Schneider Electric Showcases Experiential Smart City at Innovation Summit

Schneider Electric™, the global specialist in energy management and automation, today inaugurated its annual Innovation Summit, an IoT-powered event demonstrating innovations and technologies that cater to the future of energy management, industrial efficiency and environmental sustainability. As an interesting highlight, the energy leader also showcased its revolutionary concept of an experiential smart city at the two-day summit.

Over 2,500 attendees were welcomed from the MEA region at the two-day event that runs from 11 to 12 April at Atlantis The Palm in Dubai. Esteemed regional speakers included His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), His Excellency Eng. Yasser El Kadi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology -  Egypt, Mamdouh Raslan, Chairman and CEO, Water and Waste Water Egyptian Holding Company, Osman Sultan, CEO of du, and Dr Badr Al Badr, CEO of Dur Hospitality.

His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said: “I take this opportunity to thank the organisers of the summit, which has become an important platform for the exchange of best practices, experience and updates in innovation. As an innovative strategy-focused organisation, DEWA has developed short-, medium- and long-term plans to enable its transformation into a world-class sustainable and innovative utility company while helping implement Dubai’s vision of a government of the future.”

He added: “DEWA strives to achieve a sustainable future for generations to come. We are the first government organisation to adopt sustainability as part of our vision. We work to achieve the goals of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 that aims to establish the city as an international hub for clean energy and green economy. To diversify energy resources and enhance dependence on clean and renewable energy, we launched a strategic project to build a hydroelectric power station that will take advantage of the water reservoir in the mountains at the Hattawi Dam. The first project of its kind in the region is scheduled for completion in five years. Our initiatives reflect our commitment to the objectives of the UAE Vision 2021 – preparing for a sustainable future and achieving economic growth while preserving the environment.”

During the plenary, Frédéric Abbal, Executive Vice President of Energy Business at Schneider Electric, spoke on co-creating a new decarbonised, decentralised, digitised and more electric world with innovation at every level. He highlighted the benefits of Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ architecture and platform that delivers IoT-enabled solutions at scale for building, grid, industry and datacentre customers.

Welcoming the attendees, Caspar Herzberg, said: “The UAE leadership’s vision to transform the country’s industries, invest heavily in renewables and diversify away from oil is one of the most impressive examples of adaptability – a critical attribute if we are to not only survive but thrive in a new economic age. While we consume energy at an unprecedented rate, we have a new task ahead of us – cutting our CO2 emissions by half. At this challenging juncture, we must remember that our economic potential to improve energy efficiency remains largely untapped. Technology is key to unlocking this potential. With the support of our partners in the public and private sectors, we can apply innovation in creating cities you can be proud of – with homes that are safer, and businesses that are highly digitised, sustainable and forward-looking.”

Under four parallel theme tracks – Datacentres, Buildings, and Industry & Utilities, the Innovation Summit features a series of insightful panel discussions. Topics include ‘Internet of Things – Beyond the Hype, Mapping the Value and Case for Action’, ‘Efficient Buildings for a Cooler Planet’, ‘Datacentre: In the Cloud, at the Edge’, ‘Intuitive Industries’, and ‘Power Distribution Redefined’.

The event’s Innovation Hub showcases solutions that integrate information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) across connected products, edge control and apps, analytics and services. These technologies seamlessly connect, collect, analyse and act on data in real time, resulting in enhanced safety, efficiency, reliability and sustainability.

The summit is also supported by the business partners of Schneider Electric. Arabian Gulf Switchgear (AGS), Verger Delporte, Gulf Business Machines (GBM), Gulf Dynamic Switchgear (GDS), Avanceon, Altron, CNS Technologies, HMS Industrial Networks, ITQAN, ProSoft Technology, Emircom, Bahri & Mazroei and IBAM Systems.