In the presence of Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Director General of Sharjah eGovernment Department, the Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park (SRTI Park) launched SRTI Park LABS – a series of events hosted at the Park highlighting and displaying the applications of smart cities.
During first session, a host of topics were explored including Big Data, Intelligent Mobility, Internet of Things (IoT) Applications, and 5G in Smart Cities, under the theme of “Digitization”.
Officials from both private and public sectors, as well as scientists, specialists, smart industry leaders and leading global companies in future technologies attended this event. The attendees agreed that Sharjah has become a pivotal center for a global network of developers and researchers in the field of digital transformation.
The first session Digitization comes as part of a global vision that highlights fourth industrial revolution, marked by unprecedented changes in human life. Industrial transformations and modern production methods are among the most important technological transformations in today’s world.
It is also part of the country’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Strategy, launched by the UAE government in 2017, to strengthen the UAE’s position as the global hub for such revolution and contribute to a competitive national economy based on knowledge, innovation and future technological applications.
The session included a number of topics related to digitization. It began with a welcome speech by His Excellency Hussain Al Mahmoudi, CEO of SRTI Park, where he reviewed the priorities, vision and objectives of the park, which is to create an environment conducive to creativity and innovation to enhance the status of the Emirate of Sharjah as the global destination in the fields of research and technology and to support its move towards the knowledge economy.
He discussed the Science Park’s role in shaping Sharjah's R&D and innovation ecosystem and driving its transition towards a sustainable, knowledge-based economy.
He added that the SRTI Park’s aim is to attract leading and emerging companies in the field of digital transformation. He called upon investors to take advantage of the park’s easy access to vital and logistical facilities in the emirate and in the UAE, and the infrastructure which meets the requirements of international standards, resulting to an ideal and safe investment environment, in addition to ownership and full tax exemption, providing great opportunities for industries and technological facilities.
Digital transformation is one of the main strategic visions pursued by SRTI Park, and is translated through a package of accelerators in cooperation with the private, public investment sector and the academic sector. SRTI Park Labs sessions reflect the directions of the UAE government to make the country a leading global model in proactively confronting the challenges of the future, adapting the techniques and tools provided by the Fourth Industrial Revolution to serve the community.
A number of lecturers and specialists spoke about digital transformation globally and how to deal with this phenomena during the session. Oracle’s Miguel Lasprilla addressed the importance of data management and data science for analysis using artificial intelligence.
Masdar City’s Stephen Severence discussed smart transportation technology in sustainable cities and its impact on human life.
Scott Fennelly of Surface Mobility, stressed on managing traffic data in large cities to anticipate new means of transportation that meet the user’s requirements.
Nokia Solutions and Networks’ Elsayed Mahfouz mentioned the use of the 5G wireless technology and IoT as the key factors in the transformation of cities into smart cities.
At the end of the forum, a comprehensive dialogue session was held in which a number of researchers and representatives from international companies specialized in digital transformation participated in. They discussed the importance of open data and its use to enable the application of the foundations of digital transformation by calling for an establishment of a National Big Data Platform in the UAE to assist researchers, developers and institutions with easy access to data in order to make appropriate decisions and foresee the future.
The researchers also stressed that digital transformation can be achieved when institutions work to build and develop their infrastructure with flexible, safe and scalable technologies, and according to recent studies, it is expected to digitize more than 60% of the global economy by 2022. Expenditure is also expected to reach Global information technology in regards to digital transformation to $ 7.5 trillion. In a survey conducted by the International Data Corporation for IT Managers in the Gulf in 2018 found that 53% of large companies are currently undergoing a digital transformation, while 19% are about to start this transformation, and another 25% are still planning to digital transformation.
Second session of SRTI Park Labs covering Environmental Technology will be held from 9.30am to 12pm on September 4 2019.