For the second consecutive year, du is set to serve as the Headline Partner for the Government Summit 2015, taking place in Dubai from February 9-11. The third edition of the annual summit is organized under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; this year, the event is held under the theme 'Shaping Future Governments'.

For 2015, the Government Summit - which expects more than 2,000 attendees - will centre on the pivotal role of innovation in the future of governments and their services. It will delve deep into the importance of ICT infrastructure as a key enabler of the Smart City model. As a leading telecommunications company, du's participation in the event aims to shed light on its extensive contribution to the UAE's Smart City vision.

Speaking on the telecom company's participation, Ahmad Bin Byat, Chairman of du, said: "Supporting the UAE leadership's vision and efforts towards enhancing and empowering the nation is a responsibility of all national institutions and organisations. Our partnership with The Government Summit emphasises the crucial role of the ICT industry in creating the fabric of, and sustaining, Smart Cities. A symbiotic collaboration between the government and the private sector is essential to further establish the UAE as a regional and global innovation hub and technology will play a key role to achieve this. Establishing a knowledge-based economy, as envisioned by our visionary leadership, will drive our nation and set it up as a strong role model for other economies and nations to follow."

In 2014, du was chosen as an operator partner of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority's (TRA) UAE Federal Government Network (FEDnet) programme that provides a common infrastructure creating a convenient and on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources for all federal government entities. The programme connects all Federal government related entities with each other as well as providing seamless, safe, durable and ongoing connectivity between entities using a common infrastructure.

Early last year, du announced its WiFi UAE service which provides access to WiFi in public areas for all UAE residents. Later in the same year, du was announced by Dubai Smart Government as the Smart City Official WiFi Provider. This enabled the company to expand its existing WiFi coverage in public areas to give the Dubai community an improved connectivity experience, with one login and one portal in all public places.

Osman Sultan, Chief Executive Officer, du, added: "At du, we have long understood that a seamless Smart City transformation requires a powerful ecosystem comprising multiple stakeholders and layers. A collaboration model is therefore essential to Dubai's successful transition from a city of smart applications to a full-fledged Smart City. As a major telecommunications player, du aims to facilitate our nation's path towards Smart City status. Ultimately, our mission is to help spearhead the core objectives of any Smart City plan: to enhance the lives of citizens and create an unprecedented, sustainable innovation hub."

The Government Summit 2015 provides a knowledge-sharing platform for du to exhibit its Smart City solutions. These include:

  • Business mobility solutions for government: Mobile technology has already had an enormous impact on the wider business community. Indeed, it is now being described as one of the most significant changes since the Internet. With its deep understanding of the requirements of governmental organisations, du offers a wide suite of secure, flexible, reliable, cost effective, collaborative and agile solutions that put productivity on the fast track.
  • Managed Security services: du's managed security services portfolio includes Managed Security, Managed Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity solutions. With platforms that can process billions of alerts a day and only highlight threats to businesses, du's security services filter the noise and highlight the relevant security threats.
  • Cloud services: As a pioneer in introducing public cloud services to the region, du has recently been awarded the prestigious FedNet account to build and run UAE government infrastructure.
  • Advanced Connectivity: du recently expanded its product portfolio to include leading service level agreements on performance and availability, giving organisations more power to manage their critical infrastructure.

The Government Summit is the largest annual government gathering in the world, bringing together officials, thought leaders, thinkers, policymakers and private sector leaders to discuss the best ways to develop the future of government.

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