Gitex Technology Week, held last month in Dubai, was characterised by the showcasing of innovations and signing of agreements as large and small technology companies and government organisations turned out in force at the popular event.

The Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza) signed an MoU with Dubai Smart Government (DSG) to strengthen cooperation in providing support to government smart services in line with mutual efforts to hasten the transformation of Dubai as a ‘smart’ city.

The agreement was signed by Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni, director general, Dafza, and Ahmed Mohammed bin Humaidan, director general, DSG, at DSG’s stand.

“The new partnership is of major significance in strengthening integration and harmony between the two parties in providing high-quality smart services, which are necessary for achieving the objective of making Dubai the smartest city in the world in line with the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai,” a statement said.

“The reenergised collaboration will address training requirements and the commitment to DSG’s information security policies. This will ensure the delivery of highly reliable smart services which can enhance satisfaction among customers including investors, entrepreneurs, regional, multinational and international companies and Dafza employees.”

The UAE Ministry of Interior, represented by Abu Dhabi Police Headquarters, signed agreements with two major companies specialised in technology and software.

One was signed with Belden, noted for its network and infrastructure solutions. The Abu Dhabi Police is currently testing one of the company’s products to assess its suitability with the technical infrastructure of Abu Dhabi Police.

Another deal was signed with Exceed IT. The company will provide Microsoft certificates and services as the Microsoft gold partner in the region. The firm enjoys a strategic relationship with Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters. The company will be providing support for installing and operating the systems, as well as regular systems maintenance. It will also be providing training for the ICT Department staff.

NEW SOLUTIONS

Huawei launched its Agile Internet of Things (IoT) solution for vehicles to help make public transportation safer for citizens.

In line with its goal to transform the region’s smart city vision from concept to reality, Huawei’s Smart-In-Vehicle IoT Security solution is pitched as the first step towards offering ultimate control for public transportation leaders and emergency services operators. The In-Vehicle IoT solution which uses Huawei’s Agile IoT Gateway as a mission-critical component, offers a variety of services such as in-vehicle video surveillance, accurate passenger tracking, emergency services communications, real-time vehicle health data analysis and even allows for a host of multi-media services for passengers’ entertainment.

Huawei also launched its OceanStor 18000 V3 and FusionCloud Desktop Solution 5.3, helping enterprise organisations adopt more agile emerging ICT solutions that ensure they stay competitive in a digital economy. Both of Huawei’s next-generation technologies help Middle East businesses to address the challenge of rapidly increasing enterprise generated data, and offer a solution to reduce IT investment.

Committed to developing the ICT landscape for enterprises in Saudi Arabia, Huawei signed a joint MoU outlining Gulf Applications (GAPP) as its authorised distributor and Sale Advanced as its authorised reseller in the kingdom.

The MoU outlines how both partners will offer Huawei’s wide range of connectivity solutions to end users in the SME and commercial business sector in addition to offering post-sales professional services and support.

The showcase of Panasonic Marketing Middle East and Africa (PMMAF) highlighted the “Interactive Mirror” which is set to change the future of businesses by its multi-functional features designed to entice patrons from the retail, beauty and lifestyle industries.

“Interactive Mirror will enhance lifestyles as a new professional health and beauty advisor. Using in-built high-definition cameras, the mirror is enabled with a face analysing feature to point out every flaw and offer suggestions to fix them. It has an oval ‘augmented-reality portal’ that activates with the press of a button on the remote. This product is a turnkey solution and can be easily used by all ages and levels of technological comfort with only minimal instruction,” Panasonic said.

Fujitsu scanners were on display at two stands. The spotlight was on imaging software platforms PaperStream for professional solutions and ScanSnap Manager for enhancing workforce efficiency. On display were the new SP Series family of document scanners, the economical scanner of choice for first-time enterprise use, complementing the existing fi Series and ScanSnap product lines.

Oppo premiered the newest member of the R7 Series, the R7s. Apart from its impressive 4GB RAM and 32 GB of expandable storage, the R7s inherit the metal unibody design of the R7 Series, and is equipped with an ultra-large 3070 mAh battery and an expansive 5.5 inch AMOLED 2.5D screen. By unveiling the R7s at Gitex, Oppo aimed to improve its brand influence as well as market share in the Mena region with the UAE as a hub.