Abu Dhabi and Dubai are “well positioned” to be at the forefront of becoming full-fledged smart cities, with several initiatives, particularly those involving 6G technologies, being tabled to help the transition to a futuristic digital economy, a top researcher at the Technology Innovation Institute said.
Both emirates have launched several programmes to advance research and development into the upcoming sixth generation of wireless networks, which is attracting top players globally, said Thierry Lestable, executive director of the AI and Digital Science Research Centre at Abu Dhabi's TII.
The two cities are a “perfect playground in terms of the infrastructure being built … and they have innovative ecosystems of people and industries who share the same vision and are deploying these technologies for the benefit of society”, he told The National in an interview at the inaugural Abu Dhabi 6G Summit.
A smart city utilises the latest information and communications technologies to seamlessly connect people and devices, improve operational efficiency and boost economic activity overall.
Abu Dhabi already leads the Middle East in the global smart city index, ranking 28th, a 2021 report from the Institute for Management Development and the Singapore University for Technology and Design showed. Dubai is right behind in 29th. Both emirates jumped 14 places from their 2020 positions.
Both emirates, and the UAE in general, are promoting the use of smart technologies to accelerate their agenda of becoming knowledge-based economies in the era of digital transformation.
Abu Dhabi is already conducting field trials, testing and deploying vehicles that are connected to smart infrastructure, Mr Lestable said.
It is also moving ahead with trial programmes for drone deliveries, and this month, it is expected that autonomous taxi minibuses will be used for the first time at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Dubai, on the other hand, has a smart traffic management system that cuts congestion and emergency response times. It is also planning to put about 4,000 driverless taxis on its roads by 2030.
The UAE also ranked first in the Middle East in the 2021 edition of the Global Innovation Index, cementing its status among the world’s leading countries in adopting the latest technology.
Meanwhile, total foreign direct investment in the UAE, the Arab world's second-largest economy, hit $20.7 billion in 2021, more than doubling over the past decade, the Ministry of Economy recently announced.
Dubai remained the world's top destination for foreign direct investment in the first half of 2022, attracting inflows of $3.74bn on 492 projects, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism said in a report this week, underscoring its efforts to position itself as a hub for advanced technology.
Mr Lestable could not provide an estimate for how many investments are needed to develop 6G technologies but acknowledged “it is a lot of money, for sure”.
For context, the European Commission created the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking programme in November last year, which is mandated to accelerate digital transition and 6G research with a European Union-backed budget of €900 million ($879.6m) through 2027.
The most important return on investment (RoI) smart cities can provide is their ability to reduce harmful emissions, in line with global climate change commitments, and the well-being they will provide to those residing in them.
“The ratio of benefit for business use cases relying on mobile networks compared with other industries is 20 to 1. In terms of RoI, for the fight against change, they would be able to fight 20 times more,” Mr Lestable said.
How can 6G accelerate the development of smart cities?
6G promises even faster speeds and more efficiency compared with the latest 5G technology. It is expected to enhance the capability of today's 5G networks by 100 times. Latency, the delay between sending and receiving information, will be reduced by a factor of 10 to 0.1 millisecond while the energy efficiency of networks will drop by a factor of 100.
Use cases and industries that are already benefiting from 5G stand to benefit significantly more from 6G, Mr Lestable said.
In communications, 6G will be able to provide ubiquitous connectivity, which allows any or all devices to interact seamlessly.
“6G will get all of that converged, and it will find its way to push the boundaries in terms of data rates and speeds of communications,” Mr Lestable said.
Abu Dhabi and Dubai have innovative ecosystems of people and industries who share the same vision and are deploying these technologies for the benefit of society
Thierry Lestable,
executive director of the AI and Digital Science Research Centre
Robots are expected to be used for several purposes, such as in hotels and offices, and the networks, which will help ensure safety and reliability.
“The form factors of robots will be different as they need to be acceptable to ensure their integration with intended purposes will work smoothly, and be optimal in terms of features and functions,” Mr Lestable said.
The healthcare industry would see more remote interactions between medical practitioners and patients. This is already being practised at present, but highly advanced procedures such as remote surgery will become more widespread, as it will capitalise on 6G speeds.
In agriculture, farms connected to 6G networks would be able to utilise drones to water crops and apply fertilisers. Smart farming is already happening, but 6G will allow for faster and more accurate data gathering, Mr Lestable said.
“All of these mean you will get economic growth with smart cities,” he said.
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The biog
Name: Capt Shadia Khasif
Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police
Family: Five sons and three daughters
The first female investigator in Hatta.
Role Model: Father
She believes that there is a solution to every problem
Bharat
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
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.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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Tuesday results:
- Singapore bt Malaysia by 29 runs
- UAE bt Oman by 13 runs
- Hong Kong bt Nepal by 3 wickets
Final:
Thursday, UAE v Hong Kong
The Freedom Artist
By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)
Sweet%20Tooth
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Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
