Dubai authorities are launching an ‘Artificial Intelligence Action Plan’ to increase the effectiveness of strategic projects in various sectors

Dubai Municipality has launched the “Artificial Intelligence Action Plan” under the Dubai Universal Plan on Artificial Intelligence announced by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, to increase the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by attracting top AI companies and international talent, ultimately contributing to improving the overall quality of life in the emirate. The new action plan focuses on the use of cutting-edge technologies in qualitative and strategic projects related to various key activities of the municipality.

The municipality presented its new action plan during its participation in the “AI Retreat 2024” event organized by the Dubai Center for Artificial Intelligence in cooperation with the National Program for Artificial Intelligence. The event, attended by over 1,000 decision-makers, experts and officials from the government and private sectors, aimed to shed light on the key opportunities presented by artificial intelligence at local and global levels, in particular by offering rapid solutions and contributing to the development of fundamental strategies for their integration in various sectors.

His Excellency Dawoud Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said that AI Retreat 2024 reflects the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan to enhance Dubai’s competitiveness and leadership as the preferred global destination for futuristic technologies. The event offers new opportunities to explore the wide range of possibilities offered by AI technologies, accelerates the discovery of their true potential and leverages innovative solutions that strengthen Dubai’s leading position as a futuristic city. It also provided a platform to facilitate direct communication between leaders and the government and private sector, sharing best practices and discussing key challenges.

Reinforcement for D33 purposes
Then-leader Al Hajri said: “The launch of the ‘Artificial Intelligence Action Plan’ is an important step towards identifying possible applications of AI in municipal works and ensuring a transformative future that will elevate Dubai’s status as a pioneering global city for future innovation. Additionally, it supports the goals of Dubai Economic Agenda D33, focusing on consolidating Dubai’s position among the three largest economic cities in the world, increasing the productivity of the economy by 50 percent by innovating and implementing cutting-edge digital solutions, and contributing AED 100 billion annually to Dubai’s economy through digital transformation efforts.”

His Excellency added: “With this roadmap, we aim to leverage all technological developments and accelerate the integration of artificial intelligence in all tasks overseen at the Emirate level, in line with the company’s continuous efforts to create a robust digital system and offer an innovative system that will ensure readiness to meet future needs. Furthermore, it seeks to provide a dynamic environment that will enhance the resilience of the emirate and contribute to making it more sustainable, pioneering and attractive, while ensuring the highest quality of life for its people.”

HE Al Hajri explained that the municipality’s AI action plan aims to allocate AI tools to increase operational efficiency and effectiveness, lower harmful emissions, enhance sustainability and reduce dependence on manpower. Additionally, it aims to raise the standard of work through quality projects in facilities or systems supervised by Dubai Municipality, including integrated waste management and sewage systems, construction and agriculture, as well as public and beach facilities.

Integrated waste management
Dubai authorities have launched a project that will integrate artificial intelligence capabilities into the sewage system to increase the efficiency of networks and sewage treatment plants. In addition, the project aims to reduce energy and labor costs and harmful emissions. It will also contribute to national goals for environmental sustainability and clean energy.

The commune has also introduced a “waste management system based on artificial intelligence”. This project will create integrated waste management systems that use artificial intelligence to facilitate various tasks, including collecting, sorting, recycling and diverting waste away from landfills. This project is part of a strategic plan to reduce waste generation, increase recycling and processing rates and waste management.

A new approach to agricultural techniques
In the case of the agricultural sector, the action plan presents the project “A modern generation of agriculture using modern technologies”. It aims to increase the pace of implementation of advanced agricultural technologies, artificial intelligence and specialized robots. These advanced technologies will be incorporated into agricultural practices to nurture plants and seedlings in Dubai Municipality nurseries and carry out maintenance activities seamlessly.

Currently, the commune uses an automated flower growing system with a robotic arm developed specifically to nurture new plants from plant cuttings. The commune intends to implement more robots and specialized agricultural equipment to increase plant cover without human intervention. In addition, robots will help transport larger varieties of plants to nurseries, which will enable safer and faster work.

The use of modern agricultural technologies in promoting increased plant cover and care will increase the production capacity of municipal nurseries. In addition, it will simplify the procedure for maintaining green areas and reduce the costs of plant production compared to conventional methods. This underlines the Dubai Municipality’s unwavering commitment to implementing the latest agricultural methods available around the world.

Buildings and structures
The commune has also launched the project “Using artificial intelligence to detect building violations”, which aims to meet the challenges related to violations occurring during building inspections. Instead of relying on manual inspection techniques, it uses innovative automation solutions, drones, geospatial analysis and artificial intelligence.

Public facilities and beaches
In the case of public facilities and beaches, the commune has introduced the “Intelligent lifeguard assistant on beaches” project, which includes “Proactive intelligent monitoring of drowning cases on beaches.” This system uses artificial intelligence capabilities to identify risk factors on beaches and identify behaviors that require immediate help for struggling swimmers. Notifies appropriate employees, enabling them to take appropriate preventive actions.

The commune is also working on new projects for the construction of public beaches and this system will be implemented soon. Moreover, various other innovative projects will use artificial intelligence to track visitor numbers, crowd control and beach monitoring.

AI Retreat 2024 is the first event in Dubai’s annual plan to increase the use of AI applications. It includes open conversations between the government and the corporate sector, a review of the annual plan and the engagement of experts to lay the foundations for accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence and shaping Dubai’s digital future. This is in line with Dubai’s rapid adoption of artificial intelligence technology, further strengthening its position as the best-equipped city for the future.