(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM))
DUBAI, 29th May, 2017 (WAM) -- Dubai's progress towards its smart city goals took centre stage recently as Smart Dubai participated in panel discussions at New York City's Smart Cities NYC conference. Smart Dubai was on board as strategic partner for the event, the first conference that tackles the intersection of technology and urban life.
Dr. Aisha bint Butti bin Bishr, Director-General of the Smart Dubai Office, Younus Al Nasser, Assistant Director-General of the Smart Dubai Office, and Wesam Lootah, CEO of Smart Dubai Government Establishment, took part in the event, where, in addition to the discussion panels, they attended a roundtable breakfast at the IBM Think Lab facility, hosted by the US-UAE Business Council which included senior executives from prominent US ICT and infrastructure companies, along with Majid Al-Suwaidi, Consul-General of the UAE in New York. Al Nasser gave a presentation at the breakfast, following Dr. Aisha bin Bishr's introductory remarks.
Dr. Bin Bishr said, 'Smart Dubai is committed to adopting the most-cutting edge international innovations and practices when it comes to building the smart city, which supports our end goal of making Dubai the smartest and happiest city on the planet. We are equally passionate about sharing our successes and accomplishments with like-minded ambitious organisations and individuals around the world, in order to play our part in the development of the smart city as a concept, worldwide.'
'The Smart Cities NYC conference,' she continued, 'offers the ideal opportunity and platform for us to do so, seeing as it brings together international experts in smart city development, and creates synergy and momentum for the global smart city movement.'
Commenting on Smart Dubai's participation at the conference, Mr. Al Nasser said, 'Our participation represents a great step forward towards propelling Dubai to the forefront of smart cities across the world, and highlighting its wide array of smart services and technological advancements.'
'During the sessions, we were happy to learn that several major cities have indeed started to look to Dubai as an example of how to build the cities of the future. The UAE boasts a set of resources that qualifies it to compete on a global level, particularly the advanced developments constantly reshaping Dubai, which helps realise the city's vision of becoming the smartest and happiest city on Earth,' he added.
Mr. Lootah explained, 'The event provides an ideal opportunity for us to measure our successes against achievements made by our international counterparts in terms of smart city development.'
He continued, 'Smart Dubai has a successful track record, launching several unprecedented initiatives, including our efforts to create the first Blockchain Government Global Standardisation system, which would make it the first of its kind anywhere in the world, as well as our strategy to become the first Blockchain-powered city by 2020.'
'The conference offered us the opportunity to learn of the progress being made in the smart city industry around the world, and we were proud to see that, in many areas and sectors, Dubai is leading the charge with its bold and innovative initiatives and projects,' Lootah concluded.
WAM/Nour/Chris
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