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Marwan Bin Haidar

UAE, UAE, DUBAI - Telecoms & IT

Marwan Bin Haidar

Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)

Bio

Marwan Bin Haidar has over 22 years of experience in DEWA’s core businesses, ICT, and innovation. He was made EVP of Innovation and the Future in 2016. In addition, he is also vice chairman of the MORO Board; a member of the Future Council of Energy, the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy Advisory committee, the Microsoft Services Executive Board, the SAP Executive Advisory Council, and the Innogy IME Board; and is a DEWA 10X team leader and DEWA Innovation team leader.

Through its digital arm, DEWA seeks to disrupt the entire business of public utilities by becoming the world's first digital utility to use autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage.

As the first digital utility with autonomous systems, how does Digital DEWA factor into sustaining DEWA’s leading position as an innovative utility ahead of those in Europe and the US?
DEWA is disrupting the business model of public utilities, becoming the world’s first digital utility to use autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage, while expanding the use of digital services. DEWA’s efforts are focused on entering the race for the future by employing the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s disruptive technologies such as AI, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), energy storage, blockchain, and the IoT, as well as developing technical infrastructure and state-of-the-art customer centers with advanced solutions. Through Digital DEWA, the digital arm of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, we will disrupt the entire business of public utilities by becoming the world’s first digital utility to use autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage. Digital DEWA supports DEWA’s strategy for digital transformation to help achieve the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, to transform the Dubai government into a fully digital government and the first paperless government by end of 2021. DEWA has taken major steps toward this goal and achieved the best results among government departments that participated in the first stage of the Dubai Paperless Strategy. DEWA has reduced its paper usage by 60%. Currently, 94% of DEWA’s customers use its smart services. As a result of these efforts, DEWA ranked first in the Happiness Index in the large Dubai Government Entities category for the second consecutive year with a score of 95% on Smart Dubai’s Happiness Index.

How do Digital DEWA’s four main pillars—renewable energy, energy storage, AI, and digital services—complement each other to meet the Emirate’s energy-related targets?
Digital DEWA has four main pillars to deliver a new utility experience for Dubai and the world. The first pillar is launching advanced solar power technologies in Dubai. The second is deploying a renewable energy grid with innovative energy storage technologies. The third pillar is expanding its use of integrated AI solutions to make Dubai the first city to provide AI-based electricity and water services. The fourth pillar is using connected technologies to provide around-the-clock, world-class services through the MORO data hub that provides advanced and innovative digital solutions and promotes smart city applications.

As the person in charge of the future of DEWA, what are your strategic priorities and vision for the organization’s future as we approach the turn of a decade?
For us at DEWA, excellence is a never-ending journey. We work across different sectors and departments to achieve the best results and continuously pursue the highest levels of efficiency by adopting innovative mechanisms that improve the quality of services to make life in Dubai the best in the world. We align our vision to become a globally leading sustainable innovative corporation with the vision of our wise leadership to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world. 6

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