Dr. Eesa Bastaki, President of University of Dubai, participated yesterday as a keynote speaker in the IBM Smarter Leadership Summit at Conrad Hotel in Dubai, which was attended by business leaders from across the boardroom, including Finance, Human Resources, Marketing and Information Technology. Speakers at the Summit discussed a number of topics ranging from Cloud Technology to Big Data and Mobile Enterprise.
Dr. Bastaki began his presentation with a quote by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, wherein His Highness had stated: I want you, young leaders, to be lions and work towards leading lions, who initiate, suggest, debate and achieve. Dr. Bastaki said the UAE vision will succeed in achieving a long-term sustainable, prosperous and productive lifestyle after oil for UAEs next generations. He added that in a smart city, citizens are placing increasing demands on leaders and therefore leaders must innovate across services to meet and exceed citizen expectations.

The half-hour comprehensive presentation highlighted the leadership characteristics needed for organizations, governments and societies to succeed and prosper. Speaking on education, Dr. Bastaki stated that University of Dubai is as an example of Quality Education Towards Innovation.

Dr. Bastaki said: A smart society is based on trusted partnerships between public, private and education sectors. Explaining why IBM and University of Dubai joined hands to establish a smart cities center, he added: We are working jointly to implement a Center of Excellence for Smart Government and Smart Cities with the common goal of supporting H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoums vision of transforming the city of Dubai into a Smarter City and transforming UAE Government into Smarter Government.

The University of Dubai President said: The future vision is to establish a center which will be a place where businesses, universities and city administrations come together to develop solutions to the future needs of cities a space in which business, academia, investors, innovators and cities can collaborate, get expert support and develop and test their ideas.
Speakers at the event included Amr Refaat, General Manager of IBM Middle East and Pakistan, and Robert Guidotti, IBM World Wide Software Leader.

For the past 10 years, IBMs annual CIO Conference was a platform for influencers in the IT industry. It was an opportunity to gain insights on the latest trends in technology, engage with leading experts from all over the world and network with peers across the region. With technology becoming an imperative for every business leader, the IBM CIO Conference has evolved into the IBM Smarter Leadership Summit.