Power and automation technology firm ABB has been awarded a lucrative contract by a leading Swedish energy firm to develop and implement smart city solutions in the city of Vasteras.

Three multinational conglomerates have agreed to collaborate in an ambitious attempt to develop electric aircraft. Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemens have announced that the partnership has been created in an effort to accelerate the development and subsequent deployment of hybrid-electric propulsion for commercial aircraft.

Uber's efforts to revolutionize the freight hauling sector with the introduction of self-driving trucks has been met with a wave of skepticism by a number of leading analysts and industry executives. Analysts and industry executives with the trucking sector have questioned what exactly the ride-hailing service can bring to its sprawling $700 billion industry.

US tech giant Apple announced it had shelved plans to build an 850-million-euro ($1.0-billion) data center in Ireland over a court battle with conservationists who were seeking to preserve a forest.

US technology behemoth Apple has suffered a setback in its effort to lead the global movement towards a future of autonomous driving during testing of its self-driving program in California.

One of America's largest telecommunications conglomerates officially announced the cities in which it will initiate its 5G rollout campaign. AT&T will launch its 5G campaign in the US cities of Austin and Indianapolis. AT&T have named the high-speed network plans as the '5G Evolution' and has indicated that it will we able to provide top speeds of up to 400Mbps - which to put that into context is around 40 times faster than a standard cellular data connection.

Australian telecommunications incumbent Telstra has announced that it is testing 5G-enabled Wi-Fi hotspots on two streets in Gold Coast in an effort to give users a taste of 5G as it evaluates its next move in relation to next-generation mobile technology.

BMW Group has announced that it has officially obtained the Shanghai Intelligent Connected Autonomous Driving Test License.

German car manufacturing colossus BMW has accelerated its efforts to develop autonomous driving technologies by announcing that it plans to construct a test track for self-driving cars in the Czech Republic. The estimated cost of the track is rumored to be around €100m.

US airplane manufacturer Boeing has confirmed that its prototype ‘flying car’ - which is part of their ambitious project to provide on-demand autonomous air transportation has completed its first successful test flight.

A security organisation will present futuristic artificial intelligence camera and sensor technology that sees, smells and listens for potential problems, at the Future Cities Show in Dubai in a push to make Dubai the world's safest smart city.

A British multinational engineering company has outlined its vision for Singapore, vowing to create a new form of 'urbanism', that once successfully implemented can be replicated in other cities around the world.

The Canadian government has once again reiterated its commitment to the smart city movement by officially launching a new $50m 'Smart City Challenge'. The innovative project has been specifically designed to encourage communities nationwide in the country to leverage new technology.

China has announced plans to construct the world's first ever 'forest city' in an effort to combat global warming and air pollution. The highly ambitious project would see all buildings covered in plants and trees in a revolutionary move to alleviate the threat posed by global warming.

A Chinese city described as the country's most important 'smart city' has opened a new Sky-Rail monorail transportation solution which has been designed specifically to curb urban traffic congestion problems in the city. The Chinese city of Yinchuan opened the new Sky-Rail facility which was developed by Chinese sustainable technology colossus BYD. It's the company's first proprietary monorail transit solution.

A Chinese technology firm has confirmed that it has carried out the first manned trials of a new ‘drone taxi' service in the country.

The development of a new 'smart community' in Canada labelled one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in the country is underway. REZ Real Estate officially confirmed that the construction of District Union, a project worth $900m has begun and signaling the emergence of a 'new smart, organic community' in the home of the Maple Leaf.

Global coffee colossus COSTA has selected Dubai for its innovative testing of its revolutionary new 'drone delivery' service. COSTA embarked on the trial due to customer demand - 82% of its UAE customers said they would use a drone to deliver food and beverages directly to them, and COSTA subsequently decided to undertake a unique trial in Dubai with its 'Drone Drop' service.

An innovative waterfront development project which has drawn inspiration from the world famous French Riviera, is now underway. UAE-based Azizi Developments have announced that construction has started on the 'Azizi Riviera', which will represent Dubai's very own version of the French Riviera.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched a Dhs590m ($160.6m) project to manage its smart traffic system with the aim of containing bottlenecks and accidents through a control center which will be built in Al Barsha.