Driverless vehicles helped Abu Dhabi to cement its status as the smartest city in the Middle East and North Africa region. Leslie Pableo / The National
Driverless vehicles helped Abu Dhabi to cement its status as the smartest city in the Middle East and North Africa region. Leslie Pableo / The National
Driverless vehicles helped Abu Dhabi to cement its status as the smartest city in the Middle East and North Africa region. Leslie Pableo / The National
Driverless vehicles helped Abu Dhabi to cement its status as the smartest city in the Middle East and North Africa region. Leslie Pableo / The National

Abu Dhabi still Mena's smartest city as digital transformation continues


Alvin R Cabral
  • English
  • Arabic

Abu Dhabi has retained its title as the smartest city in the Middle East and North Africa thanks to its digital-first initiatives, a study has revealed.

The UAE capital came in 13th globally, according to Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development's (IMD) Smart City Index for 2023.

Abu Dhabi is Mena's smartest city for three studies from 2020. IMD did not release an index in 2022.

Dubai, ranked first in Mena when the index appeared in 2019, was ranked 17th for 2023, down from 14th.

That made the UAE one of only four countries to have more than one city in the top 20, joining Switzerland, Australia and Germany, according to the study conducted in collaboration with the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh came in 30th, up from 39th. Saudi cities Makkah, Jeddah and Qatar's capital Doha were ranked 52nd, 56th and 59th, respectively, and were all new to the index this year.

The Swiss city of Zurich retained the top ranking — a position it has held since 2019 except for 2022. Oslo in Norway came in second, also maintaining its position since the index began.

Australia's capital, Canberra, made its index debut at third place. Rounding out the top 10 are Copenhagen, Lausanne, London, Singapore, Helsinki, Geneva and Stockholm in a top tier largely dominated by European cities.

Abu Dhabi's emergence as the regional leader comes following initiatives focused on technologies that include artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, and the development of smart city initiatives across society, services and the economy, Mohammed Al Shorafa, chairman of the emirate's Department of Municipalities and Transport, said in a statement.

“Abu Dhabi's leadership in this field is a translation of the leadership's vision and commitment to supporting digital transformation journey and utilising it to serve the community and enhance its well-being and quality of life,” he said.

A smart city uses the latest information and communications technologies to seamlessly connect people and devices, improve operational efficiency and boost economic activity.

Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai are “well positioned” to be at the forefront of becoming full-fledged smart cities, with several initiatives being tabled to help the transition to a digital economy, Thierry Lestable, executive director of the AI and Digital Science Research Centre at Abu Dhabi's Technology Innovation Institute, had previously told The National.

Abu Dhabi's leadership in this field is a translation of the leadership's vision and commitment to supporting the digital transformation journey
Mohammed Al Shorafa,
chairman of Abu Dhabi's Department of Municipalities and Transport

Both emirates, and the UAE in general, are promoting the use of smart technologies to accelerate their agenda of becoming knowledge-based economies.

“We are working diligently to harness technology and use it to enhance the quality of life for citizens and residents,” Mr Al Shorafa said.

The IMD's Smart City Index assesses economic and technological aspects of smart cities, as well as factors like quality of life, environment and inclusiveness.

It gathers a mixture of hard data and survey responses to gauge the smartness of cities, with an emphasis on how inhabitants see the city.

IMD said the methodology was improved for 2023.

UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES

All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated

Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid

Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona

How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
  • Never over populated areas
  • Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
  • Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
  • Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
  • Should have a live feed of the drone flight
  • Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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 BIO

Favourite author - Paulo Coelho 

Favourite holiday destination - Cuba 

New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field

Role model - My Grandfather 

Dream interviewee - Che Guevara

RESULTS
%3Cp%3E3.30pm%3A%20Al%20Maktoum%20Challenge%20Round%203%20%E2%80%93%20Group%201%20(PA)%20%2475%2C000%20(Dirt)%202%2C000m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Jugurtha%20De%20Monlau%2C%20Pat%20Dobbs%20(jockey)%2C%20Jean-Claude%20Pecout%20(trainer)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E4.05pm%3A%20Dubai%20City%20Of%20Gold%20%E2%80%93%20Group%202%20(TB)%20%24250%2C000%20(Turf)%202%2C410m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Global%20Storm%2C%20William%20Buick%2C%20Charlie%20Appleby%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E4.40pm%3A%20Burj%20Nahaar%20%E2%80%93%20Group%203%20(TB)%20%24250%2C000%20(D)%201%2C600m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Discovery%20Island%2C%20James%20Doyle%2C%20Bhupat%20Seemar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E5.15pm%3A%20Nad%20Al%20Sheba%20Turf%20Sprint%20%E2%80%93%20Group%203%20(TB)%20%24250%2C000%20(T)%201%2C200m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Al%20Dasim%2C%20Mickael%20Barzalona%2C%20George%20Boughey%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E5.50pm%3A%20Al%20Bastakiya%20%E2%80%93%20Listed%20(TB)%20%24170%2C000%20(D)%201%2C900m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Go%20Soldier%20Go%2C%20Adrie%20de%20Vries%2C%20Fawzi%20Nass%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E6.25pm%3A%20Al%20Maktoum%20Challenge%20Round%203%20%E2%80%93%20Group%201%20(TB)%20%24450%2C000%20(D)%202%2C000m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Salute%20The%20Soldier%2C%20Adrie%20de%20Vries%2C%20Fawzi%20Nass%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E7.10pm%3A%20Ras%20Al%20Khor%20%E2%80%93%20Conditions%20(TB)%20%24300%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Al%20Suhail%2C%20William%20Buick%2C%20Charlie%20Appleby%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E7.45pm%3A%20Jebel%20Hatta%20%E2%80%93%20Group%201%20(TB)%20%24350%2C000%20(T)%201%2C800m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Alfareeq%2C%20Dane%20O%E2%80%99Neill%2C%20Charlie%20Appleby%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E8.20pm%3A%20Mahab%20Al%20Shimaal%20%E2%80%93%20Group%203%20(TB)%20%24250%2C000%20(D)%201%2C200m%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Sound%20Money%2C%20Mickael%20Barzalona%2C%20Bhupat%20Seemar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
AT%20A%20GLANCE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWindfall%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EAn%20%E2%80%9Cenergy%20profits%20levy%E2%80%9D%20to%20raise%20around%20%C2%A35bn%20in%20a%20year.%20The%20temporary%20one-off%20tax%20will%20hit%20oil%20and%20gas%20firms%20by%2025%20per%20cent%20on%20extraordinary%20profits.%20An%2080%20per%20cent%20investment%20allowance%20should%20calm%20Conservative%20nerves%20that%20the%20move%20will%20dent%20North%20Sea%20firms%E2%80%99%20investment%20to%20save%20them%2091p%20for%20every%20%C2%A31%20they%20spend.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EA%20universal%20grant%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EEnergy%20bills%20discount%2C%20which%20was%20effectively%20a%20%C2%A3200%20loan%2C%20has%20doubled%20to%20a%20%C2%A3400%20discount%20on%20bills%20for%20all%20households%20from%20October%20that%20will%20not%20need%20to%20be%20paid%20back.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETargeted%20measures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMore%20than%20eight%20million%20of%20the%20lowest%20income%20households%20will%20receive%20a%20%C2%A3650%20one-off%20payment.%20It%20will%20apply%20to%20households%20on%20Universal%20Credit%2C%20Tax%20Credits%2C%20Pension%20Credit%20and%20legacy%20benefits.%0D%3Cbr%3ESeparate%20one-off%20payments%20of%20%C2%A3300%20will%20go%20to%20pensioners%20and%20%C2%A3150%20for%20those%20receiving%20disability%20benefits.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO

Newcastle United 2 (Willems 25', Shelvey 88')

Manchester City 2 (Sterling 22', De Bruyne 82')

BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP

Group A

Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA

Group B

Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti

Group C

Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia

Group D

Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria

Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier

UAE results
Beat China by 16 runs
Lost to Thailand by 10 wickets
Beat Nepal by five runs
Beat Hong Kong by eight wickets
Beat Malaysia by 34 runs

Standings (P, W, l, NR, points)

1. Thailand 5 4 0 1 9
2. UAE 5 4 1 0 8
3. Nepal 5 2 1 2 6
4. Hong Kong 5 2 2 1 5
5. Malaysia 5 1 4 0 2
6. China 5 0 5 0 0

Final
Thailand v UAE, Monday, 7am

The finalists

Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho

Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson

Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)

Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid

Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULT

Norway 1 Spain 1
Norway: King (90 4')
Spain: Niguez (47')

In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
  • Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 
  • Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000 
  • HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000 
  • Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000 
  • Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000 
  • Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000 
  • Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000 
  • Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
  • Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
  • Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

Know your cyber adversaries

Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.

Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.

Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.

Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.

Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.

Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.

Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.

Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.

Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.

Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.

French business

France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.

PROFILE OF HALAN

Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar

World record transfers

1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m

Ten10 Cricket League

Venue and schedule Sharjah Cricket Stadium, December 14 to 17

Teams

Maratha Arabians Leading player: Virender Sehwag; Top picks: Mohammed Amir, Imad Wasim; UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Zahoor Khan

Bengal Lions Leading player: Sarfraz Ahmed; Top picks: Sunil Narine, Mustafizur Rahman; UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Rameez Shahzad

Kerala Kings Leading player: Eoin Morgan; Top picks: Kieron Pollard, Sohail Tanvir; UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Imran Haider

Pakhtoons Leading player: Shahid Afridi; Top picks: Fakhar Zaman, Tamim Iqbal; UAE players: Amjad Javed, Saqlain Haider

Punjabi Legends Leading player: Shoaib Malik; Top picks: Hasan Ali, Chris Jordan; UAE players: Ghulam Shabber, Shareef Asadullah

Team Sri Lanka Cricket Will be made up of Colombo players who won island’s domestic limited-overs competition

Updated: May 01, 2023, 12:57 PM