Shaping tomorrow’s cities today

16 January 2019 - Deloitte hosted The Right Honorable the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Peter Estlin at an event in Dubai hosting clients entitled “Shaping tomorrow’s cities today” that discussed how innovation, technology and digital skills will be needed to deliver efficiency and social inclusion in the cities of tomorrow. The Deloitte event was attended by senior executives in UAE’s infrastructure sector and comprised discussions with expert panellists who shared their views on how to build the cities of tomorrow in an innovative, inclusive and sustainable way.

“Deloitte hosted an excellent panel and we had a productive discussion on the collaboration possible between the City of London and Dubai in terms of developing cities with world-class infrastructure, strong digital capabilities and a focus on social inclusion,” the Lord Mayor of London said.

The Deloitte event was moderated by Cynthia Corby, Deloitte ME Construction Leader and speakers included Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, Ahmed Al Khatib, VP of Real Estate Development for Expo 2020 Dubai, Kez Taylor, CEO of Alec, Paul Hirst, Infrastructure & Capital Projects Consulting Lead at Deloitte ME, and Joanne Carmichael, Middle East Planning Leader for Arup.

“We were honored to host the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Peter Estlin as well as key players in the Emirate’s infrastructure industry who shared valuable insights on how to shape tomorrow’s cities. With Industry 4.0 and other major technological and infrastructure developments occurring globally, building smart and agile cities is a must in today’s evolving business landscape, said Corby.

“We hope that the views provided by our speakers shed light on this important topic and how ongoing investments in infrastructure and capital projects should focus on an integrated approach from the outset with a focus on whole life cost of the assets.”

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said: "Airports in my view are a critical part of the customer service delivery supply chain. Our industry should start to think of airport operations from the customers’ point of view; what they want isn’t bigger airports and longer walking distances, it is instead airports designed for the convenience of the customer. We are using the latest thinking around processes and disruptive technologies to speed up the journey time through the airport which will transform the airport’s capacity, enhance the service experience and create a larger ROI on the asset which will in turn contribute positively to the wider economy."

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About Deloitte & Touche (M.E.):

Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) (DME) is a licensed member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) and is a leading professional services firm established in the Middle East region with uninterrupted presence since 1926. DME’s presence in the Middle East region is established through its affiliated independent legal entities which are licensed to operate and to provide services under the applicable laws and regulations of the relevant country. DME’s affiliates and related entities cannot oblige each other and/or DME, and when providing services, each affiliate and related entity engages directly and independently with its own clients and shall only be liable for its own acts or omissions and not those of any other affiliate.

DME provides audit and assurance, tax, consulting, financial advisory and risk advisory services through 25 offices in 14 countries with more than 3,300 partners, directors and staff. It has also received numerous awards in the last few years which include, Middle East Best Continuity and Resilience provider (2016), World Tax Awards (2017), Best Advisory and Consultancy Firm (2016), the Middle East Training & Development Excellence Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), as well as the best CSR integrated organization.