. 20 of 86 are not yet assessed and count as nothing until a finding is made either way. Last assessed 3 Sept 2026.
Smart reach rank
#171 / 386
Smart score
61.8%
Evidenced rank
#216 / 387
Criteria present
47 / 86
Evidence coverage
69.8%
Penang's smart city score by area
9 present · 2 partial · 1 absent · 3 not yet assessed
7 present · 2 partial · 1 absent · 2 not yet assessed
4 present · 4 partial · 2 absent · 3 not yet assessed
4 present · 1 partial · 1 absent · 5 not yet assessed
7 present · 2 partial · 0 absent · 4 not yet assessed
8 present · 0 partial · 0 absent
8 present · 2 partial · 1 absent · 3 not yet assessed
Where Penang is strong
- ▸Digital Government Services
- ▸Housing & Urban Planning
- ▸Innovation & Economic Development
- ▸Culture, Tourism & Recreation
- ▸Food Security & Urban Agriculture
Where the evidence shows gaps
- ▸Climate Action & Emissions · 2 absent
- ▸Critical Infrastructure Resilience · 1 absent, 1 partial
- ▸Water & Sanitation · 1 absent, 1 partial
- ▸Urban Data Platform & Digital Twin · 2 partial
- ▸Air Quality & Monitoring · 2 partial
Not yet assessed
20 of 86 criteria have no finding yet, either way. They count as nothing in the score until one is made, and they are not gaps.
- Solid Waste & Circular Economy4 of 4
- Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure3 of 4
- Disaster Risk & Resilience2 of 4
- Public Safety & Emergency2 of 4
- Active & Shared Mobility1 of 4
- Air Quality & Monitoring1 of 3
- Climate Adaptation & Heat1 of 3
- Energy & Smart Grid1 of 4
- Green Space & Biodiversity1 of 3
- Health & Digital Health1 of 3
- Inclusion & Civic Participation1 of 3
- Smart Traffic & Electric Vehicles1 of 4
- Water & Sanitation1 of 4
Evidence highlights
Digital Government Services · Digital identity / single sign-on
Penang provides a Single Sign-On (SSO) system, PgGov SSO, which allows users to log in once to access multiple authorized government systems without needing separate logins for each.
https://sso.penang.gov.my/Digital Government Services · Online payments for taxes & fees
Penang offers online payment facilities through eBayar for various state department and agency bills, including land tax, assessment tax for local councils (MBPP, MBSP), and water bills via myPBA, supporting FPX, credit/debit cards.
https://www.penang.gov.my/Digital Government Services · Citizen reporting / 311 channel
Penang has an Integrated Complaint Gateway called ePintas, which allows the public to submit complaints, comments, suggestions, and inquiries to the State Government, and also provides a function to check the status of these complaints. The Majlis Bandaraya…
https://www.penang.gov.my/Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure · City IoT / sensor network
The Things Network community in Penang is actively building an open and decentralized Internet of Things network, with efforts to connect gateways to make Penang part of the global network.
https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/community/penang/About this assessment
Penang was assessed against the 86 criteria of the ISO 37120-series aligned smart city framework on 3 Sept 2026 by AI agents gathering evidence from official public sources. Each criterion is marked present, partial or absent, or left not yet assessed, and every finding links to where it was found. Cities are re-assessed in runs, not continuously: the latest finished on 24 Oct 2026.