Smart Dubai, the government office selected to drive Dubai's citywide transformation into a Smart City, has announced the Smart Dubai Platform, a digital backbone powering the city in the near future, in partnership with Strategic Partner, du. The Smart Dubai Platform will be the central operating system for the city, providing access to city services and data for all individuals, private sector as well as public sector entities.
The Smart Dubai Platform is a unique undertaking for any city in the world. Several leading cities have established ICT platforms, but often limited them to specific uses or a single dimension. The newly-conceived Smart Dubai Platform unites city services, IoT, cloud services, Big Data and digital identity across all city dimensions to build the most comprehensive exchange point for government and private sector services, delivering unprecedented value for the city.
The Smart Dubai Platform will be developed and implemented by du, in an ambitious and unique public-private partnership model that will set new benchmarks for cross-sector partnerships for smart city initiatives globally.
Dr. Aisha bin Bishr, director general of the Smart Dubai Office, said: "We envision radical enhancements to our city leadership decision-making, operational efficiencies, and daily quality of life: for a city planner, directing operational cost-savings into data-driven research and development; for a mother, checking health data from her child's school to determine if a flu vaccination is required; for a father, reviewing household energy consumption to conserve resources and save money for a family vacation; for a tourist, utilizing the live public transportation data to make the most out of his time spent in the city; and for all commuters, enjoying reduced traffic congestion as more and more services are transacted online."
As the Strategic Partner for the Smart Dubai Platform, du brings a thorough know-how of Dubai's landmark approach to smart cities, exemplified by the company's ongoing smart city initiatives, continuing investment in smart infrastructure and long-standing support of entrepreneurship and fostering innovation. In delivering the Smart Dubai Platform, du will pioneer a cap-ex free, flexible, partnership-based business model that is unlike any platform-based city model operating in the World today.
"The introduction of the Smart Dubai platform marks a significant step towards the UAE's smart city transformation. du has supported the UAE leadership's smart city vision by introducing the infrastructure with the capabilities of empowering all UAE entities to step into a smart future," said Osman Sultan, chief executive officer, du. "At du, we consider our contribution as being an essential mainstay to the local economy, as well as the facilitator of a collaborative ecosystem between a whole host of public and private players."
In accordance with the Dubai Data Law, the Smart Dubai Platform will facilitate the exchange of open and shared data between the public sector, private sector and individuals, creating new opportunities for engagement, contributing to the smart city future of Dubai.