Innovate or stagnate

DUBAI-- Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has launched its Innovation Week and in collaboration with its partners, universities, entrepreneurs, and innovators water and power and participation of international spokespeople who specialize in energy, sustainability and water innovation.

This supports the directives of Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to host UAE Innovation Week from 22-28 November. Sheikh Mohammed said that, "Innovation is not an option or a culture but a lifestyle, and governments and companies that do not innovate risk losing their competitiveness and consequently will fall behind."

DEWA’s Innovation Week comprises several innovative activities and events, including a Government Innovation Lab in which real-life tools will be used to promote innovation. It also incorporates an ‘Innovation Exhibition’, through which DEWA’s employees, innovators and emerging companies will receive updates about the latest innovations to support DEWA’s work, and will have the opportunity to test these innovations.

The exhibition showcases services and products which are not yet on the market, and features the latest research and technical concepts. DEWA has also organized inspirational talks under the title ‘I Talk’, with the participation of innovative high-profile guest speakers, who will host talks for DEWA staff and attending members of the public. The objective is to spread a culture of innovation by sharing experiences about the application of innovation, so that attendees can learn about how innovation is best planned and executed.

DEWA has also organized a ‘Design Thinking Lab’ that comprises a series of workshops, spread over three days, to explore challenges faced by DEWA, and to discover innovative methods to overcome these challenges, using the ‘Better Today’ design thinking methods. DEWA will host an Innovation Conference, featuring international experts whose speeches focus on the roles that sustainability and renewable energy have played in some of the most important innovations worldwide. DEWA has also organized a Build-It-Yourself Robotics Kits competition for schoolchildren from the age of six, up to high-school age. The robotics kits are equipped with sustainable innovative gadgets, such as solar panels, sensors, chargeable batteries, and programmable microcontrollers.

The activities also include the launch of ‘My Innovation’ (Ibtikari in Arabic), to encourage innovators and designers from the UAE and abroad to offer innovations via a smart platform. This includes science and engineering competitions for university students and engineering specialists to identify scientific solutions and innovations in sustainability and water.

"To support the directives of our President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who stressed the importance of innovation to the UAE’s strategy, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, declared 2015 to be the Year of Innovation, and launched the UAE National Innovation Strategy. I am pleased to welcome you to Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA’s) head office today. Together, we will observe a moment that will be remembered in history, as we experience the first day of the UAE’s annual Innovation Week, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum."

He added, "Today, DEWA ranks alongside some of the biggest companies in the world, thanks to the excellent standards of efficiency and reliability in management and technology it has achieved since its formation. This could never have happened without accurate planning, and the implementation of innovative projects and solutions, adopted and used by DEWA," said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, in his opening address."

"DEWA’s innovative projects have led it to become an international model of excellence in innovation of service development, management and technical efficiency. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is the biggest single-site solar project in the world, based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. Working in cooperation with the private sector, we want the Solar Park to have a capacity of 3,000 megawatts by 2030."

"We are also advancing our smart grid project to connect over one million smart meters to a smart integrated electricity and water grid. Starting from the main production stations, all the way to the end consumer point, the smart grid will host a wide range of applications to manage consumption with the highest levels of efficiency. At DEWA, we are proud of the progress we have made with the Green Charger initiative, to establish an effective infrastructure for electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions and to achieve the Emirate’s sustainability goals. The Shams Dubai initiative is another practical example of the success of our innovation strategy," added Al Tayer.

filipinotimes.ae

IPU: UAE Woman Speaker a first for Arab world

GENEVA (WAM)—The election of Dr. Amal Al Qubaisi as the first-ever woman Speaker of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Parliament has been warmly welcomed by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) as a breakthrough not only for the Gulf State but also for the Arab world as a whole.

Dr. Al Qubaisi, a former Deputy Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC) and government minister, is a trailblazer for the region as well as she is the first- ever woman Speaker of an Arab national parliament.

A parliamentarian since 2006, Dr. Al Qubaisi has long been active within IPU and has achieved international prominence. She has been particularly active on gender and youth issues. Her engagement in youth participation at IPU contributed to the creation of IPU’s Forum of Young Parliamentarians, a body that provides youth perspectives in international political decision-making.

"I am personally delighted by Dr. Al Qubaisi’s election, having known and worked with her for several years," said IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong. "Breaking the parliamentary glass ceiling in the UAE marks a particularly important milestone that can only resonate across the region and inspire other countries and other women MPs," he added.

The election of Dr. Al Qubaisi brings the number of women Speakers in the world to 48. They account for 17.2 per cent of the 273 Speakers of Parliament globally, according to IPU data.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of national parliaments. It works to safeguard peace and drives positive democratic change through political dialogue and concrete action.

www.musanada.co.ae

First time a woman

ABU DHABI: A woman was elected Wednesday as the first female to lead the United Arab Emirate’s Federal National Council (FNC), the half-elected parliament that serves as an advisory body, state news agency WAM reported. Amal al-Qubaisi, previously FNC deputy speaker, was elected as speaker after the new council convened following October polls. Local media said she was not challenged for the post.  Eight women in total were appointed as members of the 40-seat council, which has a purely advisory role and whose seats are shared equally between elected and appointed members. This year, 224,000 people had the right to vote out of a citizen population of just under one million. That compared with 129,000 in 2011 and just 6,000 in the UAE’s first election in 2006.

On the run

SANA'AA--Backed by the popular resistance and the Arab coalition forces, the Yemen's national army have been advancing on the southwestern front along the Lahij Governorate to the first border areas of the Taiz Governorate.

The local sources in the region said there has been disarray in the ranks of the Houthi militia and Saleh group amid reports they were fleeing from the battlefields.

They added that the disarray came after the national army on Tuesday evening tightened full control over Al Sharaijah area and its environs, and captured dozens of the Houthi militia and Saleh group forces. Meanwhile, the national army and the popular resistance through the air force coverage of the Arab coalition managed to overcome the danger of mines and advanced rapidly in the first areas of Taiz Governorate.

The sources said that the legitimate forces backed by Apache gunships pounded the defense lines of the Houthi rebels on the southwestern front. They could advance further with the support of the jetfighters to the areas bordering Taiz on the eastern gate of the city.

The reports said that the dozens of militia surrendered to the forces of the national army in the region, adding that many of them who gave their weapons, were mostly children.

www.emirates247.com

Full support for Palestine

ABU DHABI, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, and Chairman of the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare, has reiterated the keenness of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to put the UAE among the first countries which support all the Palestinian institutions that serve the community and the mankind as well as extend support to the Palestinian people's right to a free and decent, safe and stable life.

In his speech at a ceremony hosted by the Welfare Association (WA) yesterday at Etihad Towers, Sheikh Nahyan said, "The meeting embodies UAE's connection with Palestine and our strong support to Palestinian institutions, as well as the strong fraternal ties with the brave Palestinian people."

He also emphasized that the UAE sees Palestine as the first Arab cause and strongly supports Palestinians until the complete restoration of their rights. He added, ''We always express our confidence that the Palestinians will be able to achieve all their objectives and aspirations."

He also welcomed members of the WA's Board of Directors as well as its successful march for the development and humanitarian work in Palestine.

Faisal Alami, chairman of WA's Board of Trustees extended the Palestinian people's appreciation to the UAE's honorable and supportive stances to the Palestinian Cause as well as to its 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 and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. He added that the UAE support has been an Emirati legacy since the era of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

In her speech, WA's Director General Tafeeda Jarbawi extended thanks to Sheikh Nahyan for patronizing the ceremony as well as her appreciation of the UAE's wise leadership for its continued support to the Palestinian people and the association.

'Mother of the Nation'

RAS AL KHAIMAH - The women's conference in Ras Al Khaimah has honored H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union (GWU), Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood "Mother of the Nation", in recognition for her pioneering efforts towards the empowerment of Emirati women.

On behalf of Sheikha Fatima, Noura Khalifa Al Suwaidi, Director General of the GWU, received the conference plaque from Sheikh Faisal bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) at the end of the one-day conference, held under the patronage of Sheikha Mahra bint Ahmed, Chairwoman of the Ras Al Khaimah Women Development Society.

Noura Al Suwaidi said the Emirati women are fortunate to receive the support of Sheikha Fatima who has been playing a pivotal role in the advancement of UAE women in all fields.

"Her Highness Sheikha Fatima is a role model in leadership. The Mother of the Nation is devoted to serving her country and instilling noble values in the UAE women," she added.

Noura Al Suwaidi also referred to the efforts made by the UAE, under the wise leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and close follow up of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, to enable Emirati women attain highest standards in all walks of life.

She added that due to the unlimited support and encouragement by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE women assumed a key role through different women's bodies such as the GWU, FDF and women's associations in the different emirates.

Who owns 65% of earth?

New York -- Indigenous peoples own, occupy or manage up to 65 per cent of the Earth’s land surface, yet they have largely been excluded from national plans prepared for next month’s United Nations climate change conference in Paris, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which is working to address the issue.

Together with the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change, UNDP is bringing indigenous leaders and high-level government officials together, often for the first time, to ensure that the priorities of indigenous peoples, whose lands are often seized for intensive greenhouse gas-emitting development, are embedded in national proposals for the conference, widely known as COP21.

"This pioneering initiative, underway in 21 countries around the world, aims to ensure that the global climate agreement reached in Paris recognizes indigenous land and natural resource rights, and the crucial role of indigenous peoples in climate change mitigation," UNDP said in a news release.

It highlighted research showing that secure rights to indigenous and community-held land protect against deforestation, which with other land uses represents 11 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions blamed for climate change.

It noted that a review by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of 119 national plans to combat the problem submitted as of last month makes no mention of indigenous peoples.

Forests owned and controlled by indigenous peoples and local communities contain about 37.7 billion tons of carbon, 29 times more than the annual emissions of the world’ passenger vehicles, according to estimates by the World Resources Institute and Rights and Resources Initiative.

But more than 80 per cent of all lands utilized or occupied by indigenous peoples lack legal protection, and are highly vulnerable to being seized by private companies, individuals, and governments themselves, in a non-stop drive toward carbon-intensive investments in agriculture, logging, mining, oil and gas, dams and roads, and tourism.

"The same development that fuels climate change, continues to rob indigenous peoples of their human rights," Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, said, stressing the need to protect those right and the traditional knowledge that has kept ecosystems healthy.

www.jobimu.com