Roads & Transport Authority - News Details

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) at the Exhibition Centre, at Expo (26-27 Jan 2022), the Dubai International Project Management Forum 2022, held a discussion session about the Management of the Sustainable Digital Economy.

Attendees included Bader Mohammad Burshid, winner of the Best Project Office Manager 2020 and President of the Project Management Institute, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Branch, Mohammad Rushdi, CEO of Digital Technology, Financial Technology and Digital Transformation Consultant, and Mohammad Al Rayes, Director of Information Technology at Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC). The session was moderated by Ramia Farraj, Forbes Middle East Senior Presenter and Producer.

The session focused on several topics highlighted by the new challenges and modern working techniques under the current circumstances, the role of technology in business sustainability, means of digital agility to prepare for potential obstacles, and the importance of educating the young generation of project owners and talents about technology developments as well as the emerging digital methods in project management to keep pace with the rapid growth worldwide. 

Badr Burshid stated that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia launched the Green Saudi Initiative, which stressed the Kingdom's strong position towards a sustainable future. “The initiative focuses on 3 main points: reducing emissions, greening Saudi Arabia, and protecting land and sea lands. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to implement power-efficient programmes, develop carbon capture technology, increase public transportation, and develop renewable energies,” he noted. 

Burshid stressed the need to move away from typical or traditional methods, and to involve modern technology in project management to make a quantum shift in delivering projects. “This requires employing modern means such as artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, robots and drones from digital platforms and digital solutions. These digital solutions contribute to accelerating the pace of project completion as well as the effective management,” he added. 

In the same context, Mohammad Rushdi stressed the importance of digital transformation in project management, and the need to involve technology that matches the nature and needs of the project. He also called for focusing on the efficiency and quality of the product offered to customers, rather than focusing on increasing the number of products provided, to achieve a successful digital transformation. He noted that the rapid failure at the beginning of the project should be considered a positive point to identify and correct errors and achieve the desired returns later.

He also reflected on the current conditions and the fallouts of the Covid-19, noting that the emergence of the pandemic contributed to maximising the role of technology. “Many major companies, organisations and business groups noted the importance of the digital sector in the sustainability of projects, which prompted many entities to accelerate the adoption of digital solutions for the business of project management. This used to take many years had it not been for the pandemic,” continued Rushdi. 

In the same context, Mohammed Al Rayes said, “ENOC has many projects that meet the needs of individuals. It is committed to a knowledge-based economy and sustainable business models. In 2020, ENOC was able to save 120 million dirhams by involving technology in saving energy consumption and water recycling. ENOC appreciates the importance of digital transformation in project management, and from this standpoint, the company worked on realising these goals and made substantial gains over the last three years of launching ENOC Link, integrated digital service for customers, including advanced systems and a digital platform for analysing and managing the refuelling rates.”

Concluding his speech, Al Rayes said, “Technology is not the only success factor. We rather need to build and repose confidence and offer opportunities for young entrepreneurs to make decisions and educate them about the knowledge necessary to become leaders and willing to enter the world of projects.