Nokia and Etisalat have set a capacity record during the world’s first field trial of single-carrier terabit-per-second data transmission on a deployed fiber network.

Nokia and the United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) have entered into a strategic collaboration to drive the development of an end-to-end UAS ecosystem that will make the UAE the first country in the world to allow the operation of drones by both businesses and government agencies in a safe, secure and managed environment.

UAE’s leading telecommunications services provider, du is driving major digital transformation with Oracle to accelerate the uptake of the UAE Federal Government Network (FEDNet) program that provides a common infrastructure resource for any federal government entity. This implementation will allow du to offer cost effective, integrated, secure and scalable cloud infrastructure services to power various Smart Government initiatives including ‘mGovernment’ and ‘Big Data’.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states show great promise for renewable energy deployment, according to a recent study by management consultancy Strategy& Middle East (formerly Booz & Company), part of the PwC network.

Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Municipality has selected Danish water and climate solutions Grundfos to provide an audit of HVAC, irrigation, water supply and disinfection pumping systems across 50 buildings and operational facilities, including large-scale sewage plants.

The UAE’s northernmost emirate, Ras Al Khaimah, has been providing its citizens with access to over 400 smart services as part of its ongoing digital transformation program.

BeyondTrust’s annual Privileged Access Threat Report highlights that greater privileged access visibility and improved integrations are vital to tackling the modern threat landscape.

Linksys are celebrating 30 years of networking and Wi-Fi innovation for the home and business this year, and it has announced that there is rapid adoption of IoT in the Middle East with a growing number of people investing in smart devices for their home, according to latest study by Linksys on consumer Wi-Fi usage trends, ahead of GITEX Technology Week.

The possibilities of IoT in the home are endless, from smart lighting and thermostats to smart fridges to machine learning devices. Linksys’ study shows there is growing use of voice assistants and TV signals that are primarily internet based.

"The number of people using smart devices in the home is increasing rapidly, which means there is also a growing need to upgrade to bigger, faster home Wi-Fi systems," says Amanulla Khan, Managing Director Linksys Middle East, Turkey and Africa. "People may not realize that even if they only stream Netflix on a smart TV, it affects the overall Wi-Fi experience for others in the household by using bandwith."

Smart TVs lead the way:
According to the Linksys study, 85.4% of respondents from the Middle East own at least one smart TV, out of which 27.9% respondents own multiple smart TVs. UAE ranks above Saudi Arabia in the adoption of smart TVs, with 86.6% and 84.2% respondents respectively.

Watching TV through the internet is very popular in the Middle East, with internet-based entertainment being the primary source of TV for 22.3% of respondents. This is widely seen in the UAE, among 26.8% of respondents, and 17.8% seen in Saudi Arabia. Subscribing to TV services is still big in the Middle East and the study highlights about 25.5% of Middle East respondents using their smart TVs for subscription-based TV services. Of this figure, 52.1% use it to download TV series and movies, and 31.4% use it to live-stream sport events.

Voice Assistants on the rise:
The use of chatbots and virtual assistants, commonly called voice assistants, is rapidly increasing. The use of voice assistants such as Amazon Echo, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home is on the rise, with 35.7% ownership amongst respondents.

Other smart devices that have reached the 40% adoption barrier include connected security cameras and smart lighting, with 39.3% and 39.6% of Middle East respondents owning such devices respectively. While the use of smart doorbells is very popular - they are owned by almost half of the Middle East respondents (46.5%) -thermostats by Nest and Netatmo lag behind, with only 24.6% of respondents owning such devices.

The numbers by country:

UAE
Most likely (24%) of all to be classified as smart home adopters
Most likely of all to own a smart or connected TV (87%), and smart plugs (43%)
Most likely of all to consider purchasing a smart or connected TV (88%), and smart plugs (64%)

Saudi Arabia
Most likely (38%) of all to be classified as extreme smart home adopters
Most likely of all to own smart doorbells (48%), smart lighting (42%), smart switches (41%), connected security cameras (40%), voice assistants (38%), and smart thermostats (27%)
Most likely of all to consider purchasing smart lighting (68%), connected security cameras (67%), smart doorbells (63%), smart switches (63%), voice assistants (62%), and smart thermostats (47%)

Living in the digital age, the internet is increasing a part of our daily lives and a new normal for all. Linksys’ study forecasts that 58.5% of respondents who don’t own any smart home devices are keen to adopt IoT in their homes, with UAE at 55% and Saudi Arabia at 62%. Adoption of smart lighting was higher, at 58%, and 52% of respondents are considering investing in this by 2020. The Middle East will see a steady adoption of voice assistants such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, with 28.5% of respondents considering such a purchase by 2019.

Khan explains: "While we are now talking smart lighting and voice asistants, in the next couple of years we’ll move to even smarter connected devices in the home driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Solutions include Phyn, a smart water management system that protects your home from leaks by learning from your usage, and Whirlpool’s smart kitchen range, which automatically preheats the oven and cooks dishes based on recipes. These innovations will accelerate the number of IoT devices in the home and also the need for up-to-speed Wi-Fi.

Whoever wants a smart home needs to be smart and futureproof his or her home network too."

During GITEX, visit the Linksys stand at Hall 1 of Dubai World Trade Centre - the trade fair will run from 14-18 October 2018. Visitors will be able to experience a smart home with Intelligent Mesh™ technology brought to reality by Award Winning Velop Whole Home Wi-Fi system with entry-level Dual-Band offerings. Linksys will also showcase a range of disruptive intelligent business solutions for SMBs.

The Road Transport Authority (RTA) has confirmed that it has commenced trials on 'smart license' plates in Dubai. The Authority has embarked upon a number of highly ambitious and unique transportation projects in the last few years such as autonomous buses and flying taxis. This latest project involving 'smart license' plates is part of Dubai Smart City initiative.

SAP will enable the Middle East's smart cities and smart future of connected vehicles, Internet of Things, cloud, and telecommunications, thanks to innovative digital marketplaces, partnerships, and solutions announced at Mobile World Congress 2018 which was held last week in Barcelona.

District 2020 has launched a global entrepreneur programme, Scale2Dubai, which enables start-ups and small businesses to expand internationally by becoming part of its innovation ecosystem.

In partnership with the Emirate of Sharjah’s Ministry of Health and Prevention, Al Zahia deployed the first driverless car in the UAE to support the health and wellbeing of residents.

Sharjah has launched an innovative smart parking system, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to manage over 90,000 newly introduced parking spaces across the Emirate.

Dubai Land Department (DLD) receivedSingaporean delegation headed by Lim Sim Seng, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Singapore Land Authority (SLA), in the presence of the Singaporean Ambassador to the UAE.

Smart cities are expected to boost lucrative business opportunities across the UAE and the wider GCC region. However, the Internet of Things (IoT), the technology underpinning these complex and interconnected urban networks, offers a considerably expanded attack surface for cyber adversaries of all kinds, according to a report launched today by Digital14, a UAE-based trusted advisor in digital transformation and cyber resilience.

Smart Dubai gears up to celebrate the fifth anniversary of its establishment, looking back at a series of achievements it has made along its journey to establish Dubai into the smartest and happiest city in the world.

Smart Dubai released a report titled ‘Decentralized Data for Dubai’within which it has partnered up with Outlier Ventures to explore the prospect of using data, the fourth industrial revolution, and Web 3.0 in smart city building.

The Smart Dubai Department (Smart Dubai) has implemented a full agenda of activities to mark UAE Innovation Month 2020, with its focus running from February 23-29 to correspond with the emirate’s engagement with the country-wide event.

Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum witnessed the signing of agreements between Smart Dubai and a number of government entities to implement the Dubai Digital Certificates initiative.

Smart Dubai has broken ground on the first phase of implementing the Dubai Paperless Strategy, which seeks to digitise internal and external transactions at government entities and save time and effort for employees and customers alike.