A delegation from Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) recently visited the US to enhance cooperation with international universities, companies and research centres, and review best practices and latest research in different areas including renewable energy, water, automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and business accelerators.

Led by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa, the team included Waleed Salman, executive vice president of Business Development and Excellence, Marwan Bin Haidar, executive vice president of Innovation and the Future, and Dr Yousef Al Akraf, executive vice president of Business Support and Human Resources at Dewa.

During his visit, Al Tayer met with Diana Wu, Dean of the University of California in Berkeley Extension. The meeting discussed collaboration in research & development, organising workshops on governance, and establishing a joint business accelerator where Dewa will build on the UAE's position and Dubai’s role as a leading hub for shaping the future and a platform to test disruptive solutions and technologies.

Dewa participates in the Dubai Future Accelerators programme, which is the largest accelerator programme in the world, to continue to explore and develop innovative and sustainable solutions to the challenges in energy and water. The visit also included a tour of the Computer Lab in the campus of UC Berkeley.

Al Tayer also visited SAP, the leading international software company, at its offices in California, USA. The visit is part of Dewa’s efforts to enhance cooperation with international technology companies and review best practices and the latest research in different areas including energy, water, Artificial Intelligence (AI), smart grids, and data science.

Al Tayer also met with Pat Bakey, president of SAP Leonardo, Henry Bailey, global vice president & head of Business Utilities at SAP, and Gergi Abboud, senior vice president at SAP for Middle East South, and Henry Bailey, global vice president & head of Business Utilities at SAP. The meeting discussed cooperation in innovation, blockchain, Big Data, machine learning, and cloud computing through SAP’s HANA Data Management Suite, as well as its Leonardo IoT platform.

Al Tayer also visited the headquarters of HP, one of the world's largest technology companies, in Palo Alto, California, USA. The visit built closer ties with technology providers around the world. The delegation reviewed the latest innovations in 3D printing.

During the visit, Al Tayer met with senior officials from HP, including Stephen Nigro, president of 3D Printing at HP, and Christoph Schell, president of the Americas at HP.

Al Tayer also visited the Center for the 4th Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum (WEF) where he met with its Managing Director, Murat Sönmez. Dewa was the first public utility to join the San Francisco-based centre. This is part of Dewa’s efforts to keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and develop disruptive technologies in power and water.

The areas that Dewa will be involved in include AI, IoT, blockchain technologies, autonomous mobility, and drones. Dewa will also participate in the development of international policies and criteria related to Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. This supports our vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility.

Dewa is the first utility in the Mena region to establish an investment, innovation and R&D company in Silicon Valley, California, USA. The Jumeirah Energy International Silicon Valley Company (JEI Silicon Valley) is fully owned by Dewa. – TradeArabia News Service