SmartCity Malta promoted at major international ICT exhibition
SmartCity Malta was actively promoted for the second year running at Gitex, one of the most important international information technology and telecommunications exhibitions held between October 19 and 23. The SmartCity Malta stand, strategically...
SmartCity Malta was actively promoted for the second year running at Gitex, one of the most important international information technology and telecommunications exhibitions held between October 19 and 23. The SmartCity Malta stand, strategically placed in the main exhibition hall of the World Trade Centre in Dubai, attracted considerable interest thanks to the scale model of the project in Ricasoli.
Indeed the stand was one of the first to be visited by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, at the official opening of the event.
One of the goals of SmartCity Malta is to become the first ICT training destination in the European Union, announced SmartCity Malta CEO Claudio Grech during a presentation delivered at the stand.
For the first time since the announcement of the project Mr Grech went into some detail on the type of organisations that Smart-City Malta will be trying to attract. These include value-added ICT and media operations, ICT universities and technical colleges, specialised IT academies, and corporate training headquarters. Ricasoli will also be transformed into a hub for knowledge-based activities, a regional node for Far East operations, and a centre for knowledge process outsourcing.
There will also be specialised clusters such as maritime-related ICT, computer gaming and IP (internet) TV and broadcasting.
Mr Grech confirmed that the first space will be released in 2010. In fact, a couple of weeks ago Mepa approved the outline development permit for the office, residential, commercial, retail and public spaces while it also approved the full development permit for the state-of-the-art ICT and media building SCMO1 which will be offering 12,018 sqm of top-tier office space as from 2010.
A delegation from SmartCity Malta led by Mr Grech manned the SmartCity stand at Gitex to handle the enquiries. Fareed Abdulrahman, CEO of SmartCity, was also present and responded to enquiries from visitors.
"We are happy with Mepa's approval of the development permits and we are positive that in 2010 the first business organisations will begin operations in the first office building," Mr Abdulrahman told i-Tech during an informal interview sandwiched between two important meetings.
In the next few months SmartCity Malta is expected to announce the names of the first international ICT companies that would be re-locating or opening up an office in Ricasoli. The residences and retail space will also be actively marketed to local and international buyers.
Mr Abdulrahman sounded quite confident on the capabilities of the Maltese to build and maintain SmartCity Malta and confirmed Maltese knowledge and manpower will always be the first choice.
He also confirmed that there will soon be a third SmartCity, possibly in the Pacific Asia or Middle-East/North Africa region, adding, "It will be bigger than our Malta development but probably not quite as big as our precinct in India."
Nevertheless, the importance of SmartCity Malta within the operations of SmartCity and Tecom Investments was demonstrated when the first edition of Connect, the new glossy international business magazine published by SmartCity in Dubai was dedicated almost entirely to Malta.
Copies of the magazine were distributed from the SmartCity stand.
The aim of the publication is to provide "cutting-edge insights in today's thought leadership and industry excellence," according to Ahmad Bin Byat, chairman of SmartCity.
The magazine features an interview with the Ministry for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications Austin Gatt, articles on Malta's potential in the field of information and communication technology, and a focus on the SmartCity Malta project at Ricasoli, besides the usual "jewel in the Mediterranean" type of article highlighting Malta's offering to tourists.
Several Maltese organisations related to technology and business, including the Malta Communications Authority, Malta Enterprise and Crimsonwing, advertise in the magazine.
GITEX housed over 3,300 companies from 83 countries spread over 64,000 square metres of exhibition space. Attendance was estimated at over 130,000.
Scott McNealy, chairman and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, delivered the keynote address. He spoke about the merits of sharing and open source as drivers for development.
All the big companies were present in one form or another, exhibiting their latest wares. Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Intel, Panasonic, Google, Adobe, Sanyo, Apple, Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Western Digital, Ford and others exploited the exhibition to make important announcements.
i-Tech had the opportunity to be among the first in Malta to lay its hands down on the new range of Apple MacBook laptops that had been launched a few days before the opening of Gitex.
Just to mention a few examples, Samsung offered its most advanced Blu-ray DVD players and the Innov8, a mobile phone with an eight-megapixel camera. The world's largest LCD and plasma TV sets were also on show. Intel showcased the new Centrino 2 processors. Microsoft Gulf announced the launch of the new Microsoft Dynamics AX (Axapta) 2009 as part of its business solutions portfolio.
Other smaller vendors also had something on offer. Being in an Arab country, it came as no surprise that the interactive whiteboard would be called "Kitab Board", which sounds very similar to the Maltese word for writing.
Google also registered its first presence at Gitex at the Dubai Internet City stand, close to the SmartCity stand. DIC was also the ICT strategic sponsor of Gitex.
i-Tech will be reporting on other aspects of SmartCity Malta, Dubai Internet City and the related parks operated by Tecom Investments in Dubai in the coming weeks.
Indeed the stand was one of the first to be visited by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, at the official opening of the event.
One of the goals of SmartCity Malta is to become the first ICT training destination in the European Union, announced SmartCity Malta CEO Claudio Grech during a presentation delivered at the stand.
For the first time since the announcement of the project Mr Grech went into some detail on the type of organisations that Smart-City Malta will be trying to attract. These include value-added ICT and media operations, ICT universities and technical colleges, specialised IT academies, and corporate training headquarters. Ricasoli will also be transformed into a hub for knowledge-based activities, a regional node for Far East operations, and a centre for knowledge process outsourcing.
There will also be specialised clusters such as maritime-related ICT, computer gaming and IP (internet) TV and broadcasting.
Mr Grech confirmed that the first space will be released in 2010. In fact, a couple of weeks ago Mepa approved the outline development permit for the office, residential, commercial, retail and public spaces while it also approved the full development permit for the state-of-the-art ICT and media building SCMO1 which will be offering 12,018 sqm of top-tier office space as from 2010.
A delegation from SmartCity Malta led by Mr Grech manned the SmartCity stand at Gitex to handle the enquiries. Fareed Abdulrahman, CEO of SmartCity, was also present and responded to enquiries from visitors.
"We are happy with Mepa's approval of the development permits and we are positive that in 2010 the first business organisations will begin operations in the first office building," Mr Abdulrahman told i-Tech during an informal interview sandwiched between two important meetings.
In the next few months SmartCity Malta is expected to announce the names of the first international ICT companies that would be re-locating or opening up an office in Ricasoli. The residences and retail space will also be actively marketed to local and international buyers.
Mr Abdulrahman sounded quite confident on the capabilities of the Maltese to build and maintain SmartCity Malta and confirmed Maltese knowledge and manpower will always be the first choice.
He also confirmed that there will soon be a third SmartCity, possibly in the Pacific Asia or Middle-East/North Africa region, adding, "It will be bigger than our Malta development but probably not quite as big as our precinct in India."
Nevertheless, the importance of SmartCity Malta within the operations of SmartCity and Tecom Investments was demonstrated when the first edition of Connect, the new glossy international business magazine published by SmartCity in Dubai was dedicated almost entirely to Malta.
Copies of the magazine were distributed from the SmartCity stand.
The aim of the publication is to provide "cutting-edge insights in today's thought leadership and industry excellence," according to Ahmad Bin Byat, chairman of SmartCity.
The magazine features an interview with the Ministry for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications Austin Gatt, articles on Malta's potential in the field of information and communication technology, and a focus on the SmartCity Malta project at Ricasoli, besides the usual "jewel in the Mediterranean" type of article highlighting Malta's offering to tourists.
Several Maltese organisations related to technology and business, including the Malta Communications Authority, Malta Enterprise and Crimsonwing, advertise in the magazine.
GITEX housed over 3,300 companies from 83 countries spread over 64,000 square metres of exhibition space. Attendance was estimated at over 130,000.
Scott McNealy, chairman and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, delivered the keynote address. He spoke about the merits of sharing and open source as drivers for development.
All the big companies were present in one form or another, exhibiting their latest wares. Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Intel, Panasonic, Google, Adobe, Sanyo, Apple, Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Western Digital, Ford and others exploited the exhibition to make important announcements.
i-Tech had the opportunity to be among the first in Malta to lay its hands down on the new range of Apple MacBook laptops that had been launched a few days before the opening of Gitex.
Just to mention a few examples, Samsung offered its most advanced Blu-ray DVD players and the Innov8, a mobile phone with an eight-megapixel camera. The world's largest LCD and plasma TV sets were also on show. Intel showcased the new Centrino 2 processors. Microsoft Gulf announced the launch of the new Microsoft Dynamics AX (Axapta) 2009 as part of its business solutions portfolio.
Other smaller vendors also had something on offer. Being in an Arab country, it came as no surprise that the interactive whiteboard would be called "Kitab Board", which sounds very similar to the Maltese word for writing.
Google also registered its first presence at Gitex at the Dubai Internet City stand, close to the SmartCity stand. DIC was also the ICT strategic sponsor of Gitex.
i-Tech will be reporting on other aspects of SmartCity Malta, Dubai Internet City and the related parks operated by Tecom Investments in Dubai in the coming weeks.