Acronis, a global leader in hybrid cloud cyber protection solutions announced another significant sports partnership during the Formula 1 finale in Abu Dhabi.

German car manufacturing colossuses BMW and Daimler AG have formally announced that they will merge their expertise and know-how to partner on the development of urban mobility services.

A Chinese operator has agreed to enter into multiple partnerships with Hong Kong as the city bolsters its effort to accelerate its smart city ambitions.

Dubai Police and Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate in areas that empower, deliver and promote an efficient, seamless, safe and impactful city experience for residents making Dubai the smartest and happiest city globally. Under this agreement, a Smart Police Station will be developed at the company's flagship new Dubai Community, Tilal Al Ghaf, as part of its innovative Smart Districts plan.

Etisalat Facilities Management, a subsidiary of Etisalat Service Holdings, has signed an agreement with established market leader eSolutions, part of Midis Group and a regional platinum partner of IBM, to jointly offer Smart Integrated Facility Management solutions to achieve cost savings, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Groupe PSA, the second largest car manufacturer in Europe has announced a joint venture with Nidec, the leading comprehensive motor manufacturer, to create “Nidec-PSA emotors”. Carlos Tavares, Chief Executive Officer of Groupe PSA and MM Shigenobu Nagamori, Chief Executive Officer of Nidec, endorsed today the establishment of the new project dedicated to the design, development, manufacture and sale of electric traction motors.

A leading German car manufacturer has publicly announced that it has reached an agreement with global ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. to supply the US firm with self-driving vehicles. The collaboration between Daimler and Uber is a statement of intent as they both attempt to establish themselves as leading players in burgeoning industry of autonomous driving, which has been identified as the future of the auto sector.

State-owned Indian Railways has announced that it is set to expand its agreement with Indian solar energy company Azure Power to extend the 'electrification' of the country's railways. The government-controlled public transportation firm has agreed a deal with Azure Power to introduce an additional 20 MWs of solar rooftop projects.

Global technology company Mastercard, and Geidea, the largest fintech company in Saudi Arabia by market share, have announced a strategic partnership agreement to accept Mastercard payments on Tap-on-Phone solution in Saudi Arabia – the first such agreement to be signed in the Middle East and North Africa. Geidea is the first fintech company to roll out this contactless payment acceptance technology across the Kingdom, which will enable businesses to use smartphones as payment acceptance devices.

Some of the world's biggest cities have pledged their commitment to protect the environment and rid their cities of harmful fossil fuels by agreeing to deploy zero emissions buses from 2025. Twelve major cities will introduce the environmentally-friendly vehicles to its transportation systems from 2025, in a bid to make major areas of their cities 'fossil fuel free' by 2030.

Japanese conglomerate NEC Corporation has officially announced that NEC Iberica, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Europe Ltd., and Murcia City, Spain, have signed an agreement to develop an "innovation center" in collaboration with the University of Murcia.

Finnish telecommunications colossus Nokia has announced that it has sealed a major deal to supply 5G base stations to Japan's largest mobile operator NTT Docomo. The agreement represents the vendor's first large-scale 5G contract since the first formal 5G New Radio (NR) standard was established and subsequently approved in last month.

Finnish telecommunications colossus Nokia has formally announced that it has signed a five-year strategic agreement with Swedish telecommunications operator Tele2 in an effort to enable the delivery of IoT services to Tele2 enterprise customers based on Nokia's worldwide Internet of Things network grid (WING).

Government entities in Paris and Beijing have signed a five-year partnership which will enable the two cities to combine their expertise and resources in order to focus on smart cities and sustainable development.

The Administration Committee of Hengqin New District and PCCW Global have signed a collaboration agreement to capture opportunities brought by the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Greater Bay Area development, and to accelerate the cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao in the fields of telecommunications and technological innovation.

The Dutch city of Rotterdam has announced that it is partnering with IBM to develop and deploy Internet of Things technologies that will be used in preparation for autonomous shipping in the city.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), in cooperation with Next Future Transportation, launched the first tests of the world's first autonomous pods on the sidelines of the World Government Summit. The step is part of RTA's efforts under Dubai Future Accelerators initiatives.

Italian operator Telecom Italia has announced that the Republic of San Marino will become the first country in Europe to have a 5G mobile network. Telecom Italia made the prediction following the disclosure of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with government officials from San Marino.

SEAT President Luca de Meo and Telefonica's Spanish President Luis Miguel Gilperez have signed an agreement that aims to promote a joint effort to develop innovative initiatives in the automotive industry. The agreement reached, which makes Telefónica a strategic IT supplier to SEAT, is set within the framework of SEAT's strategy to position itself as a benchmark company in connected, digitized mobility solutions.

Singapore and Denmark have agreed to enter into a joint-partnership to test 'smart city innovations' in a bid to combat climate change by building inclusive 'smart cities'. Both countries will seek to benefit from each other's respective experience and skills in order to formulate a coherent plan to battle climate change.