Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced the finalists in the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport, noting that participation in the event had exceeded the target by 30 per cent by the end of registration phase.

Companies, universities, colleges and institutions submitted applications globally, said Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of RTA during a press conference.

Attendees of the event included Dr Arif Al Hammadi, executive vice president of Khalifa University, Laila Faridoon, chairperson of the Organising Committee of the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport; Dr Steve Shladover, the International Jury head of Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport; and Adel Shakri, head of the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport Committee.

The Leaders Category finalists included Navya and EasyMile from France, Drive.ai from the US, Westfield from the UK, Baidu from China, and 2getthere from the Netherlands.

The list of start-ups finalists included Sensible from Finland, Derq from the UAE, and IAuto from Taiwan.

As for the local universities, announced finalists were Dubai University, UAE University, Al Ain University of Science and Technology, and Abu Dhabi University. Amongst the international universities, Friee Berlin University in Germany, CMU in the US, Intelligent Systems Lab at Universidad Carlos lll de Madrid in Spain, and UTS in Australia represent the finalists of this category.

“The Challenge award amounts to more than $5 million; $3 million will be allocated to leader’s category, $1.5 million to start-ups category, and $600,000 to local and foreign universities ($300,000 each). A team of international experts in the field of smart mobility will assess the finalists by several technical criteria,” said Al Tayer.

“The challenge encourages the participants to cope with the existing challenges of the First /Last Mile, traffic congestions and the drop in the public transport ridership. Driverless transport has become a key pillar of RTA’s strategy, and we are making every endeavour to make it a reality in Dubai,” he added.

Finalists will be subjected to intensive tests in Dubai in 2019, and an international jury panel will review all submissions to select the winners of the inaugural edition of the Challenge. Winners will be honoured during the first edition of the Dubai World Conference for Self-Driving Transport scheduled to be held in October 2019.

Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport partners include Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Union Properties, Meraas, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai Future Foundation.

Challenge standards

The Finalists were assessed by several parameters including: The credibility, vision, skills and relevant experiences of the entity. Nominees will then be judged in their respective categories according to their performance in tests conducted as per the following standards:

•    Technical ability and experience: Vehicle manufacturing, flexibility, battery technology, and the command & control system
•    Business aspect: Operability, added value, and relevance to the needs of Dubai and the UAE.
•    Operation and service: Innovative solutions, operation method, the ability to run services and working hours.

The Challenge encompasses a series of tests related to:

•    Durability and reliability
•    Ability to drive under traffic conditions simulating the reality
•    Power efficiency and environmental compatibility
•    Electronic safety and security
•    User’s experience – TradeArabia News Service