‘Innovation Talks’ Plans A Sustainable Future For Dubai

“Innovation Talks” highlighted how innovation can accelerate the nation’s journey towards a sustainable future.

Al Basti said, "Innovation is about creative minds collaborating in an empowering environment." Dubai has become the best and most inspiring example in the world for institutionalising the innovation process, which was pioneered by the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum through the launch of several megaprojects.

"Over the last three days, we have seen an effective partnership model between the public and private sectors in Dubai and how it can help transform innovation into a culture that enhances the UAE’s competitiveness." "We all learned how innovation can help formulate strategies and unlock new achievements for some of the most successful government entities and companies," he added.

According to the Report, Younus Al Nasser, Assistant Director-General of Digital Dubai and CEO of the Dubai Data Establishment, kicked off day three with a speech on "The Role of Data in Innovation and Future-Shaping."

Al Nasser said the Dubai Data Establishment supports policymaking with real-time, trustworthy data to shape the emirate’s future. The integrated system is inspired by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

"We work under four main pillars," he said. "The first is trust and partnership, shown through our cooperation with the private sector to share knowledge and achieve results." Data solutions are the second pillar we work under. We deal with it in innovative ways, so it can be used without infringing on data privacy. "The third pillar is regulating big data walls."

"In 2017, we launched a unified data portal with more than 900 databases that all companies and entities can benefit from." "Finally, the most important pillar is creating value by leveraging data for policymaking in healthcare, education, government administration, real estate, transportation, and others."

The report further highlighted Al Nasser’s examples from successful case studies on data adoption and handling in Dubai.

Confronting the COVID-19 pandemic using technology, databases, and artificial intelligence represented a national and global success story, he said. This is thanks to the government of Dubai’s support for the launch of a command and control center. It integrated government efforts, providing real-time data to decision-makers on the evolving healthcare situation, medical stocks, and expected scenarios that reached 90% accuracy, he added.

Mohammed Al Shamsi, Chief Officer for Climate Change and Sustainability at the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), said the UAE was one of the world’s first countries to make environmental protection and tackling climate change among its top priorities.

"DEWA is at the forefront of providing critical infrastructure through its electricity production capacity of 13,000 megawatts and its water production of more than 490 million gallons per day."

Al Shamsi says that DEWA has made an impact around the world with the Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park, which is the largest solar park on a single site in the world.

"When completed, it will reduce 6.5 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions annually." "Over the past five years, we have achieved the lowest global cost per kilowatt of sustainable energy and contributed significantly to Dubai's success in reducing net carbon emissions by 21 percent in 2021."

He said, "We need to raise awareness and promote education about climate change and the UN SDGs through events and communication," and he meant it.

Manoj Nair, Head of Government Data & Analytics at Visa, and Nur Topcu, Head of Government Services at Visa, delivered a joint presentation on "The Power of Data for Effective Decision-Making." "Nair presented a new Visa case study highlighting how it can be used to make better decisions in the travel and tourism industry as it rebounds from the pandemic," said the report.

Tatiana Antonelli Abella, Founder & Managing Director of Goumbook, said: "In February 2022, we launched Dubai Can, a sustainability initiative to reduce single-use plastics, under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid. "It is a great example that shows how seemingly small changes can lead to innovations that contribute to a culture of conscious living."

Michael Moqbel, Nadeera’s Head of Operations, added, "Today there are many technological and technically intensive solutions that can solve all types of social, economic, and environmental problems, including those related to climate change." The problem is that this focus on technology warps our understanding of the problem and shifts ownership of finding solutions to these problems from us to machines. "While technology is a main driver of change, and one that should be celebrated and supported, humans must remain at the centre of innovation."

Organized by the Executive Council of Dubai, the latest "Innovation Talks" series brought together heads and representatives of Dubai government departments and experts from major private sector companies to discuss how they can work together to develop a common vision for the future.

The talks series forms part of Dubai’s participation in the eighth edition of "UAE Innovates 2023."

The report emphasises the importance of innovation, especially in providing services, increasing the effectiveness of procedures, and keeping pace with recent technical and technological developments.