Dewa and Alibaba enter deal to enhance digital services

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Alibaba Cloud, the data intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. This is part  of Dewa’s ongoing efforts to enhance its digital services. According to the MoU, the two sides will cooperate in presenting the challenges related to algorithms, Quantum Computing, Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Computing through Alibaba  Cloud’s Tianchi innovation platform. The two sides will also collaborate in organising workshops, training courses and conferences to enhance the digital services provided by Dewa to its customers and stakeholders.

The MoU was signed by Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future at Dewa, and Daniel  Jiang, International Chief Solution Director of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. The signing ceremony was attended by officials from both sides during Dewa’s participation in Gitex Technology Week 2019.

“We always strive to enhance customers’ experiences by providing digital services supported by state-of-the-art  systems. This supports the Smart Dubai initiative, which aims to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world. We work closely with many local and international organisations to transform Dubai into a global hub for disruptive technologies and keeping  pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This helps achieve the UAE Centennial 2071, the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031, which supports the UAE Government’s goal of adopting future technologies to serve people,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer,  MD and CEO of Dewa.

“At Dewa, we support the Dubai 10X initiative, which aims to develop  Dubai Government’s services, putting Dubai 10 years ahead of other global cities through innovation disruptive technologies. Through Digital Dewa, our digital arm, we are redefining the concept of a utility to create a new digital future for Dubai. Through  this initiative, we are working to become the world’s first digital utility to use autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage, while expanding our use of AI and digital services,” added Al Tayer.

“We are really honoured to cooperate with Dewa. By leveraging the Tianchi contest programme, a big data intelligence  platform that brings together over 300,000 global data experts, we can bring huge value to Dewa and contribute to the digitalisation of the energy sector,” said Jiang.

Bin Haidar noted that the collaboration with Alibaba Cloud through Tianchi platform supports Dewa’s efforts to  encourage and motivate innovators from around the world to take part in scientific and engineering competitions to present innovative solutions to future challenges. This supports Dewa’s efforts to anticipate and shape the future of energy and water. The MoU also seeks to exchange best practices and expertise in digital transformation and capacity building in developing cities of the future. “Alibaba’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere, and we are delighted to partner with Dewa to support  its ongoing efforts to enhance digital services in Dubai,” said Selina Yuan, President of International Business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “We are committed to empowering customers to thrive in the era of Digital Transformation, and we are confident that  our partnership with Dewa will help local organisations apply advanced technologies to effectively solve business pain-points.”

Sepratley, Data Hub Integrated Solutions (Moro), a fully-owned subsidiary of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (dewa) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with “Roambee”, a global leader in asset monitoring which is located in the Silicon Valley, USA to provide the region with Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions, where this collaboration comes as a part of dewa’s endeavours to accelerate the adoption of digital solutions in the public and private sectors across the region.

This memorandum was signed at Moro’s and dewa’s joint stand during “Gitex Technology Week 2019”, where it was signed by and between Mohammad Bin Suliman, the CEO of Moro and Adli Dehelia, Vice President and Managing Director of Roambee META Region.

This memorandum aimed at furthering collaboration between both parties to provide the UAE, KSA, Kuwait and Bahrain with IoT Solutions, and to create a platform that strengthens Partnerships. Such endeavours will contribute to reinforcing Moro’s position in the field of “managing and monitoring assets” in both, the cold-chain sector and the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector.

Taking this opportunity, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DWEA and Chairman of Moro, said: “We at dewa seek, through Moro, to redefine service-delivery organizations in order to shape a new digital future for Dubai, as this would be in keeping with the initiative of “Smart Dubai” launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which aims to transform Dubai into the world’s smartest and happiest city.