Partnerships between public, private education crucial to creating society

Dr. Eesa Bastaki, President of the University of Dubai, participated yesterday as a keynote speaker in the IBM Smarter Leadership Summit at the Conrad Hotel in Dubai, which was attended by business leaders from across the board, including Finance, Human Resources, Marketing and Information Technology.
Speakers at the summit discussed a number of topics ranging from Cloud Technology to Big Data and Mobile Enterprise.
Dr. Bastaki began his presentation with a quote by Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, wherein His Highness stated, "I want you, young leaders, to be lions and work towards leading lions, who initiate, suggest, debate and achieve." Dr. Bastaki said the U.A.E. vision will succeed in achieving, "A long-term sustainable, prosperous and productive lifestyle after oil for the U.A.E.’s next generations." He added that in a smart city, citizens are placing increasing demands on leaders and therefore leaders must innovate across services to meet and exceed citizen expectations.
The half-hour comprehensive presentation highlighted the leadership characteristics needed for organisations, governments and societies to succeed and prosper. Speaking on education, Dr. Bastaki stated that University of Dubai is as an example of "Quality Education Towards Innovation".
Dr. Bastaki said, "A smart society is based on trusted partnerships between public, private and education sectors." Explaining why IBM and the University of Dubai joined hands to establish a smart cities centre, he added, "We are working jointly to implement a Centre of Excellence for Smart Government and Smart Cities with the common goal of supporting Sheikh Mohammed's vision of transforming the city of Dubai into a Smarter City and transforming U.A.E. Government into Smarter Government." The University of Dubai President said, "The future vision is to establish a centre which will be a place where businesses, universities and city administrations come together to develop solutions to the future needs of cities, a space in which business, academia, investors, innovators and cities can collaborate, get expert support and develop and test their ideas." Speakers at the event included Amr Refaat, General-Manager of IBM Middle East and Pakistan, and Robert Guidotti, IBM World Wide Software Leader.
For the past 10 years, IBM’s annual CIO Conference has been a platform for influencers in the IT industry. It was an opportunity to gain insights on the latest trends in technology, engage with leading experts from all over the world and network with peers across the region. With technology becoming an imperative for every business leader, the IBM CIO Conference has evolved into the IBM Smarter Leadership Summit.
Source:WAM