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29 March 2024

Hamdan bin Mohammed tours Gitex 2013

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed visited the 33rd edition of Gitex 2013 and toured the pavilions of participating countries. (Wam)

Published
By Wam

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, has visited Gitex, being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), where he inspected pavilions of countries and institutions participating in the 33rd edition of the annual event; the largest of its kind in the Middle East, where 3500 companies from 130 countries are taking part this year.

Accompanied by Cabinet Affairs Minister, Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Education Minister, Humaid Mohammed Al Qatami, heads of government departments in Dubai and senior officials, Sheikh Hamdan familiarised himself with the most important technologies exhibited and the world’s latest in the field of digital technology and data processing, as well as data storage, solutions and various digital applications, especially those used to provide services to the public.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed was detailed by experts and senior executives participating in the exhibition about the latest developments in Information Technology (IT) in the Middle East where IT spending is projected to total $192.9 billion in 2013, with an increase of 5.5 percent from 2012, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc.

Touring the various Gitex pavilions, Sheikh Hamdan exchanged talks with senior officials of companies participating in the event, about the latest solutions and applications that are expected to facilitate delivery of services to the public at high speed and  with high accuracy, leading to enhanced levels of efficiency and highest levels of customer satisfaction across all sectors.

He expressed his satisfaction  with the advanced level reached by the national institutions and companies operating in the field of information technology , stressing UAE’s commitment to its role as a leader of development in the region as an  irreplaceable strategic choice , saying: "In its quest towards the future, our country is keen  to provide a supportive environment for creativity and innovation, while the information technology sector enjoys interest and attention by the UAE, which steadily develops to strengthen its technology infrastructure to keep up with the leadership’s ambitious vision towards providing the highest levels of well-being and high quality living for citizens, residents and visitors alike through a variety of ways, the most important of which is to facilitate and accelerate the pace of delivery of government services that take into account the best international standards along with the highest levels of quality .

He called on all government and private sector institutions in Dubai to cooperate and combine efforts so as to achieve the great ambition expressed by the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, towards transforming Dubai into a " smart city " as a prelude to generalise this experience across the country at a later stage.

In this context, Sheikh Hamdan said: "The achievement of smart city model is a joint effort that cannot be made by one institution without the other, everyone is a partner in this project which is consistent with the approach of the UAE in its forward quest to the future through harnessing and exploiting the different ingredients and available resources and developing more ways to reach the goals we aspire for the good of our community and our nation," noting that this ambitious project will be the cradle of the largest of its kind partnership between both sectors’ institutions  aiming to support the country to move forward in the global competition all the way to the number one position.

Sheikh Hamdan showed special interest in latest technologies exhibited at Gitex, most notably Google’s "Smart Glasses", which has not been yet introduced commercially in the markets.

The new glasses operate by voice commands performing many functions including photo taking through small lens, as well as recording videos and provide navigation service while driving. The glasses can also be used to send instant messages in addition to other functions including web search and voice translations.

During his visit to Gitex, Dubai Crown Prince inspected Etisalat’s pavilion where he was detailed by its CEO  Saleh Abdullah on services and applications provided by Etisalat  to keep up with the comprehensive and fast-paced UAE transformation  towards the smart  model in management and services.

Sheikh Hamdan was briefed on a number of smart services such as "M2M" application, as well as other smart digital services provided by Etisalat in support of health-care sector such as the "digital hospital" and "healthcare service via mobile phone" applications.

He was also detailed about "Smart Education ", an online portal specifically designed to provide a comprehensive range of features and functions to enable schools enhance their operations and help them provide a cooperative work environment where teachers engage with students and parents in an integrative, effective and successful educational process.

Concluding his visit, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed wished all participants in Gitex more success to support the march of human progress through innovative solutions that contribute to meeting the current and future challenges and enabling mankind to explore new development avenues for a better tomorrow.

Current generation lucky to be at centre of Dubai's transformation: Hamdan

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has tasked Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince to oversee the implementation of the Dubai Smart City project.

Sheikh Hamdan said: "Dubai is currently experiencing huge urban development associated with high ambitions and opportunities for future and welfare.

“The current generation of youth are lucky to be at the centre of such a transformation and development to efficiently and actively contribute to the process of building a better future."

The Dubai Crown Prince stressed Sheikh Mohammed’s keenness on empowering Emiratis, especially the youth.

Sheikh Hamdan underlined that the implementation of the Dubai Smart City project will be unique in its nature given the largest partnership of its kind between Dubai’s public and private sectors.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed said the directives by Sheikh Mohammed called for immediate implementation of the project to complement the smart government project.

He noted that the population would be core of the current project through the provision of advanced infrastructure and the fibre optic network and high-speed wireless internet.

The Dubai Crown Prince said all the initiatives launched by Sheikh Mohammed over the last 10 years regarding the technology and the internet, ushered in different services and new form of life in Dubai.

He added that Dubai will become one of the biggest world laboratories for interactive and government applications.

The new project will also provide new information on weather, traffic, transport, health and education smart services, as well as entertainment and tourist services such as aviation services, restaurants and others.