DUBAI: The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to support Dewa’s strategy in Research and Development (R&D), sustainability, diversification of the energy mix, in an environment that nurtures innovation and creativity.
The MoU was signed by Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dewa and Varun Kapur, Vice President and Head for Middle East and Africa at Tata Consultancy Services.
The signing ceremony was attended by Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President-Strategy & Business Development; Dr. Yousuf Al Akraf, Executive Vice-President -Business Support & HR, Dr. Pedro Banda, Director — Research & Development, Mohammad Abdul Karim Al Shamsi, Senior Manager — Sustainability and Climate Change, and Ahmad Abdullah, Senior Manager of External Communication at Dewa.
Ajay Singh, Country Head, UAE, Dr. Geetha Thiagarajan, Senior Scientist, Saurabh Agrawal, Head of Marketing and Dr. Krishna Prasad, Head Utilities Research at Tata Consultancy Services also attended the signing ceremony.
Dewa and TCS will be working in close collaboration through an innovation program network called “Co-Innovation” whereas both teams will come together to suggest ideas. The main focus of this “Co-Innovation” programme is in line with the key research areas of Dewa’s R&D Center and will cover: Solar Power Generation, Smart Grid Initiatives, Energy Efficiency and Water. TCS has dedicated Research and Innovation labs that span across industry sectors, focused on building cutting edge technology solutions for the higher order problems relevant to the company’s customer base. This includes sustainability solutions in the energy and water space.
“Dewa gives priority to research and development, sustainability, renewable energy, and photovoltaic technology. This supports the National Innovation Strategy, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make the UAE one of the most innovative countries in the world,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dewa.
“As a utility, that adopts innovation as government culture, Dewa strives to achieve the vision of the wise leadership and continuously exerts efforts to develop the concept of innovation among the clean energy and water sectors. It is making great progress on adopting innovative solutions for all operations in different fields,” he added.
“The Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park plays host to many of the major projects in this field, such as the interactive innovation centre, equipped with the latest technologies in clean and renewable energy, enhancing the capabilities of national renewable and sustainable energy. Dewa’s Innovation Centre features a group of R&D centres that specialise in clean energy technologies, drone research, and solar energy based desalination, worth a total investment of Dh500 million,” Al Tayer concluded.
