L-R (Foreground): Khalifa A. AlJaziri, Marwan Bin Haidar, Prabhu Ramachandran at the MOU signing ceremony at Gitex 2019

Dubai, UAE, 14 October 2019: Facilio and Smart IoT signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Digital X, a subsidiary of Digital DEWA, to support the implementation of ‘Smart Living as a Service’ (SLaas) during Gitex 2019, which took place from October 6 to 10, in Dubai.

Speaking exclusively to Climate Control Middle East, Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation & the Future, DEWA, discussed DEWA’s commitment to enhance energy efficiency and improve air quality through the use of technology, emphasising the great strides that Etihad ESCO has made in retrofitting 3,000 buildings in line with this objective. “Sustainability is part of the DEWA strategy, and we have a lot of initiatives to ensure that we reduce consumption by 2030 and to achieve 30% energy savings,” he said. “Even when it comes to our CO₂ abatement strategy, we have achieved it ahead of time. Today, we are proud to say we have achieved 19% reduction, where the plan was 16% only by next year – we did it ahead of time. Together with other government entities and the Energy Council in Dubai, we work together to make sure Dubai is a smart city and livable city.” Bin Haider added that optimisation through sensors and intelligent controls will be vital to control appliances and avoid high consumption. “The whole idea is we provide smart living as a service to the customers of Dubai,” he said.

In an official statement, Khalifa A AlJaziri, Managing Director, Smart IoT, a company that focuses on a multi-tier, next-generation model for controlling, monitoring, reacting to and reporting real-time data towards making the basic building block for Smart Grid integration, said: “Our city, Dubai, with its glistening cityscape and progressive leadership, has always been at the forefront of cutting-edge technology and innovation. What sets us apart from other cities is our commitment to make development and sustainability synonymous with each other. It is both our pleasure and honor to work with Digital X – a subsidiary of Digital DEWA – to further our shared goal of Dubai 10X, propelling our city 10 years into the future, by collaborating with our esteemed partner, Facilio. Together we soar, and together we shall reach the future today.”

Prabhu Ramachandran, Founder & CEO, Facilio, also discussed the importance of leveraging digital platforms in order to have a holistic approach in enhancing energy efficiency and indoor air quality by having a better understanding of real-time usage. “Smart living includes your home, your office, your entertainment place, schools – everything is covered,” he said. “It’s not just energy, it’s about how it’s being looked at, where people go, how do they experience living in different forms.” He added that air and water quality monitoring are integral parts of the initiative. “When they say smart offices, for example, there has to be an emphasis on both comfort and energy saving,” he said. “It’s about how you look at the whole building, a whole entity, in the forms of safety, security and sustainability. Next one is around health and wellness. We talk about air quality, how do we impact the entire spectrum of life, so that people experience smart living as a service?”

Bin Haider also discussed the venture in the context of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed’s Dubai 10X vision for the emirate to be 10 years ahead. “In response to this vision, we formulated Digital DEWA, under the leadership of His Excellency Saeed Al Tayer,” he said. “The whole world agrees that the future is digital, but our vision is to lead our peers and set the benchmark in implementing these solutions through an innovative, ambitious and vision-driven approach.” As such, Bin Haider said, the objective of the partnership with Facilio and Smart IoT is to deliver SLaaS of the highest global standards for all of Dubai’s residents and to redefine urban living, not only in Dubai but also across other global cities in the future.