DUBAI — Dubai Future Foundation, has announced the launch of the 6th cohort of Dubai Future Accelerators (DFA) program, which sees the participation of 30 local and global companies working closely with the government entities in Dubai.

Companies will work with the government entities to address their industry specific challenges as well as provide recommendations and smart solutions to tackle such challenges.

Participating government entities include Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Dubai Police and Etisalat Digital.

Launched in 2016 by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation, the Dubai Future Accelerators is seen as a global platform that provides an opportunity for startups and entrepreneurs around the world to collaborate with strategic government entities as well as work closely with decision makers in Dubai.

DFA program further aims to position Dubai as a hub for innovation, a testbed for emerging technologies as well as an attractive destination for startups and entrepreneurs with bold solutions to future challenges.

The 6th cohort has witnessed participation from 15 countries including; 6 companies from the United Arab Emirates, 5 from the United Kingdom, 3 from the United States, 3 from Spain, 2 from Denmark, 2 from Poland, as well as companies from Finland, France, India, Chile, Japan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.

Saeed Al Falasi, Executive Director of Future Platforms at Dubai Future Foundation, said that this cohort saw the participation of companies from Japan and Chile for the first time ever, which reinforces the importance and success of this initiative in attracting innovative companies from around the world to Dubai to work with government entities to create a positive impact in society.

Dubai Municipality is participating in three challenges, including the challenge of "Innovative Irrigation Techniques" that looks into increasing green areas in Dubai through the use of modern irrigation systems. The second challenge, "Wastewater Treatment", to develop sustainable and intelligent systems for monitoring and eliminating odors resulting from wastewater treatment processes. Lastly, the challenge of "Treatment of Rustling Sludge", to treat and reuse 100% of rustling sludge from wastewater treatments

The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) aims to find innovative solutions to the challenge of "Mobility Infrastructure" specifically by utilizing future technologies to help in reducing the time and cost associated with building and maintaining road and mobility infrastructure. Their second challenge is “Manage & Personalize Customer Experience”, by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data to facilitate immediate service enhancements.

Dubai Police is participating with three challenges including, “Digital Observation for the Future of Police” which looks into creating an electronic portal that is dedicated to research around the future of law enforcement; whereas their second challenge, "Traffic Congestion”, seeks to utilize technology to anticipate and prevent traffic jams. Their third and final challenge, “Prediction Police" explores ways to provide predictive and proactive solutions for law enforcement aspects.

Through its participation, Etisalat Digital is seeking to find solutions for three of its challenges. The first challenge is “Insurance on Demand” to create a new customized insurance on demand based on artificial intelligence technologies. The second challenge, “Multicloud” seeks to accelerate the adoption of Multicloud solutions for UAE companies by reducing complexity while improving security risk management. The third and final challenge is “Industrial IoT”, which aims to support digital transformation of companies by reducing inefficiencies and productivity loss while optimizing inventory and supply chain through industrial IoT solutions.

As part of its participation, the Dubai Health Authority aims to address its four main challenges through creative thinking and adoption of technologies. Their first challenge, “Accelerate Patient Recovery”, looks into innovative solutions such as remote monitoring and virtual consultation to enhance the patient experience, reduce cost of healthcare and increase efficiency across healthcare providers. Their second challenge, “Increase Accessibility to Health care” looks into increasing accessibility to healthcare providers and improve patient experience for elderly people who prefer home-care by adopting new technologies / next generation medical devices. Their third challenge, “Accelerate Diagnosis”, looks into expediting diagnoses of medical conditions for all forms of illnesses, especially at the emergency departments through the utilization of technologies.

Lastly, “Enhance in-patient and out-patient experience”, this challenge looks into enhancing the patients experience throughout several touchpoints.

Challenges to Strengthening the Energy and

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA) challenge, “Future of Energy” aims to accelerate digital transformation through disruptive technologies that are not limited to Quantum Computing, and can include Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Automation, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality and others. Whereas, Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority’s (KHDA) challenge, “How can we thrive and succeed in a degree-free world?” looks into providing the right environment that supports citizens in gaining skills outside classrooms and traditional educational systems.

Dubai Future Accelerators facilitates partnerships between entrepreneurs, private sectors organizations and government entities to co-create solutions. With a mission to imagine, design and co-create the future, Dubai Future Accelerators was launched in 2016 by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Future Foundation under the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai. — SG