“Our collaboration with IBM underlines our commitment to foster the IT skills needed leveraging cloud, blockchain technology, analytics, mobility technologies and offer cognitive capabilities for our services which will add value to the day to day lives of Dubai citizens and residents, making everyday experiences more safe, seamless, efficient and impactful for all,” said H.E Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General, Smart Dubai Office.

Through several initiatives with IBM, the Smart Dubai Office will work with Dubai Government entities to help enable existing digital government services become cognitive. In October 2016, Smart Dubai Government Establishment Department of Economic Development launched “Saad”, a cognitive government service powered by IBM Watson. Saad can understand natural language, ingest and comprehend massive amounts of data, learn and reason from its interactions, and provide solutions that will aid users in deciding on correct courses of action.

The collaboration will focus on building the needed skills to enable government entities to develop cognitive applications and benefit from application programming interface (API), analytics and blockchain technologies. The Smart Dubai Office and IBM will also provide university student developers with a full year Bluemix subscription, enabling them to gain hands on experience with cloud services. IBM Bluemix is a cloud based platform that enables organizations and developers to quickly and easily create, deploy, and manage applications on the cloud.

“Our focus with Smart Dubai Office will help accelerate the development of the IT skills and services in the Emirate and enable government entities in Dubai to begin their cognitive journey,” says Amr Refaat, General Manager, IBM Middle East and Pakistan. “Students will also have access to a platform for innovation, resources and technology expertise to help ensure that today’s graduates have the knowledge and workforce skills to help fuel economic growth.”

IBM Watson represents a new era in computing in which systems can interact and understand natural language, generate hypotheses based on evidence, and learn as it goes. As part of this collaboration, Cognit, a joint venture between Mubadala Development Company and IBM, will be engaged to support the development and implementation of Watson based applications and Arabized, Watson capabilities.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates the strength and value in bringing IBM Watson services to Dubai based citizens and further solidifies Cognit as a true partner for government to bring this transformative technology to the UAE. Everyone involved is excited to see how newly developed IT skills, created by allowing first-hand access to IBM Watson, can support prosperity and incubate the talent of tomorrow’s future pioneers,” said Amal Al Jabri, General Manager, Cognit.

Fostering skills in Dubai is a key focus of this collaboration. Students and faculty members from leading universities in Dubai can also enroll in the IBM Skills Academy where IBM will provide a series of training sessions on cognitive, big data, cloud, security, social and analytics. The IBM Skills Academy Program is IBM’s premier training and certification initiative for academia in the Middle East and Africa region.

In January 2017, IBM and the University of Dubai have already started delivering training to universities in the United Arab Emirates, under the theme of “Big Data Developer”. The training is designed to equip university faculty members and students with the skills and knowledge every Big Data expert needs.

The post Smart Dubai Office and IBM collaborate to build Cognitive Centre appeared first on The Integrator.

Saeed bin Abed, CEO of Nedaa, and Rajeev Suri, President and CEO of Nokia recently met to outline the details of their partnership and how it will impact Dubai’s government agencies, the Smart Dubai project, universities, educational and healthcare institutions, and private companies involved in Smart City applications, among other key beneficiaries. Also in attendance were Nedaa’s Deputy CEO and General Manager of Esharah Etisalat Security Solutions Mansoor Bu Osaiba, Director of Commercial Affairs Abdulla Al Falasi, and Chief Technical Officer Yousif Al Ali.

Nedaa and its approved technology partner, Esharah Etisalat Security Solutions will collaborate with Nokia to accelerate the development of Smart City applications and to enrich Dubai’s Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem through the Lab. The trio will particularly focus on solutions for Government and Mission-Critical Services in the field of Education, Health, Utilities, and Transport, including aviation and air traffic management.

Set to open by the first half of 2017 at Dubai’s Internet City, the Innovation and Creativity Lab will have access to Nokia’s advanced technologies – including its proprietary Intelligent Management Platform for All Connected Things (IMPACT) and next-generation radio systems. The technology solutions to be unraveled by the Lab will cover the domains of IoT Platforms and Applications, Next-Generation Internet Protocol (IP) and Wireless Connectivity, Security, and Big Data and Analytics.

“Dubai will require continuous and extensive improvements to its ICT infrastructure and capabilities to fulfill the Smart City project’s objective of providing better connections and maximizing interaction and cooperation between the emirate and its residents,” said bin Abed. “Our alliance with Nokia and the support of our trusted partner Esharah Etisalat Security Solutions will enable us to explore innovative and world-class tools and practices for hastening Dubai’s smart transformation without compromising on quality. This is indeed a watershed moment in Dubai’s efforts to harness technology to ensure the prosperity and peace of its people.”

“We take great pride in the work we have done with Nedaa to enhance Dubai’s communications landscape. By teaming up with one of the world’s esteemed ICT authorities, Nedaa is taking the emirate several steps closer to making its ‘smart’ visions come true,’ added Bu Osaiba. “We are very optimistic about the directions this partnership will take and the Innovation and Creativity Lab’s pivotal role as a seedbed for the future of the Internet of Things and other smart elements in Dubai.”

Amr El-Leithy, Head of Middle East & Africa, Nokia, said: “Continuing our long-term, progressive relationship with the government of Dubai, we are excited to announce this joint Innovation and Creativity Lab with Nedaa and Esharah Etisalat Security Solutions. This is yet another milestone in our journey with the Dubai Government to accelerate the implementation of IoT and smart city applications that will further contribute to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s vision to make Dubai the happiest city on earth.”

Earlier this year, Nedaa and Esharah Etisalat Security Solutions commissioned Nokia to deploy a Smart City solution based on 5G-ready next-generation networks.

The post Nedaa & Nokia to jointly pursue Dubai’s smart vision via pioneering Innovation & Creativity Lab appeared first on The Integrator.