Reports and coverage MENA

Dubai's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has hosted the world's first ever forum on Data Management. The event was a joint collaboration with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) who hosted the inaugural forum under the slogan of 'Transforming data into value, expanding the IoT potential with a special focus on Smart Cities'. The forum welcomed participation from a wide group of experts and decision-makers from around the world, as well as many UAE government entities and private sector companies.

Having transformed Istanbul into a 'city brand', Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) has signed a cooperation agreement for a smart city consultancy project with Ericsson. Under the umbrella of the Istanbul Informatics and Smart City Technologies (ISBAK AŞ) company, the IMM and Ericsson will work together to achieve Istanbul's smart city vision and 2024 targets.

German car manufacturer BMW has reiterated its desire to invest in the development and production of self-driving vehicles by agreeing a deal with Mobileye. Mobileye is an organization that develops vision-based advanced driver assistance systems which provide warnings for collision prevention and mitigation.

Nokia and the United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) have entered into a strategic collaboration to drive the development of an end-to-end UAS ecosystem that will make the UAE the first country in the world to allow the operation of drones by both businesses and government agencies in a safe, secure and managed environment.

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.