Making Bahrain cities smart and innovative
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Reported by Julia Cassano
The first day of the Bahrain Smart City Summit 2023 was held yesterday at the Gulf Hotel Convention Center, bringing together key stakeholders from the public and private sectors to discuss and explore innovative ideas and solutions in the field of smart cities.
It was held under the patronage of the Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, HE Eng. Wael bin Nasser Al Mubarak. The summit included multiple panel discussions with experts talking on topics like “A Holistic Approach To Smart Cities”, “Building For The Future”, and “Where Smart City Technology Meets Advanced Financing”.
Dr. Jassim Haji, President of the International Artificial Intelligence Group, moderated one of the panels with Dr. Muneer Zuhdi, CTO of Nokia Enterprise-MEA; Eng. Mahmood Dashti, senior project manager, Enterprise Technology Partnerships, Batelco, and Calum Handforth, UNDP advisor on smart cities, discussing the holistic approach within smart cities.
The panel unanimously highlighted that bringing new technologies into Bahrain’s cities can be used to solve current problems. Cities are in a constant state of facing major challenges due to population growth that produces congestion, excess pollution, and the absence of adequate infrastructure, which makes it increasingly difficult to maintain sustainability and environmental obligations.
Dr. Muneer Zuhdi, CTO of Nokia Enterprise-MEA, said that technologies and artificial intelligence should be used to complement the world we live in and enhance the opportunities and infrastructure we already have.
“When we look at the Gulf countries, they started later in terms of modernizing their economies and using technologies to boost their countries; however, they are now progressing at high rates,” Dr. Muneer said.
The panel also emphasized how Bahrain’s younger population will play a crucial role in accelerating the Kingdom’s economy and ecosystem. They agreed that youth can be a positive force for development when provided with the proper knowledge and opportunities they need to thrive.
The youth need to be active in Bahrain when working with new startups, voicing new ideas, and sharing innovations that could better society for all. The panel said that for this to effectively further economies, different sectors must merge to synergize.
Calum Handforth identified that it is both the private and public sector’s responsibility to share ideas and use their skills to create more opportunities. Using already successful Bahraini businesses and encouraging entrepreneurship creates a thriving ecosystem that only encourages greater innovation and ideas for the country.
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