Al Tayer opens UAE Innovation Week at RTA

The wise leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has redefined the concept of innovation, Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), has said.

It is no longer limited to the thinking out-of-the-box, but is rather related now to ‘Shaping the Future’ and transforming expectations into a reality on the ground through rolling out initiatives capable of achieving happiness and welfare of residents, he added.

Al Tayer made this statement during the opening of the Innovation Week events held by the RTA concurrently with the 2nd UAE Innovation Week in the presence of a host of Executive Directors, Directors and employees of the RTA.

"RTA has embraced innovation from day 1 and endeavored to make it a key component of its projects and initiatives. The latest addition to these projects was the Dubai Water Canal which was opened a few days ago. The Canal has reshaped the complexion of Dubai and added a gorgeous element to the city and is bound to have a huge environmental, economic and tourist impact on the Emirate," Al Tayer said.

He added RTA utilises innovation in various aspects. For instance, the path of the Dubai Metro and Tramlines was planned to pass by densely populated areas and service centres as well as vital facilities that boosted the feasibility of the two projects and brought back huge economic dividends to the Emirate. It has also capitalized on the latest technologies that had cut short the time and enabled the RTA to achieve records.

"The RTA has developed a definition of innovation compatible with its business environment and corporate set-up, and adopted a corporate strategy for innovation management. There are several projects currently under research phase such as the smart driverless vehicle being experimented by the RTA. There is also the Hyper Loop project currently under study in collaboration a specialist international firm as part of Future Accelerators initiative, and the project is set to be endorsed if proved feasible," Al Tayer said.

He explained that the RTA has recently established a Knowledge & Innovation Department comprising three organisational units to manage RTA’s endeavours in the field of knowledge and innovation namely: Innovation, corporate knowledge and researches & studies.

The RTA kicked off the Innovation Week on Saturday with a lecture delivered by the international expert John Dochinski in which he spoke about the future of governments and public service, role of modern technologies, accelerating business processes, and improving services rendered to clients.

The Innovation Week comprises a diverse cast of events comprising lectures in various fields of innovation, presentations, speakers from global businesses, and a discussion panel about robots and drones. It will also include interactive & educative workshops for employees to explain 3D Printing, and prototypes of robots & drones where participants themselves will be able to experiment these technologies.