DUBAI: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) hosted this year’s Global Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) Open Day, bringing together partners from governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGO and United Nations (UN) agencies to discuss the latest technology solutions to meet the growing demands on humanitarian emergencies. The event took place at the Address Boulevard Hotel in the presence of high officials and media representatives.
The ETC Open Day brought together over 20 ETC partners and technology service providers including Amazon Web services, CISCO Tacops, Ericsson Response, General Dynamics, Government of Luxembourg, GSOL, Help.NGO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, IOM, Iridium, Level 421, Linkaiders, Minerva, Motorola Solutions, Paradigm, Speedcast, Tableau, Thuraya, Ubiquitilink, Ultisat, UNDP, UNDSS, WFP and Yahsat to showcase connectivity and data driven solutions in the field of humanitarian emergency preparedness and response.
“Hosting this cluster illustrates the important role that Dubai is playing on the technology and innovation scene as well as on the local and international levels” said Mageed Yahia, Director of WFP in the UAE and Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council region.
The event touched upon key areas related to next year’s Dubai EXPO 2020, including the UAE government’s focus on technology, connectivity and innovation as well as its active support of humanitarian emergencies and United Nations agencies based in Dubai including WFP. It presented a unique opportunity to gain insight into the critical role technology plays in connecting humanitarians and providing affected communities with access to information when every second matters.
Keynote speakers included: Adelina Kamal, Executive Director, ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) and Jawad Abbassi, Global System for Mobile Communication Association (GSMA), Head of Middle East North Africa (MENA) Region.
“Governments, humanitarians and the private sector need to stay ahead of the game and look at where technology is headed and how we can best leverage it to reconnect more people when disaster strikes. Events like today show us why it’s important to come together as one” said Enrica Porcari, Chair of the ETC and Director of WFP Technology Division. News Desk
