Prof. Hamza Calls for Partnerships in the Field of Smart Cities to Promote Sustainable Growth

The President of the University of Bahrain (UOB), Prof. Riyad Yousif Hamzah, affirmed that all aspects of life can be improved through smart technology solutions, calling for reliance on smart city solutions to promote growth and respond to the requirements of comprehensive development.

This came in a speech by the University President at the opening of the third edition of the Smart Cities Symposium organized by UOB in cooperation with the Institution of Engineering and Technology in Britain (IET) on Monday (21 September 2020) through visual communication, which attracts about 250 participants from 15 countries around the world.

The University President believes that smart cities that depend on modern digital communication technology to monitor, manage and enhance the main infrastructure and public services are the best way to control and rationalize the consumption of resources, and to ensure the sustainability of growth, stressing that the annual event establishes itself as an essential platform for presenting and discussing the latest research and experiences in the fields of smart cities, calling for building partnerships between UOB and other universities and institutions, to build creative ideas and find innovative solutions for local, regional and global communities.

Moreover, he indicated the importance of creating broad programs on public awareness of the positive role that technology can play in helping to improve cities and societies and urging participation in the creation and development of cities equipped with modern technologies, pointing out that UOB attach a particular importance to the issues of smart cities, especially in the research dimensions and it has become a local center of excellence in this aspect.

The three-day Symposium discusses topics related to smart cities, such as protection systems and their challenges in smart cities, the health sector and it’s restructuring according to smart systems, transportation, educational networks, sustainability, cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence and its applications in smart cities.

For his part, the Dean of the College of Engineering at UOB, Dr. Fuad Mohammed Al-Ansari, confirmed that the University was keen to organize the Symposium for the third time annually to remain within the agenda of the scientific symposiums of IET, indicating that the Symposium succeeded in attracting researchers from different regions, who raised issues of smart cities at the local, regional and global levels.

Furthermore, Dr. Al-Ansari indicated that there was a vast number of participants in the main session, as well as in the simultaneous sessions, in which the number of attendees reached about 100 participants, pointing out that this does not happen often even in big symposiums and conferences.

The Symposium held a main session in which three speakers reviewed scientific papers, spearheaded by the paper of Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Director of Projects and (My Health) Project at the Supreme Council of Health, who talked about smart applications in health care and their importance, reviewing some technical solutions in health fields such as pharmacy and nursing, and touching on the features of the “My Health” project in the technical dimensions.

The second keynote speaker was Prof. Hussam Khonkar from King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who reviewed the applications of smart cities in the fields of renewable energy, and their role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, citing several examples of renewable energy projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

While the last keynote speaker of the first day was Prof. Dr. Houssain Kettani from the University of Wisconsin in Florida in the United States, who spoke about big data and privacy, noting that privacy has become one of the biggest challenges that big data poses and smart city systems face.

The main session was followed by simultaneous sessions in five virtual halls, in which professors, experts and professionals related to smart cities participated.

Regarding his evaluation of the Symposium on its first day, the Chairman of the Symposium’s organizing committee, a member of the faculty of the University’s College of Engineering, Dr. Ibrahim Matar, stated that “On its first day, the Symposium discussed 30 scientific papers, which were distinguished by diversity not only in their topics but also in the experiments presented. As there were participants from India and others from the United States of America, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and others. “

He further stated that “The Symposium organized and proceeded smoothly, as we did not witness any interruption, defects or delays in the sessions despite being held in cyberspace,” explaining that “the interaction among participants was wonderful, as many of them expressed a desire for research cooperation in the field of smart cities.”

It is worth noting that the Symposium’s organizing committee consisted of Dr. Ibrahim Matar as Chairman, the faculty member in the College of Engineering at the University Dr. Ayman Al-Khazraji, the faculty member in the College of Information Technology at the University Dr. Hessa Al-Junaid, and the faculty member in the College of Information Technology Dr. Wael Al-Madani.