Abu Dhabi Smart City Summit: '70% of global population will be living in cities by 2050'

ITC completes linear referencing system and navigational road network project.

It is estimated that close to 70 percent of the global population will be living in cities by 2050. This brings several challenges from traffic congestion over energy consumption to outdated infrastructure, among others, Tareq Hijazi, Public Sector Director for Microsoft UAE told the smart cities summit in Abu Dhabi.

“It is where we see the biggest potential for smart cities, which use cutting edge technologies such as IOT and AI assisted systems to provide citizens with equal access to public services through digital channels and strive to create transparency, sustainability and improve liveability,” Jijazi said during presentation on the final day of the Abu Dhabi Smart City Summit.

“We are excited about continuing to support the UAE’s visionary approach to city planning and it’s forward-looking roadmap towards creating some of the world’s smartest cities.”

Samer Alish, Director - MENA, Streamax, said: “Cities worldwide are attempting to transform themselves into smart cities. If we take the public transportation sector as an example, we will find that the key factor in this transformation is the use of big data, the more data you collect and process on the road, the more control you can have and more efficiency you can achieve, this will take the public transportation to the next level of smart transportation.

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