Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said it has signed a strategic partnership with Huawei, a global ICT solutions provider, to accelerate smart city initiatives at the ongoing Gitex expo in Dubai, UAE.
This comes as part of Dewa’s efforts to achieve the Smart Dubai initiative, launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said a statement from the Dubai utility.
As per the MoU, Dewa and Huawei will establish a joint team to launch pilot programmes using the latest technologies. This will help in the development of new innovative initiatives, including ready-to-market or immediately actionable initiatives, to Research and Development (R&D) projects, remarked Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the managing director and chief executive of Dewa, after signing the deal with David Wang, the chief executive of Huawei.
The agreement also aims to build a partnership to achieve the strategic objective of both parties. This includes providing Dewa with the support required to launch unique smart services by making use of the latest innovative technologies in the field of Information Technology.
This will enhance Dewa’s position as a leading international organisation, said a top official.
“Dewa is committed to enhancing collaboration and cooperation with government and private organisations, to expand horizons, and benefit from innovative experience. This will help us develop services and applications, at the highest international standards, and keep up to date with increasing demands across all fields,” said Al Tayer.
The partnership also aims to establish framework to launch more smart initiatives, and develop innovative capabilities to implement the latest generation of technology, he noted.
It includes framework to develop smart grid infrastructure, and smart meters for electricity and water, demand side management, and self-maintenance, framework for telecommunication infrastructure and Dewa’s fiber optic backbone upgrade, big data management, system structure, analytics and interactive visualization, perimeter and ICT infrastructure security and cyber security.
Wang said Huawei was pleased to collaborate with Dewa and to support its efforts in launching innovation ICT solutions that enable Dewa to deliver on the vision of Dubai’s leadership to become a smart, happy city.
“Huawei recently released a ‘Smart City Index’, a study undertaken by global research firm Navigant and commissioned by Huawei, revealed that Dubai is at the forefront of smart city adoption in the region, and today’s partnership announcement will further strengthen its position thanks to Dewa’s forward thinking approach to innovation,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service