Dubai to see first degree in City Sciences this fall

Dubai: Whereas the smart cities market is projected to jump to $1.5 trillion by 2020, as per a Frost & Sullivan study, Dubai is to see the first of its kind innovative postgraduate degree in City Sciences in fall 2015.

The programme, to be launched by Rochester Institute of Technology or RIT Dubai, in association with Dubai Silicon Oasis, is to about to get a go-ahead from the Ministry of Higher Education and Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai.

RIT Dubai President Dr Yousef Al-Assaf told Khaleej Times that the new program, which can be completed through part-time study, will help foster specialized skills in various areas of smart cities from energy, water, and smart services to environment, safety, and security.

RIT Dubai President Dr Yousef Al-Assaf 

This was announced by RIT Dubai President Dr Yousef Al-Assaf at the sideline of the first Smart City Professional Diploma Innovative start-up project presentation at RIT Dubai on Sunday.

“The attendees from DEWA, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Police and select international companies like Fujitsu and Veolia have been working on their final Smart City Innovative Start-up ideas for the past six months.”

In order to complete the smart city professional diploma, the students had to attend seven workshops on creating smart city departments, communication, integration and cooperation, urban design & planning, environment & sustainability, society & governance and economy & business, and how technologies play a fundamental role in the ‘smartness’ concept, he added.

“The program is aimed at engineers, architects, economists, and graduates interested in becoming highly qualified professionals, able to understand and manage the multidimensional nature of the city. This program will be developed with Spain’s Universidad Polytechnic de Madrid (UPM) and will be taught by faculty from RIT New York, RIT Dubai, Oxford, Harvard, and UPM.”

Elaborating, Dr Assaf said the MCS program integrates disciplines related to planning, energy, sociology, economics and all the new technology and infrastructure that is the core of functionality in any city.

“The program will produce highly qualified professionals who are able to understand and manage the multidimensional nature of the city. The City Sciences concentration addresses urban design, city governance, management, infrastructures, sociology, and landscape.”

Dr Assaf said the project was about a smart innovative government crowdfunding platform introduced by senior members from Dubai Police, Dubai Silicon Oasis, and Fujitsu offered creative solutions for innovators to gain secure funding for projects that could benefit Dubai on its road to Expo 2020.

“One of the other groups was primarily concerned with creating a smart tourism experience for the expected 20 million visitors a year by 2020. The original platform would connect tourists to each other and all that Dubai has to offer with a simple click of their mouse.”

Another presentation centered around the concept of a “Happy Taxi”, putting a smile on everyone’s face with the promise of free and fun taxi rides for all in Dubai, he pointed out

“To achieve a Smart Dubai, a process and a continuous journey with no end is needed. Many stakeholders need to collaborate to make the process and journey efficient and sustainable.”

The participants agreed that in order to make a city ‘smarter’ and more competitive, the following comprehensive areas of development have to be addressed: Knowledge, Technology, Leadership, Cooperation, and Partnership, he underlined.

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com