List of sponsors of Smart Dubai’s pavilion during GITEX Technology Week 2016 announced



UAE, 11 October 2016: The Smart Dubai Office has announced the list of strategic sponsors of Smart Dubai’s pavilion, which showcases citywide delightful experiences through a model that simulates smart living in Dubai City on a huge area of 3,800 square metres at GITEX Technology Week 2016 between October 16 and 20.

The list of strategic sponsors includes a selected group of major companies in the UAE that were keen on participating effectively in Smart Dubai’s pavilion during GITEX Technology Week 2016, one of the world’s largest technology-dedicated events, which depicts the reality by means of such sectors as the virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, wearables, smart living and digital marketing.

Ahmad Bin Hezeem, Senior Partner of BSA & Associates LLP
 Ahmad Bin Hezeem, Senior Partner of BSA & Associates LLP

H.E. Abdulla Matar Al-Mannaei, Managing Director of Emirates Auction
 H.E. Abdulla Matar Al-Mannaei, Managing Director of Emirates Auction

H.E. Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, CEO of SDO
 H.E. Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, CEO of SDO

Samer Soliman, Managing Director, Group Acquiring Network International
 Samer Soliman, Managing Director, Group Acquiring Network International

Tayfun Topkoc, Managing Director of SAP UAE
 Tayfun Topkoc, Managing Director of SAP UAE

Wesam Lootah, CEO of Smart Dubai Office
Wesam Lootah, CEO of Smart Dubai Office

Smart Dubai is keen on participating with a pavilion that shows the aspects of smart living in Dubai City and has been designed as a realistic model of the city of happiness, which adopts technological innovation through applying the Smart Dubai Office’s strategy all over the city with the aim of making Dubai the happiest city on earth.

Smart Dubai’s pavilion at GITEX Technology Week 2016, which encompasses 55 government and private partners, will witness a unique show reflecting the delightful derived from smart living in Dubai City and resulting from Smart Dubai Office working tirelessly to implement an agenda and a roadmap targeting all the city segments towards achieving new competitive world records at the level of Dubai’s readiness and advancement. This comes in implementation of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, aimed at making Dubai the top city in the world in all walks of life, bringing happiness to its citizens, residents, vibrant businesses and visitors.

Participating in the pavilion are 8 strategic sponsors who will display new and innovative solutions for the smart city.

Diamond Sponsor:

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company “Du”. Du will showcase several services in the pavilion, the most important of which is the Smart Dubai Platform, a pioneering initiative for Dubai transformation into the smartest city in the world and the digital backbone that will drive Dubai City in the near future. Du provides the technical know-how with respect to the optimum way that Dubai follows in understanding smart cities, giving examples from the company’s ongoing smart city initiatives aimed at continuing to invest in smart infrastructure, supporting entrepreneurship and fostering long-term innovation.

Platinum Sponsor:
Emirates Auction, which was able over a short period of time to exceed expectations and set an impressive record of honourable achievements and successes, the most important of which include entering the Guinness Book of Records for seven times and offering its customers higher returns on commodities sold in auctions.

Gold Sponsors:
1.      BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates LLP, which was founded in 2001 and provides a competitive feature to its clients seeking on-site consulting services compatible with the market over the years.

2.      SAP Middle East and North Africa LLC, a leading company worldwide in business applications and the world’s top company in software and revenues related to programming services.

3.      Network International LLC, the largest acquirer in the UAE and a leading payment solutions provider in the Middle East and Africa region.

4.      Dell EMC, which enables businesses to update, automate and transform their data centers using pioneering technologies in developing integrated infrastructure, servers and storage & data protection methods.

5.      IBM Middle East and Pakistan, which leads many innovative initiatives in the field of cloud computing, analysis, mobility and security in addition to nanotechnology, e-government, healthcare etc. IBM also collaborates with multiple governments and leading educational foundations.

Silver Sponsor:
Careem Co., which provides a safe and convenient mode of transport, combining the car-driving captains and the customers seeking to move from one place to another through an app that is downloaded on mobile phones and websites.

H.E. Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, said: "Thanks to the ongoing hard work being done by our 55 partners side by side with 8 strategic sponsors to offer new and innovative smart city solutions, we are confident that Smart Dubai's experience at GITEX 2016 will set a new exemplary standard for showcasing smart city experiences, not only for all residents,  business owners and decision-makers but also for the concerned entities and governments worldwide by showcasing a unified smart city experience.


Osman Sultan, Chief Executive Officer, du, said: "We are proud to participate in GITEX 2016 as a Diamond Sponsor for the Smart Dubai stand. We consider this sponsorship - alongside the government's confidence in us and our ambitions - a great responsibility as well as a great privilege. Together, we harness our combined capabilities in order to achieve the leaderships’ great vision of increasing the overall happiness of the UAE. On the stand today, we will demonstrate the latest innovations driving the smart transformation of future cities, and how we can apply these innovations throughout Dubai, paving the way for the smart cities of the world.”

Sultan added: "Since the announcement of the strategic partnership with the Smart Dubai Office, du has focused on engendering public-private collaboration with regional and international partners. Through doing so, we have focused on innovation in ICT to establish an infrastructure capable of supporting residents and enterprises with integrated Smart City services. The transformation of Dubai into a truly “smart” and happy city is a top priority for us, and the Smart Dubai Platform is the key to achieve this goal. As the digital backbone of Smart Dubai, our ambitious plans and the communication services we provide are an integral to our contribution to driving the Smart Dubai agenda. The process of strengthening the city's infrastructure and increasing its connectivity, through smart applications and services will contribute effectively to make the services more accessible, for both individuals and enterprises."

Samer Soliman, Managing Director – Group Acquiring, Network International, said: "We are proud to be a partner to Smart Dubai Government during GITEX Technology week in line with our focus on complementing His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Smart City initiative. GITEX is the pinnacle of new technology innovation that is literally shaping the world of tomorrow. We are seeing new products and services emerging that will change the way that we live our lives and the payments industry is right at the heart of this transformation. Central to our business at Network International is the drive to innovate our products and services, so that we can facilitate continued growth and make life easier for consumers and enterprise customers. We are confident that our strategic partnership with Smart Dubai Government will deliver significant value to the citizens, residents and visitors in the UAE."

H.E. Abdulla Matar Al-Mannaei,
Managing Director of Emirates Auction said: "Dubai continues to hold a leading regional role in innovation, smart applications, and technology know-how. This has transformed the Emirate into a prominent hub for start-up companies in this field. In addition, the latest advancements in technology use have highlighted the quality of government services offered to the public, through its simplicity, ease of use and round-the-clock availability."

"Through our sponsorship of the “Dubai Smart Government” pavilion at Gitex 2016, we are truly honoured to be part of Dubai's realizations and achievements in various fields, as we consider this sponsorship a true recognition of the regional and global competitiveness attributed to the emirate. This comes as we seek to further communicate with the audience of Emirates Auction, and to highlight the auctioning experience that we offer as fun, easy and safe to participate in, this has been evident through our services and smart applications", he added.

For his part, Bassel Al Nahlaoui - VP of Business Development and Government Relations, said: "We are acutely aware of the ground realities of intra-city and inter-city transport. While serving the immediate needs of our customers, we are also cognizant of the importance of innovating for a greener Dubai. Dubai is faring in its vision to be the world's smartest city, and we are honoured to partner with the Government of Dubai to help make this vision a reality."

Ahmad Bin Hezeem, Senior Partner of BSA Ahmad Bin Hazeem & Associates LLP, said: "BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates LLP (BSA) Advocates and Legal Consultants were proud sponsors of 36th GITEX Technology Week, which will take took place on 16th - 20th October 2016 at Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, UAE.

The exhibition is under patronage of Smart Dubai Government Establishment (also known as Smart Dubai Gov or SDG) is the technology arm of Smart Dubai, a city-wide initiative to transform Dubai into the world's smartest and happiest city. Coming under the umbrella of the Smart Dubai Office (SDO), our vision is aligned with SDO which is to 'make Dubai the happiest city on Earth.' SDG officially directs and supervises the implementation of electronic and smart transformation in Dubai Government.

Announcing our involvement: Dr. Ahmad Bin Hezeem, Senior Partner said: "BSA is delighted to be involved in one of the region's largest trading events in Dubai while collaborating with Smart Dubai Government. As the sole participating law firm offering a variety of legal services in the Middle East region, we were honoured to have met a high calibre of government departments, technology companies and individuals. Technology is an area that has seen exponential growth in last decade. We look forward to working together with Smart Dubai Government to achieve the 2020 Dubai vision."
Jimmy Haoula, Managing Partner of BSA said: "We were pleased at the opportunity to showcase our company and services at the Gitex technology week together with the government and private sectors.  We are very proud of what and where we are as a firm and look forward to forging lasting partnerships with the business community."

Tayfun Topkoc, Managing Director, SAP UAE, said: "Dubai is one of the world’s leading adopters of real-time technology to enhance costs, citizen happiness, and sustainability. At GITEX, showcasing solutions across the mega-event and future city experience at Smart Dubai will demonstrate best practices to a global audience. SAP is committed to co-innovating with Dubai and UAE governments on digital transformation."

Meanwhile, IBM Middle East & Pakistan stated that from Blockchain to virtual reality, IBM will be showcasing its latest solutions across cognitive, cloud, IoT, Blockchain and analytics at this year’s GITEX Technology Week. Subject matter experts will host live demos on how IBM is shaping the cognitive future with cloud as the platform for cross-industry businesses.

Habib Mahakian, Vice President, Dell EMC Gulf & Pakistan, said: "We are extremely proud to contribute to a vision that aims to establish a smart and sustainable future. We thank Dubai Smart Government for engaging Dell EMC as a trusted partner and deploying our industry-leading, fully-integrated Enterprise Hybrid Cloud platform to accelerate business agility, transform delivery of services and automate infrastructure services across all business functions. Moreover, we are excited to strategically work with Dubai Smart Government to drive innovation-led initiatives and achieve the aspiring future envisioned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum."