Abu Dhabi Ports has announced the acquisition of 11 new specialized refrigerated vehicles by its subsidiary, MICCO Logistics, which boosts its local final-mile vaccine delivery capability to over 1.1 million vaccine doses per day.

Our cities are changing. With growing populations and increasing urbanization from rural communities and international relocation, governments are re-evaluating how they will manage their resources and engage their citizens in the future. The burgeoning use of smart devices is also demanding a rethink from city planners. How they can make the best use of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the anticipated 5G ultra broadband to create smarter solutions for our cities across areas such as:

Nearly 79% of UAE residents said they would be happy living in a smart city  and more than half (53%) of them highlighted living in a sustainable city as the most exciting innovation for smart cities, according to a survey conducted by Mastercard in collaboration with Smart Dubai and Expo 2020 Dubai.

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (Hyperloop TT, HTT) announced the appointment of leading design and engineering firm, Dar Al-Handasah (founding member of the Dar Group), to assist in bringing the Abu Dhabi commercial system to reality.

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.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on entire industries. Working from home and adapting to the ‘new normal’ has been particularly challenging especially when cybersecurity is taken into account. Cybercriminals thrive in chaos and the chaos brought about by the pandemic caused cybercrimes to skyrocket at such an unprecedented rate. 

Budget pressures and customer/citizen demands are driving GCC nations to embrace digital transformation, according to Deloitte's 2017 National Transformation in the Middle East report. Digital transformation is playing a fundamental role in shaping the way governments across the world are adapting to new opportunities and challenges, and the GCC is no exception.

Director General of Dubai Municipality, H.E. Eng. Hussain Lootah has officially confirmed that the municipality plans to launch a new data-collection satellite that will provide them with critical information on environmental aspects ranging from sustainability, maritime conditions and air quality in the UAE. In addition to this, it has been further disclosed that the satellite is capable of monitoring the UAE from space.

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading financial hub in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), has partnered with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), the world’s largest non-profit entrepreneurial organisation, to help Indian FinTechs scale their businesses across the region. Throughout a two-day programme, DIFC met with 17 FinTech startups from Mumbai to understand their business models and provide tailored solutions to support their growth in fast-growing emerging markets. 

Digital analysts have expressed their surprise at the explosion in popularity of video and messaging app Snapchat in the Middle East region. A global study by a leading research consultancy firm established that the proportion of internet users in the UAE who use Snapchat increased from 15% in 2014 to 53% this year.

In a bid to make the United Arab Emirates (UAE) the safest country in the world, du, part of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), and Injazat have selected Software AG’s Cumulocity IoT platform for the Ministry of Interior’s “Hassantuk” system to speed up response time and maintain the highest standards of fire safety.

Dubai has been rated as one of the top five cities in using smart technology to better the lives of its residents, according to the latest Smart Cities Index.

Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Dubai Chamber) highlighted the readiness of its array of seamless smart services which are available to the business community to conduct their work easily and efficiently.

The UAE PASS initiative, the platform which aims to bring all government services together and make them accessible via smartphone, has completed phase one of its programme.

In this modern era of big data, it's important to have a central platform to house all government information, said His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, at the launch of the Smart Dubai 2021 framework and Smart Dubai's new central government platform to house big data: Dubai Pulse. His Highness said Dubai Pulse is a platform that "taps into the potential of artificial intelligence to spread happiness among people."

Industry leaders say Dubai is now a global pioneer for the use of autonomous vehicles as part of a futuristic transport network.  

The UAE is a world-renowned leader in adopting smart city technologies and since the novel coronavirus struck the entire world, there has been no better time than now to leverage the opportunities that emerging technologies brings into our lives.

Dubai is fast moving toward achieving its goal of becoming the world's first government to execute all implementable transactions on blockchain by 2020, an international expert on blockchain has said.

Launched by the Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DCAI), the ‘Dubai AI Seal’ is a newly-introduced, free-of-charge verification system designed to accelerate the growth of Dubai's AI industry. Its goal is to foster trust in credible AI companies, helping to position the city as a global leader in the field.

Emaar Properties PJSC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Xiaomi, a global technology leader with the world’s largest Internet of Things (IoT) consumer platform, to launch ‘Emaar Smart Home’ - a new, next-generation product for customers to experience the latest smart home technology powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI).