Dubai’s dream of becoming an integrated smart city moved a step closer yesterday with the emirate’s Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) announcing plans to build a pilot-scale project in the planned Silicon Park.
The Centre of Excellence for Smart Habitat (Cesh) will be built in the planned Dh1.1 billion, 150,000 square metre Silicon Park smart city, itself a part of the Dubai Silicon Oasis technology park.
DSOA, the regulatory body, said that Cesh would be designed as a fully functioning smart city and was due to open in the fourth quarter of 2017, along with the official opening of Silicon Park.
“It will function like a city, but on a small scale,” said Muammar Al Katheeri, the chairman of DSOA Smart City. “We are getting some contractors to enable our work to start. We are working to create a centre of excellence for smart habitat to educate people. It will be a platform where we can share knowledge with our partners and create a Dubai model that we can replicate in other areas.”
DSOA will be working with private and public sector organisations to integrate their services into the centre of excellence.
Cesh will also test a “drone for the good” system which monitors the environment and provides feedback to the city to provide real-time information to residents and authorities.
For example, inhabitants will be able to know when a sandstorm is due and when to avoid certain areas at specific times.
“We are starting to build a smart community, which will be more efficient, more secure and will give better productivity,” said Ghanim Al Falasi, the vice chairman of DSOA Smart City. “It is not about competing and winning a race – it is a holistic approach about integrating people together.”
Investment in smart city projects has been on the rise in the GCC, where 88 per cent of the population will be urbanised by 2025, according to the consultancy PwC.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE are at the forefront of smart city development in the region.
“Dubai has the good seeds to be way up there with competitive smart cities like Singapore and Amsterdam,” said Hazem Galal, a partner in the cities and local government sector at PwC. “It has taken some good steps and initiatives by taking these ideas and testing and prototyping them in a limited environment before taking them to a larger scale.”
thamid@thenational.ae
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
MATCH INFO
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
MATCH INFO
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
The details
Heard It in a Past Life
Maggie Rogers
(Capital Records)
3/5
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”