NEWS
Orange
Business
Services
redefines the
concept of
‘smart cities’
Future Blockchain Summit
hosted in Dubai
Her Excellency
Dr Aisha Bint
Butti Bin Bishr,
Director General
of Smart Dubai
Fadi Shanaah, Business Development
Director for Smart Cities, Middle East and
Africa, Orange Business Services
O
range Business Services (OBS), the
business to business branch of the
Orange Group, was the platinum partner to
the inaugural IDC Smart Cities Middle East
Event and Awards. This took place at the
Jumeirah Creek Side Hotel, Dubai, where
Orange presented awards and a keynote
address on managing the data journeys
created by the ‘cognitive city’ of the future.
OBS is actively consulting on smart city
projects and recently launched a new Middle
East regional hub and smart cities centre of
excellence at the Dubai Silicon Oasis. The hub
includes a solutions showroom demonstrating
OBS’s smart solutions portfolio and
capabilities in a user-friendly space, designed
to stimulate further innovative ideas and
collaborative business opportunities.
The Dubai Silicon Oasis is also home to the
Dubai Smart City Accelerator programme run
by startupbootcamp, sponsored by Orange.
Fadi Shanaah, Business Development Director
for Smart Cities in MEA at OBS, said: “In
the Middle East, ‘Smart Cities’ is a unique
business opportunity with greenfield projects
on a scale and moving at a speed that is
unparalleled. Our view of the future city is
evolving into the concept of the ‘cognitive
city’ – an urban area constantly learning
through interaction with connected objects
across the city generating data – as our
homes, cars and even our own bodies leave a
digital trail and a perpetual stream of data.”
8
INTELLIGENTCIO
T
he Future Blockchain Summit has
been hosted in Dubai.
The event, billed as the world’s most
influential and creative blockchain
festival, welcomed over 5,000 visionary
technologists and over 100 exhibitors to
Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
The event hosted over 100 top blockchain
experts from around the world to
share their in-depth knowledge on this
disruptive technology.
One of the aims of the summit was to
demystify blockchain and unlock multi-
billion dollar opportunities for the global
blockchain industry.
Her Excellency Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin
Bishr, Director General of Smart Dubai,
said the summit was needed to bring key
stakeholders involved in the blockchain
industry under one roof.
“The conference and workshops,
coupled with the experiential exhibition,
feature-rich deep dive sessions and
high-level industry discussions, position
the event as the world’s gateway to the
global knowledge hub for blockchain
technology,” she said.
The Future Blockchain Summit is of
strategic importance as Dubai aims to
become the definitive blockchain capital
of the world by 2020.
The event saw a number of firsts. For
instance, over 50% of the event’s line-up
of visionary speakers and influencers were
making their regional debuts.
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