Smart Living City Dubai 2014 is an event hosted by Tasweek and Inside Investor under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council.
Dubai has set the vision to become the smartest city in the world over the next 3 years.
Opening remarks is made by H.H. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, followed by keynotes on Dubai’s ambition to become the smartest city of the world by Hussain Nasser Lootah, director-general of Dubai Municipality, and Hani Al Hamli, secretary-general of the Dubai Economic Council, or DEC.
The city’s first event that brings together top company executives, senior representatives from
Dubai Government, academic speakers and startups with a high-rated audience of decision makers, mentors and incubators, take place in Dubai on September 15 and 16 at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers.
The event feature a number of panel discussions on the smart city ecosystem of Dubai and the smart city trend globally, plus presentations of smart solutions, workshops and a startup competition.
On the first day, top-notch moderators and speakers will dive into topics such as “Creating a Smart Ecosystem”, “Big Data and Smart Government Solutions” and “Urban Development, Transport and Utilities”, as well as the “Future of Education”, a panel hosted by the Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart University. The Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart University and the DEC are two main partners in the event.
Day two puts in the spotlight startups and entrepreneurs that are a crucial part of a smart city ecosystem. Panels will focus on “Creating an Innovation Hub”, “Funding & Scaling Startups” and the “Startup Ecosystem in the Middle East”. The programme also features a competition where startups will be pitching their smart city solutions to a prominent jury.
The event officially opened with welcome notes by Masood Al Awar, CEO, TASWEEK Real Estate Marketing and Development; Kamran Saddique, CEO, Inside Investor, followed by an opening speech by H.E. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri.
The UAE’s Minister of Economy, Al Mansouri, said in his speech that there are more opportunities for the government and private sector to work together and the smart city concept is important to the UAE and the region.
A smart city looks at investment beyond traditional hard infrastructure such as buildings and machinery, and focuses on social and human capital particularly in the transport and ICT sectors. Shaikh Mohammad previously said he wants Dubai to be a smart city by 2017.
The secretary-general of the DEC, Hani Al Hamli, said that the DEC’s participation comes in terms of its keenness to support the Smart City initiative launched last year by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Al Hamli’s note is addressing the significance of public-private partnership, or PPP, paradigm in achieving the stated initiative.
“It will showcase the best smart products and services, and major opportunities for sectors such as tourism, transportation, environment, education, and telecommunication that it will contribute to the efforts to turn Dubai to be on the top of smartest cities in the world,” Al Hamli added.
The United Nations (UN) is participating at Smart Living City Dubai 2014 where its representatives
presented highly informative keynotes.
H.E. Sayed Aqa, UN Resident Coordinator, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative in the UAE, Qatar, and Oman, spoke on ‘Dubai as an example of a smart city and outlining various government initiatives for its success along with importance of such events to build momentum for a global strategized plan.’ ‘Themes and events necessary for sustained economic development locally and globally’ was presented by Mahmood Al Asmawi, Economic Development Portfolio Manager for UN.
Al Asmawi, said: “Only technologically advanced cities can effectively and efficiently cater to a growing urban population and expanding city boundaries. Smart cities are built on the notion of offering a wide range of services, including government, leisure and emergency, via a single platform accessed from anywhere in the world to enhance the quality of life of city dwellers. Today, we have gathered at the inaugural Smart Living City Dubai 2014 to outline the roadmap of a smart city. In line with the vision of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to make the emirates a smart city in next three years, the event will serve as a gateway for global corporations to assess the local and regional smart city markets.”
Robert Sutton, Professor of Management Science at the Stanford Engineering School held a workshop on ‘Leadership and Scaling up Excellence’ where he discussed leadership and excellence challenges faced by organizations from diverse industries. The first session focused on how successful leaders and organizations are able to develop, motivate, and instill the right mindsets in their people, while the second revealed key principles that help leaders and their teams to achieve excellence.
The Dubai edition of the bi-annual event, is featuring three main themes – High-Level Discussion Panels, Exhibitions of Local and International Smart Solutions, and Master Classes for Participants – Smart Living City Dubai 2014 hosted over 17 exhibitors and 39 speakers from around the world.
Some of the leading public and private organizations participating in the two-day event include the Government of Dubai, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Microsoft, Terreform ONE and HBMSU.
Smart Living City Dubai 2014 is organized by TASWEEK Real Estate Marketing and Development and Inside Investor.