German manufacturer TML Technik will present its new, remote controlled mobile machine UNIDACHS 430RK at Bauma 2022, the company has announced.

The special kinematics of its 360° endlessly rotating telescopic boom and its compact dimensions allow the machine to work in confined spaces or in areas with difficult access, while the operator works at a safe distance using the radio remote control, the company said.

In September 2022, Komatsu said it would focus on future technologies at Bauma 2022 while, early in October 2022, ACCIONA said it would cut direct emissions through the acquisition of electrical machinery via its decarbonisation fund.

TML has developed the new UNIDACHS 430RK for job sites where the available space, surrounding structures or dangerous conditions make work difficult. It can be fitted with a range of attachments including pneumatic or hydraulic hammers, ripper tips, rotary drum cutters and various types of excavator buckets which can be moved in up to five axes simultaneously. These can be used in the roof and side wall areas, underneath the machine or in confined spaces, at almost any angle, the company noted.

Thorsten Bolender, Sales Manager Tunnel & Mining at TML explained, “With the compact design and its unique kinematics, the new UNIDACHS 430RK makes it possible to work safely in places that standard hydraulic excavators cannot reach. The telescopic arm covers a vertical slewing range of +45° to -108°; with a telescopic stroke of 3,000mm the attachment reaches heights of more than 10m. At the same time, the telescopic arm provides a torque of 14.8kNm, as well as a maximum breakout force of 73kN.”

In early October 2022, Dingli said it was expanding its large electric scissor series of machinery.

Typical applications are profiling tunnel cross-sections, the excavation of caverns and galleries, the precise linear scaling of roofs and walls in mines and tunnels. The telescopic arm can also be fitted, for instance, with spray nozzles for liquid concrete as well as drilling attachments and tools for setting arches and anchors, the firm concluded.

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Ambition has become the defining trait of GCC countries. In a world fraught with environmental and resource challenges, governments here have turned to the concept of smart cities as a template for society-first infrastructure. The Line, part of Saudi Arabia’s US $500bn Neom project, is touted by its developers as the “future of urban living” and is being built to accommodate nine million people. A mere 200m wide, it will stretch across 170km of Saudi Arabian desert and soar to half a kilometre above it. A paragon of sustainability, it will run on 100% sustainable energy sources and be free of cars and, by implication, emissions. Instead, residents will walk to facilities, each of which will be no farther than five minutes from their homes.

The Line is just one region in Neom, and Neom is not the Kingdom’s only smart city venture. The Red Sea Project focuses on sustainable (or regenerative) tourism. And Saudi Arabia is not the only Arab Gulf country planning smart cities. Mubadala Development’s Masdar City in Abu Dhabi is one example. Kuwait’s South Saad Al Abdullah is another.

None of these projects would be possible without recent breakthroughs in technology. Innovations in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have given innovators confidence to think big, bigger, and biggest. Smart cities are visualised as seas of sensors, cameras, and other hardware that form a detailed, accurate, real-time view of the urban environment for governments, businesses, and citizens. At the centre lies the cloud, home to and provider of all these technologies.

Accessibility, scalability, and security

Everything from our energy and utilities to our roads and emergency services can be improved. But to work as intended, smart cities will require careful thought on the management of data, which needs to be scalable, secure, and instantly accessible at all times through a variety of channels. GCC governments have already embarked on a dizzying array of digital transformation schemes to leverage emerging technologies. These projects involve a mix of refreshes of old data architectures, the integration of others, and the cleaning and transformation of data to support real-time processing for up-to-the-minute actionable intelligence.

All of this must be backed up by minimal latency and zero downtime, even (in fact, especially) during a disaster. Rivers of data flow constantly into a central lake, but lakes must be duplicated for resilience. Meanwhile, smart-edge processing frameworks take care of data reduction to ensure signals can be separated from white noise, moment to moment.

This system allows authorities at the municipal and national levels to make quicker and more effective decisions. When it comes to emergency response, traffic-congestion and road-closure data allows decision-makers to plan the most effective route for first responders to safely get to an incident. The same information can be shared with citizens to help them commute more conveniently.

Planning for the worst

Downtime exposes the smart city society to a catalogue of inconveniences and dangers, some of them physical. Outages can also be the prelude to sophisticated cyberattacks. Good data management and robust cybersecurity go hand in hand. Any threat posture for a smart city should include comprehensive playbooks on mitigation and disaster recovery. And when looking for protection, decision-makers should look to scalable cloud services that can offer always-on protections against internal and external threats.

The growth in worldwide urbanisation has led to an increase in the demand for public services and utilities, and hence a surge in data volumes. Good data management must account for daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal peaks in user activity. Again, such capacity issues are best addressed through the elasticity of cloud services, which also tend to be cost-effective, and easy to deploy and use.

The cloud is likely to form the foundation of every smart city ever built. Underlying technologies are managed by a trusted partner, which allows innovators to focus on adding value for the communities they serve rather than having to devote resources to maintenance or resourcing. More experiences, services, and platforms will be added as new technologies emerge.

Innovation, not upkeep

More integration and data-sharing is likely to occur as confidence grows in smart cities, and as governments’ digital transformation programs reach maturity. The ability to handle multiple database formats, across the cloud and traditional sources will be critical, as will the ability to opt for hybrid and multi-cloud environments to solve problems. Data streaming models facilitate these flexibilities because they draw from multiple sources and integrate information into actionable dashboards, rather than serving up segmented snapshots.

Confluent’s 2022 State of Data in Motion report showed 97% of the world’s organisations have used real-time data streaming and 80% consider it critical in building responsive business processes. With projects like Neom and Masdar in the pipeline, we are going to be seeing a marked increase in real-time data management capabilities, given the benefits they can bring to performance and maintenance. Governments should always be focused on their vision rather than having to trouble themselves with the trivia of data integrity and infrastructure upkeep.

We can imagine the results springing up across the region. Shimmering, safe, efficient, clean-energy environments stretching out to the horizon. Ever-watchful administrators keeping everything in check through the power of streaming data, and ready to react swiftly and precisely to any internal or external disruption. At the heart of this new urban paradise? The cloud – a scalable home for all the data and technologies that allow governments to automate these great societies and keep enhancing them to make life better for all citizens.

Read more:

• Over $1.1tn in real estate and infrastructure projects currently underway in Saudi Arabia
• Saudi Crown Prince unveils designs of The Line, revealing future city will be just 200m wide
• How digitisation is helping cities provide clean water
• How innovating in sustainability and smart cities can pull us back from the brink

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AECOM has opened a new office in AlUla, Saudi Arabia that will provide workspace for the firm’s 50-plus team supporting the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU).

The global consultancy was engaged to deliver the sustainable transformation of the AlUla region, thus reaffirming it as one of Saudi Arabia’s most important archaeological and cultural destinations. The works will prepare AlUla to welcome visitors from around the world, the firm said.

Located in the vicinity of AlUla’s emerging Cultural Oasis, the new AECOM office features modern facilities spread across almost seven thousand square feet with flexible workspace for the growing teams providing executive program management, design governance and guardianship, infrastructure and asset design and engineering, and integrated asset and facility management services to RCU. Office facilities include meeting rooms, break out spaces, privacy booths and a coffee shop. The office is located near cafés, restaurants, supermarkets and a bakery, the firm explained.

In August 2020, the RCU announced a new eco-friendly resort in AlUla and, in April 2021, officials launched the ‘Journey Through Time’ masterplan for AlUla.

“The new office cements AECOM’s commitment to supporting the economic diversification of Saudi Arabia in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. It confirms the long-term nature of our partnership with the RCU and our shared goals to develop AlUla into one of the world’s premier destinations for nature, culture and heritage,” said Dr. Walid Mahmoud, Chief Executive of AECOM in Saudi Arabia.

In addition to overseeing AECOM’s project commitments in AlUla, staff based in the new office will provide training and upskilling opportunities to the local community, which is said to be a key part of the RCU’s socio-economic goals.

As part of AECOM’s community outreach in AlUla, the company supports local entrepreneurs with specialised business coaching, and supports exceptional students at the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) AlUla Campus, which will ensure it leaves a legacy for the community as it helps to develop the historically significant location, the statement noted.

Late in April 2021, the RCU confirmed $15bn in opportunities for PPPs for the ‘Journey Through Time’ masterplan.

Jason Morris, Project Director at AECOM remarked, “We are delighted with the new space; it enables enhanced communication and collaboration between AECOM’s project teams, allowing us to provide unrivalled service to RCU’s projects across the county.”

Amr AlMadani, CEO, Royal Commission for AlUla concluded, “The presence of globally renowned companies, such as AECOM, in AlUla is central to our goal of transforming the area into a dynamic and thriving business hub that will attract global talent, provide opportunities for existing talent and boost the ongoing development of not just AlUla but the Kingdom’s greater northwest region.”

In June 2022, AW²’s Stéphanie Ledoux and Reda Amalou discussed the design of the Ashar Tented Resort exclusively with Middle East Construction News.

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Bevan Farmer has been elevated to Head of Qatar by Addleshaw Goddard. The leadership role will be in addition to his responsibility at the firm as Co-Head of the Middle East construction and engineering team.

Farmer is said to specialise in construction and construction disputes, and has worked in the GCC and MENA region for over a decade. He succeeds Ahmad Anani who recently announced his decision to retire from Addleshaw Goddard.

He originally joined Addleshaw Goddard in 2014, became a partner in 2016 and co-head of the Middle East construction and engineering practice in 2020. A recognised specialist in construction and engineering disputes, Farmer has particular expertise across a broad range of industry sectors, including transport, infrastructure, utilities, industrial and energy, a statement from Addleshaw Goddard noted.

In September 2022, the Umm Al Houl desalination plant in Qatar said that it had achieved one millions hours without an accident.

“The State of Qatar has one of the most exciting, fastest growing economies in the world and is a vital hub for our business in the Middle East, which has continued to grow under the leadership of Ahmad who leaves with our best wishes. Bevan is incredibly well respected in his specialist field, excellent at building strong relationships with clients and enthusiastic about growing AGs brand in the region and so as we approach our 10th anniversary, he is absolutely the ideal person to lead, encourage and ensure that we continue to expand our business in this key market and support the ambitions of clients in both the public and private sectors,” said Andrew Johnson, Addleshaw Goddard Head of Middle East and Asia.

In Qatar, the firm is said to have a team of lawyers able to advise on the laws of Qatar, the QFC and England. Since the office opened in 2012, the firm has developed strong relationships with the region’s key government agencies, corporate entities, financial institutions, regulatory bodies and private individuals, it noted.

Farmer remarked, “We have a fantastic group of lawyers across the Middle East whose approach is dynamic, entrepreneurial and innovative and we are very well placed to provide clients with specialist, local market expertise, on any regional assignments, and also in relation to their international investment portfolios during this time of immense growth and change. The imagination and impact we bring to our client assignments combined with our ambition and the ongoing investment we have planned for our business in Qatar will continue to distinguish Addleshaw Goddard, and I am excited to be leading the firm in this market through the next important stages of its growth.”

Late in September 2022, QatarEnergy and GE inked a deal to step up carbon capture in the energy sector.

Alongside traditional strengths in corporate, banking and finance including Islamic finance, commercial litigation and construction, the practice also has expertise in infrastructure, projects & energy, employment and real estate. The firm is said to have over 70 lawyers and fee earners operating across the MENA region.

In early October 2022, JLL signed an agreement with a Qatar real estate brokerage to boost property investments.

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Select Group has announced the launch of its final development at its waterfront master community, Peninsula.

In a statement, the Dubai-based developer said that two residential towers, waterfront lofts and a commercial building will comprise Peninsula Four, The Plaza, and will be the final pieces of the Peninsula master community. All previous developments within the project have been successfully sold out, it added.

In March 2022, Select Group launched Peninsula Three in Dubai’s Business Bay district and, in July 2022, it acquired The Mere Golf Resort & Spa in the UK.

Billed as the first community-focused waterfront development in Business Bay, the Peninsula project consists of six residential towers, waterfront podiums and commercial units. The master development features a variety of lifestyle facilities, including tennis and padel courts, running tracks, a skate park, along with family play areas.

Commenting on the launch for the final phase of development, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer Rahail Aslam said: “Shaped by ideals of beauty and perfection in everyday life, The Peninsula Four, The Plaza is an exquisite tribute to the art of living, being the centrepiece of the community in the heart of Dubai Downtown. We are proud to bring to the market an elevated experience of waterfront living that we have witnessed become increasingly high in demand.”

In August 2022, Select Group and the Jumeirah Group launched a new development in Business Bay.

The two towers at Peninsula Four feature studios, one, two, three, and four-bedroom residences and half-floor penthouses, while the waterfront lofts offer three and four-bedroom multi-story residences.

Peninsula Four, The Plaza is located at the epicentre of the community marketplace (The Plaza). It will showcase a vibrant waterfront gastronomical, entertainment and retail scene. Residents and guests will find organic cafés, coffee shops, boutique stores and artisan galleries, fine-dining restaurants and local culinary offerings in one destination, the developer stated.

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DAMAC Properties has announced that it has awarded the contract to build electrical substations at its master planned community, DAMAC Lagoons, to Danway EME.

Under the supervision of Energoprojekt Entel Co, a consultancy approved by DEWA, the substations will be built according to the highest quality standards and in compliance with DEWA’s strictest regulations and specifications, a statement said.

The substations are expected to accelerate the development of DAMAC Lagoons and provide power supply to the first stage of development, including Central Hub, it added.

In June 2022, DAMAC told Middle East Construction News (MECN) that North America is a key target market for the developer and, later that month, launched the Safa Two Tower with de GRISOGONO.

“In continuation of DAMAC’s commitment to deliver this project on time, the first substation has been awarded to Danway EME, given its long history of delivering quality power projects on time. As a developer, these are essential to fulfilling our commitments as far as our own deliverables are concerned and ensure that we provide the highest standards for utility services to our customers,” said Mohammed Tahaineh, General Manager of Projects at DAMAC Properties.

The scope of works includes the design, supply, construction, installation as well as testing and commissioning of substations. The first substation, to be completed in 22 months, is located in close proximity to Hessa Street and once commissioned, will have a conversion capacity of 150MVA.

The other 132/11kV substation, meanwhile, will begin construction soon. In addition to reduced project completion duration, both substations have enhanced safety features and allow greater flexibility in construction.

In July 2022, DAMAC said piling work was underway at its Cavalli Tower project while, in September 2022, it said that an ultra-luxurious mansion development was being added to DAMAC Hills.

Launched in November 2021, the DAMAC Lagoons project is based around the concept of ‘The Eight Wonders of the Mediterranean’ and aims to turn 45mn square feet of space into a community of villas and townhouses built around one million square feet of lagoons.

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A new supercomputer will be built at the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). HPE said supercomputing is vital to delivering artificial intelligence (AI) at scale and driving global innovation, industry competitiveness, and economic growth.

From accelerating vaccine discovery to fight a pandemic, advancing clean energy systems to increase sustainability, enabling new possibilities in AI, supercomputing is a core technology to solving the world’s most challenging scientific and engineering challenges, HPE noted.

MBZUAI is dedicated solely to AI and to accelerate AI-driven scientific discovery and advance the UAE’s goal to be a global AI leader. HPE said its robust supercomputing and AI technologies will significantly enhance the university’s ability to run complex AI models with extremely large data sets, and increase predictability in research analyses in fields including energy, transportation and the environment.

In January 2021, the RTA said that using AI helped it reach an operational surplus of 61% while, in March 2021, it was announced that Qatar’s Umm Al Houl desalination plant will leverage AI to optimise operations and achieve energy saving at the site, reducing carbon emissions.

Established in 2019, MBZUAI has already ranked 24^th in the world for AI, computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. The new supercomputer will help MBZUAI support the UAE’s National Strategy for AI, bringing together the power of academia, government, and industry to strengthen the country’s global competitiveness, the statement from HPE explained.

“Supercomputing plays an essential role in unleashing AI to achieve significant breakthroughs for organisations worldwide, across public and private sectors. HPE is leading the market in this next frontier by combining supercomputing performance and capabilities with solutions that are purpose-built for AI, to build and train machine learning models at-scale. MBZUAI’s Campus Super Computing Center is demonstrating this capability to unlock new possibilities in AI and strengthen UAE’s position as an AI-driven nation to advance key initiatives in healthcare, sustainability, and engineering,” said Justin Hotard, Executive Vice President and General Manager, HPC, AI & Labs, at HPE.

The advanced supercomputing and AI technologies will also expand resources for larger projects to allow MBZUAI to attract global talent and create new economic and societal opportunities for the UAE, HPE pointed out.

In July 2022, Trimble’s Paul Wallett said that AI in construction won’t be taking jobs but it will save lives, while, later in the month, PlanRadar’s Ibrahim Imam said that robotics, AI, and IoT can alter business models, and make the process of project completion more efficient.

The supercomputer will be housed at MBZUAI’s new Campus Super Computing Center (CSCC) and will enable faculty members, researchers, and students to accelerate scientific discovery in many areas, including healthcare, structural engineering, law enforcement, supply chain, and sustainability.

In addition to meeting the research needs of the faculty and students, the new supercomputer will help MBZUAI fulfill its role as an AI talent developer and innovation hub that brings together the business community to drive entrepreneurship in the AI sector. MBZUAI already is contributing to significant initiatives such as the Emirati Genome Program, which uses AI-based tools to extract and interpret large amounts of complex data resulting from DNA sequencing, and the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, SEHA, which uses AI algorithms to predict heart attacks, HPE explained.

“HPE has a longstanding commitment to advancing the way people live and work in the United Arab Emirates, through our Emiratisation program, Digital Life Garage, and industry and government partnerships,” said Ahmad Alkhallafi, Managing Director for UAE, Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

In September 2022, AVEVA’s Gary Wong discussed how digitisation is helping cities provide clean water, and, later in the month, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan launched the Dubai Robotics and Automation Program.

He continued, “We are proud to support the UAE’s national strategy for AI by helping MBZUAI grow its contribution to research and education. Supercomputing will play a crucial role in helping the UAE anticipate and take advantage of new AI technologies now and in the future. We look forward to helping the UAE meet its goal to be an AI leader by 2031.”

As a recently established institution, MBZUAI is still building its team of in-house supercomputing specialists. By collaborating with HPE, the university is gaining access to a large local team for supercomputing and AI support, in addition to world-leading technologies, the firm pointed out.

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Facilities management company Farnek has joined a select group of organisations by signing the Climate-Responsible Pledge, aimed at supporting the UAE’s decarbonisation drive – in line with the country’s ‘Net Zero by 2050′ strategic initiative.

The pledge is part of the focus from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) on scaling up the UAE’s climate action in response to the call of the Glasgow Climate Pact, an outcome of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). The pledge was announced late in August 2022.

Previous signatories include Beeah, Emirates Nature-WWF, Majid Al Futtaim Group, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, Masdar, Emirates Global Aluminium, Emirates Steel Arkan Group, Aldar Properties, Emirates Environmental Group and the Chalhoub Group.

In January 2022, Farnek showed off its roadmap to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050 and, in April 2022, it said that it would launch a standalone hotel management company.

During the signing ceremony – held at the Fifth National Dialogue for Climate Ambition (NDCA) in Abu Dhabi – Farnek CEO Markus Oberlin commented, “By signing this pledge, we have committed to stepping up our efforts to combat climate change by measuring and reporting our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions transparently, developing ambitious but realistic science-based plans to reduce our carbon footprint and sharing these plans with the UAE government to contribute towards the UAE achieving its national Net Zero targets by 2050.”

He added, “Furthermore, by integrating sustainability principles across our operations, we will adopt an all-inclusive approach that engages youth, women, and vulnerable segments of society.”

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment and Vincent Keaveny, Lord Mayor of the City of London, were also present.

In August 2022, Farnek said that it was awarded $11.54mn in security contracts over the last 12 months.

According to Oberlin, Farnek consultants have identified the scope and boundaries to measure its carbon footprint accurately.

Apart from building performance, such as energy and water consumption, Farnek is also considering employee travel, logistics, purchased goods and services, waste disposal, and focusing on recycling, renewables and other lower carbon alternatives.

In September 2022, Farnek said that it had organised 4.6t of basic food and essentials for 131 Sri Lankan families.

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Standard Chartered’s Sustainable Banking Report 2022 shows how retail investors in the UAE can mobilise more than US $100bn towards top Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) priorities – particularly the financing of the transition to Net Zero.

In the report titled ‘Mobilising retail investor capital’, Standard Chartered explores ESG investment opportunities; it explains how this capital could play a critical part in bridging funding gaps in the UAE’s other ESG priorities, including food and water security, as well as pollution and waste management.

The new research also identified the massive sum of $8.17tn of investable retail wealth that could be channelled into sustainable investments by 2030 to finance ESG objectives in 10 growth markets. The report also highlights the investment barriers currently faced by investors and recommends solutions to expand sustainable investing (SI) into a mainstream asset class.

In September 2022, Emaar investors approved the acquisition of Dubai Creek Harbour and, later in the month, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan launched the Dubai Robotics and Automation Program.

According to the research, the UAE has high potential for growth in sustainable investing, largely due to its rising domestic wealth. The market could mobilise over $100bn in sustainable retail investment by 2030. Across the UAE, more than 40% of investors respectively want to put their money towards addressing climate issues, the report noted.

The top ESG priorities for investors in the UAE include:

• Climate change and carbon emissions (38%)
• Energy and resource use (31%)
• Pollution and waste management (26%)

The report further highlights the need for investor and market-specific barriers that need to be overcome to translate this investor interest into actual impact.

In October 2022, Abu Dhabi-based Global Mission launched a $17bn fund to achieve the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Investors in the UAE identified the following as their top barriers to increasing their sustainable investments:

• Comparability (47%)
• Perceived low returns/higher risk (45%)
• Comprehensibility (44%)

These findings demonstrate how financial institutions can play a critical role in unlocking available capital by breaking down the existing barriers for retail investors.

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