Middle East Electricity Announces `Smart Cities’ as its Theme for the 2017 Edition

Middle East Electricity, one of the world’s leading power exhibitions, has announced `Smart Cities’ as its theme for the 2017 edition. The event – scheduled to take place from February 14 to 16 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, UAE — will focus on the future of Smart Cities, and the innovations which are set to lead the way both locally and internationally in the coming decade.
Informa Exhibitions – the organiser of the event — will be creating a series of new features and conferences in collaboration with Dubai Municipality and Environmental Center for Arab Towns, the strategic partners for the event.

The inaugural half-day of the conference titled ‘Energising the Smart City’ on February 15 will feature sessions on how best to innovate urban energy solutions. Municipal leaders, electricity solution providers, and research communities have all been invited to take part to discuss how best to reach a sustainable energy mix that adequately supports rising energy demands.
“We believe that putting an increased onus on Smart Cities will transcend all our new features and content offerings. As the region’s leading platform for deliberation and growth for the international power community, our goal is to assist the Dubai Municipality in reaching their objectives set by the government on making Dubai a fully integrated ‘Smart City’,” said Anita Mathews, group director – Informa Industrial Group.
Additionally, the conference will explore:
* How to better manage a city’s energy: Making disparate electricity systems interoperable; installing energy management systems strategically throughout a city and investing in smart meters and grids, and then assuring an operational plan exists;
* How to improve the energy products used by cities: Why energy storage is getting so much attention, but little commercial action locally; the difference alternative materials and manufacturing processes could make for users; and what visionary (impractical) projects such as Solar Impulse can teach energy investors;
* How to make cities 100 per cent renewable: Why cities worldwide are defining this goal statement?; Is regulation the answer, or will market forces provide longer term solutions? And after roofs are covered in solar and grids are smart, what next?
To further enhance visitor experience, another new feature will be the ‘Smart Cities Innovation Zone’. Located in Zabeel Hall 3, this dedicated area will feature ‘smart’, innovative, integrated solutions from leading suppliers that have specific applications in a ‘Smart City’ including automation and energy efficiency.
For the first time in 2017, visitors to the exhibition will also be able to take advantage of The Consultants’ Arena, where top engineering consultants from across the region will give talks on concepts and regulations essential to electricity markets in the Middle East.
Also taking place, for the fourth year running, will be the Future Generation Competition. Supported by Masdar Institute, students from Universities across the UAE will be given a platform to showcase their projects/technologies under the theme of ‘Smart Cities’. The shortlisted entries will have the opportunity to present their projects to the public, as well as a panel of judges including an expert from Masdar Institute, with two separate awards up for grabs. The ‘Judges Award’ will be handed out during the official MEE Awards night on day two of the event, and the ‘People’s Choice Award’ will be presented towards the end of day three.
Middle East Electricity is an essential event in the MEA power community’s calendar, and the 2017 edition will be an unmissable opportunity for anyone with a professional interest to learn about the future of energy in cities.