DOHA: Ideas and strategies for developing smart cities across the Middle East will be discussed at the Arab Future Cities Summit, to be held at St Regis Doha on April 22 and 23.
Over 500 city stakeholders have registered to attend the summit.
Some of the biggest names in smart city technology including IBM, Philips, Thales, Schneider Electric, Microsoft, SAP and Barwa Bank will be showcasing their cutting-edge technologies and solutions at the event.
The Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning H E Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa Al Thani will be opening the summit.
The keynote speakers include Mohammed Ahmed Al Sayed, Director of Doha Municipality, Manel Sanroma, CIO of Barcelona City Council, and Jeddah’s Vice Mayor for Strategic Planning and Chief Planner Dr Abdulgader Othman Amir will be presenting strategies and identifying best practices for developing smart cities across the Middle East.
The event is organised by Expotrade, a global conference and event organiser under the patronage of the Ministry for Municipality and Urban Planning.
Qatar Green Building Council’s Director Eng Meshal Al Shamari will give a presentation on the affordability of sustainable buildings.
Other key speakers include Dr Mohammed Imad Rouf Al Naimi of Kahramaa, Christopher Sorensen of Masdar, Sunil Gomes of Doha International Airport, Yousef Al Emadi of Ashghal, and Volker Schaffler of Vienna’s TINA VIENNA Urban Technologies & Strategies.
The summit will consist of more than 20 sessions over two days including keynote presentations from local and international smart city experts, case-studies of successful sustainability initiatives, and roundtable sessions where delegates will explore solutions to some of the challenges facing Arab cities today.
Participants will also have the opportunity to discover cutting-edge technologies at the Future Cities Lounge, where sponsors will be showcasing their smart city solutions.
Included in this display will be the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupé and video presentations featuring the ongoing development and breadth of BMW i8, a fuel efficient plug-in Hybrid which is expected to hit the Middle East market in 2014.
The Peninsula
