National knowledge infrastructures are becoming increasingly vital in higher education as digital transformation accelerates and open-access demands intensify. Malaysia’s National Knowledge Infrastructure (NKI), initiated by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), is a strategic effort to integrate the scholarly resources of 20 public universities into a federated, policy-driven ecosystem. This paper presents a practical case study of the NKI’s early development, documenting the initial planning, design frameworks, and stakeholder strategies that informed its creation. The methodological approach combined policy analysis, environmental scanning, repository audits, international benchmarking, stakeholder consultations, and risk assessment. Planning was guided by the Zachman Framework, which structured activities across four phases—planning, design, implementation, and operation, ensuring coherence between policy objectives and technical design. The FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics) principles further shaped the initiative by promoting both interoperability and ethical knowledge governance. The feasibility study identified several significant challenges, including diverse repository platforms and metadata standards, licensing restrictions, uneven adoption of open access, and concerns about long-term governance and sustainability. Addressing these issues, lessons learned were synthesized into six strategic pillars: interoperability, licensing and access, open access advocacy, sustainability and governance, equity and inclusion, and monitoring and adaptability. These pillars form the basis of a phased roadmap that connects Malaysia’s immediate next steps with transferable lessons for practitioners designing similar infrastructures elsewhere. By embedding stakeholder participation, policy integration, and inclusive design at every stage, the NKI demonstrates a viable pathway for building national-level infrastructures that are both technically robust and socially responsible. Beyond its national scope, this case study contributes to the broader global discourse on open, federated, and sustainable scholarly infrastructures.