In a press conference held by the Abu Dhabi City Municipality on its organization of the Abu Dhabi Smart City Summit, taking place on October 29 and 30, 2019, it reiterated its keenness to enhance Abu Dhabi’s reputation in terms of Smart City and Artificial Intelligence applications in governance, services, transport, roads, infrastructure, sustainability, future foresight, and innovation. It also emphasized its support of government entities’ efforts and effective contribution to the transformation of Abu Dhabi into a smart city, through the examination of regional and international best practices on smart cities, mobilization of efforts and energies, and conclusion of effective and meaningful public-private partnerships in this regard.
For his part, Eng. Sami Abdul Qader Al-Hashmi, Director of the Infrastructure Support Division, Abu Dhabi City Municipality, said that the Summit is generally seeking to align with the UAE Centennial 2071 and the Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities’ strategic plan which is based on priorities including: leading institutional capacities, effective and meaningful partnerships, quality of life and overall well-being, integrated and sustainable urban development, and distinguished smart services, all of which are expected to improve the quality of life at all levels.
In particular, the Abu Dhabi Smart City Summit aims to:
- Enhance Abu Dhabi’s reputation and standing in terms of smart city and artificial intelligence applications in governance, services, transport, roads, infrastructure, sustainability, future foresight, and innovation.
- Combine the efforts of government entities and their effective contribution to the transformation of Abu Dhabi into a smart city.
- Review leading regional and international best practices on to smart cities.
- Mobilize efforts and energies and conclude effective and meaningful public-private partnerships.
Abu Dhabi Smart City Summit’s themes cover the future vision of smart cities in Abu Dhabi, artificial intelligence and the future, the promotion of smart infrastructure, setting the cornerstone for building smart cities, governance and smart municipal services, emerging technologies, and e-government.
The Summit’s topics are also expected to include:
- Case studies from a number of leading global firms and government entities in this field, as well as a number of panel discussions, and an accompanying exhibition of the latest smart city and artificial intelligence technologies
- Abu Dhabi City Municipality’s Smart City Framework
- UAE Centennial 2071
- UAE’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy
- E-government
- Promotion of creativity and innovation
- Artificial intelligence in infrastructure
- Smart city infrastructure projects
- Smart infrastructure specifications and standards
- Big data analytics
- Operation and maintenance
- Smart asset management
- The Internet of Things
- Machine Learning
- Zayed Smart City Project
- Innovation park and laboratory project
- Al Maryah island framework
- Public-private partnerships
- Research and development
- Blockchain
Smart City Framework
The Smart City Framework 2018-2022 is based on the vision of an Emirate with integrated and sustainable urban development and distinguished municipal services for the well-being and happiness of society, said Eng. Sami Abdul Qader Al-Hashmi, adding that Abu Dhabi’s Smart City and Artificial Intelligence five-year plan emerged from UAE 2031 AI Strategy launched in October 2017. The plan was adopted in April 2019 as the first mega-project under the UAE Centennial 2071. It represents the newest wave after e-government as all future services, sectors, and infrastructure will rely on it at the national level.
The municipality added that the Smart City Framework 2018-2022 is based on several themes, notably: Conducting pilot studies and projects to demonstrate the smart city and smart administration’s initial concept and vision of infrastructure components; develop AI infrastructure mechanisms, technologies, and specifications; approve budgets and start implementing programs; manage municipal assets in a smart manner; and popularize and develop smart applications.
Smart City Framework Objectives
The municipality noted that the Smart City Framework aims to rely on AI in service provision and data analysis. One of its objectives is for Abu Dhabi to become a leading city in AI investments in the areas of services, smart asset management, and infrastructure components. The framework also seeks to create a new promising market in the region with a high economic value, support private initiatives, increase productivity, build a strong R&D base, invest in the latest technologies and AI agents, and apply them in all functions, tasks, and services of Abu Dhabi City Municipality with high efficiency.
The Framework’s Key Themes
The Smart City Framework is made of five key themes (staff, leadership, municipality’s reputation, governance and services, specifications and standards), said the municipality.
In more detail, the municipality aims, in terms of staff, to build a Smart City and Artificial Intelligence team, formulate operating plans and initiatives, and deploy them in forums and conferences.
At the municipality reputation level, it seeks to enhance the municipality’s reputation and standing through efficient media coverage of programs, projects, initiatives, and workshops on AI application mechanisms, as well as through the sponsorship of a global annual conference on Smart City and Artificial Intelligence applications in infrastructure and municipal services.
In leadership, it seeks to develop the leadership capacities of UAE engineers in the field of artificial intelligence as well as to enhance capabilities for all technology-related occupations.
At the government and services level, the theme is implemented through the integration of specifications of infrastructure, information security, telecommunication networks and protocols, and the Internet of Things to align them with smart applications in Abu Dhabi City Municipality’s projects and initiatives.
Target Areas
According to the municipality, it targets many areas in its Smart City Framework always focusing on society with the aim of providing smart municipal assets and services for the well-being and happiness of all. These areas include smart emergency response and work continuity, smart stormwater drainage, smart lighting, smart waste management, smart games, smart technical audit, smart signboards, smart asset management, smart irrigation, smart road engineering, smart landscaping, smart traffic safety, smart services and digital transformation, smart pedestrian safety, and project and facility smart management.