The Fourth Industrial Revolution Programme, known as ‘UAE Industry 4.0,’ recently announced by the UAE’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT), will help encourage innovations in 4IR technologies, placing the UAE at the heart of the global Fourth Industrial Revolution, according to top officials and industry executives.

Ericsson, Singtel and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) have partnered on Singapore’s first live 5G facility. Aimed at developing the 5G ecosystem in the country and driving 5G solutions for enterprises, the 5G Garage utilizes Singtel’s 3.5 GHz trial 5G network at Ayer Rajah. The 5G Garage is the first partnership of its kind between enterprise, industry and higher education in Singapore.

Abu Dhabi Energy Services (ADES), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), has signed agreements with leading government entities, including the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT), Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) and Emirates Schools Establishment (ESE) to identify power and water savings opportunities in their facilities and buildings across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi ranked as the smartest city in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for 2023, according to the annual IMD Smart City Index released by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland. This will be the third consecutive time the UAE capital has received this prestigious recognition.

The IMD surveyed 120 residents in 118 cities worldwide. Abu Dhabi surpassed several international capitals to rank 13th globally out of the 141 cities included in the current ranking. The study evaluated current infrastructure and digital services available to residents, relying on variables related to residents' perceptions and interactions with government efforts in five main pillars: health and safety, mobility, activities, opportunities (work and education systems) and governance.

Commenting on the achievement, H.E. Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), said, “Abu Dhabi's leadership in this field is a translation of the leadership's vision and commitment to supporting the digital transformation journey and utilizing it to serve the community and enhance its well-being and quality of life. Through employing next-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) and developing smart city initiatives across various societal, service and economic sectors, including public and smart transportation, Abu Dhabi has been able to establish itself as a smart and sustainable city and one of the best global destinations to live, work and visit.”

Zurich took the lead in this year’s survey, with Oslo in second place and Canberra in third.

Asian and European cities dominated the top 20 cities out of the 141 studied. Six cities show either continuous improvement or year-on-year stability. These “super-champions” are Zurich, Oslo, Singapore, Beijing, Seoul and Hong Kong. The 2023 findings also demonstrate the increasing “smartness” of second-tier cities such as Montreal, Denver, Lausanne and Bilbao.

Also Read: GCC Countries Revealed Strong Digital Transformation Efforts in 2022

Smart cities contribute to the development of many key sectors in the emirate, such as the smart transportation sector and the smart economy, which is based on advanced software that helps develop many sectors such as supply, delivery, and joint support services.

Additionally, interactive platforms are built with the public to identify their needs and aspirations and interact with them transparently, placing them at the center of government work in addition to developing and facilitating access to services for citizens.

The Smart Cities Index issued by IMD is considered an important reference for international organizations, decision-makers, and institutions to measure the impact of national strategies on enhancing levels of welfare, achieving progress and promoting the quality of life for people.

In order to discuss strategy for blockchain and virtual assets in alignment with the Emirates’ economic strategy, the Abu Dhabi Blockchain and Virtual Assets Committee (ADBVAC) held its first meeting under the leadership of H.E. Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) and chairman of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).

Building on its efforts to accelerate digital transformation in the emirate, the Department of Government Support – Abu Dhabi (DGS), represented by the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA), has announced that Abu Dhabi has been overall ranked 11th in the Global Technology Index on the World Digital Competitiveness Yearbook 2020.

The digital revolution has exposed abundant value opportunities for companies to raise efficiency and develop new kinds of products, services, and business models. Accenture is the engine to help transform businesses and leverage the new technologies that are disrupting the industry as we know it. Only by building strong innovation capabilities, can companies successfully make the wise pivot and manage disruption. Xavier Anglada is the Strategy & Consulting lead for Accenture in the MENA region, and is leading his team in harnessing the power of innovation and disruption in the digital era. Smart Cities World Forums sat down with Anglada to explore how disruption is playing out in the Middle East, and how companies can leverage new digital technologies to power through their digital transformation journey.

The Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA Group), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi University (ADU) to accelerate technical, societal and environmental solutions in the energy sector through research and development. The cooperation aims to promote ties between both entities through training programs and knowledge exchange.

Rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions will increase the UAE's GDP by USD 96 billion by 2030, enabling organizations to better meet and predict customer and citizen trends and drive digital business innovation.

The US Federal Communications Commission has authorized Elon Musk's SpaceX to use its Starlink satellite internet network with moving vehicles including ships, airlines and road transporters.

AIUT, one of the largest Poland based European system integrators, has partnered with Emicool, a leading district cooling service provider in the region and a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai Investments, to develop Emivalve and initiate a phased implementation of it, enabling remotely controlled processes, facilitating instant connection and disconnection through an automated centralized software. 

Amadeus  and Seera Group, the Middle East region’s leading provider of travel and tourism services, have strengthened their partnership to drive technology innovation in the region’s tourism sector.

Asite has launched a new research report examining how the construction industry can optimize its approach to digital engineering.

With the goal of driving public and private sector innovation, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have launched a new AWS Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) in Abu Dhabi.

Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced the opening of the AWS Middle East (Bahrain) Region. With this launch, AWS now spans 69 Availability Zones within 22 geographic regions around the world, and has announced plans for nine more Availability Zones across three more AWS Regions in Indonesia, Italy, and South Africa.

Bahrain’s Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) held a meeting with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and the Secretariat General of the GCC to follow up on directives by the GCC Smart Card Technical Team and discuss cooperation related to Information Technology (IT).

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in its Report 2020 has ranked Bahrain as the first in the GCC for having advanced computer programming talent in Information and Computer Technology (ICT)sector.

The Brazilian government is continuing to aggressively pursue its ambitions to digitize the country after announcing a new initiative aimed at discovering and subsequently integrating new Internet of Things solutions into its cities.

TIM Brazil has selected Nokia AirFrame servers featuring new, 2nd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors to virtualize its datacenters by the end of 2021.

Huawei, a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices, announced the launch of the Middle East's first Multitenant Internet of Things (IoT) Hosting Center in order to incubate the local digital ecosystem and accelerate IoT business development in the region.