Dubai building super-connected, easy-to-live-in digital city, says top official

UAE is at the forefront of adopting and embracing new technologies, spending billions of dirhams to modernise infrastructure

Waheed Abbas

Published: Thu 26 Sep 2024, 1:50 PM

Last updated: Thu 26 Sep 2024, 6:15 PM

Dubai is building a super-connected and easy-to-live-in digital city; hence, cybersecurity needs to become a part of people’s daily culture, a senior official said on Thursday.

While speaking at a conference, Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, director-general of Digital Dubai, also called for adopting and using local cloud.

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“Dubai has become a benchmark for innovation, technology and economic growth… Dubai is building a super-connected and easy-to-live-in digital city. In the past, sharing personal data online met with hesitation and fear. However, it is nearly impossible to access digital services today without providing some level of personal information. Dubai’s remarkable success in its digital transformation over the past two decades is largely credited to its ability to secure cyberspace, thanks to Dubai Electronic Security Center and UAE Cybersecurity Council,” Al Mansoori said during the opening keynote address at the Envision conference hosted by the UAE’s second largest telecom firm Du.

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UAE is at the forefront of adopting and embracing new technologies, spending billions of dirhams to modernise infrastructure.

Jasim Al Awadi

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), overall spending on information and communications technology (ICT) across the Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa (META) will top $238 billion (Dh873.5 billion) in 2024, an increase of 4.5 per cent over 2023.

At Envision conference, many other senior industry executives including Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of du; Jasim Al Awadi, chief ICT officer of Du; Achilles Drettas, partner, Strategy& Middle East; Naim Yazbeck, general manager, UAE, Microsoft; Shukri Eid, general manager for Gulf, Levant and Pakistan at IBM; Hani Khalaf, CTO for IoT and digital cities at Dell and others spoke at the Envision conference.

Fahad Al Hassawi

Securing cyberspace

Al Mansoor stressed the need to simplify cybersecurity tools and make them accessible to everyone in order to optimally secure cyberspace.

“We can take UAE Pass as an inspiration, a great government solution using facial recognition to enable secure and seamless transactions. We need to make cybersecurity part of people’s daily culture across the entire community. We need to raise awareness of scams, cyberattacks, phishing and more,” he said.

Local cloud

The director-general of Digital Dubai called for the adoption and use of local cloud or public cloud. “Today, we see a big shift in the software industry. Hence, there is a need for the highest level of privacy and security. Meeting a locally based cloud solution provider could be a great option here,” said Al Mansoori.

Jasim Al Awadi, chief ICT officer of Du said the launch of the local cloud is important because of all the technology advancements that the world is witnessing. “If you don’t have the right cloud enablement with the sovereign requirement that every government entity will require, then this will hinder their adoption. That’s why we went forward and building this cloud infrastructure in order for us to provide the right support for our partners,” he said.

Du among first to roll out 6G

Al Awadi pointed out that the telecom firm will be among the first in the UAE to roll out 6G.

In April, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) unveiled its 6G Roadmap to transition to 6G before 2030. This will allow people to transmit human senses digitally and further the role of AI and remote surgeries and diagnoses.

“As Du led with 5G, we will lead with 6G also. We need to be at the forefront and spearhead any technology adoption. As we are leading in 5G coverage with an outdoor penetration of 98.5 per cent, 6G will be the same. Our technology teams are already involved in 6G discussions to set the right requirements and standards. Once 6G officially launched, Du will be one of the first movers to implement 6G,” he said.

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