Speeding Beyond the Digital World

The United Arab Emirates is arguably one of the most technologically forward-thinking countries in the world. Case in point, Dubai ranks third in connectivity in the world, surpassing Norway, Germany, the UK, Japan, and many other major developed countries.

Now, they are working to take “connectivity” beyond information and communication and extend that speed towards transportation. To that end, they are harnessing global talent to make sure we get the best of the best from our future transport systems.

With smart transportation high on their priority list, the Dubai Future Foundation announced that they will be hosting the “Build Earth Live” contest in September of this year. The contest specifically covers the design of the Hyperloop in Dubai, which would transport people from Dubai to Fujairah, a distance of over 105 kilometers (65 miles), in less than ten minutes.

مؤسسة دبي للمستقبل تفتح باب استقبال تصاميم مشروع قطار الهايبر لوب وذلك في شهر سبتمبر المقبل حيث ستشهد الفعالية منافسات بين الفرق المشاركة من مختلف دول العالم ‏كما ستشهد تقديم تصاميم أوليه لمشروع ربط افتراضي بين مدينتي دبي والفجيرة من خلال هذا القطار A video posted by أخبار الإمارات (@akhbar_alemarat) on Aug 8, 2016 at 9:59am PDT

In a release, H.E. Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of the UAE Cabinet Affairs and the Future, and Vice Chairman of Dubai Future Foundation, notes that Dubai is working to become “a global platform for innovative minds to come together to create futuristic solutions on issues of relevance to humanity” and to that end, “this contest is a great opportunity to explore innovative ideas in the smart transportation sector.”

The point, however, is not to just make super-fast transport a reality, but to improve society as a whole. “This will eventually lead to massive global economic growth, and we aim to keep pace with the rapid developments by focusing on smart application of services and innovation in all fields,” HE Al Gergawi adds.

The contest will run for 48 hours and will involve the latest in technology from over 100 participants composed of teams from different engineering and international scientific enterprises. Six teams will be chosen to present their concepts in the final stage, which will be evaluated by a panel of global experts.

Dubai Future Foundation: Walking the Talk

The Dubai Future Foundation has a lot going on in its pursuit to make the world’s smartest, futuristic city. Apart from this contest, they have also opened up their Dubai Future Accelerators program for anyone in the world who has revolutionary ideas regarding ways to address society’s key civic challenges.

This is on top of their 3D-printed “office of the future” that took only 17 days to print and two days to install.

Oh, and in case we forget: they pledged to have 25% of Dubai’s transport system driverless by 2030.