On 21 March, the Swiss Pavilion for Expo 2020 in Dubai hosted experts from universities in Switzerland and the UAE, private enterprises and public stakeholders during an event held under the motto “Smart Connected Cities”. Here, the focus was on smart solutions for water management, mobility and other challenges with which our increasingly densely populated cities are confronted. Some of these projects have already been realized in Switzerland and could now be replicated in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The event was organized by University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), which is the official Leading House MENA commissioned by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Its goal is to promote scientific collaboration between Switzerland and the countries that make up the MENA region.
For the implementation, HES-SO worked with Swissnex, the Swiss Embassy in the UAE and the Swiss Business Hub Middle East. “International collaborations across technology, which offer connected solutions to cope with the exponentially growing demand of a rising population and consequent density in living spaces, is the only way we can tide over the challenges”, comments Dante Larini, Project Manager of Swissnex at the Swiss Pavilion, in a press release. “The event was an eye-opener on the extent of how technology can bring a sea change in the management of cities and the daily life of its residents seamlessly”, he adds.
Josef Spillner from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) held a keynote speech on the subject of “Cyber-physical spaces: vision and opportunities”. During the event, the collaboration between ZHAW and Sharjah University was also highlighted.
