Nathalie Leboucher is the head of the Smart Cities programme at Orange Business Services, the business services arm of France Telecom-Orange. Here, she explains how cities in the Middle East can benefit from adopting smart technology.
What is a "smart city"?
It is a city that uses all possible ITC - information technology and communications - tools to optimise its way of functioning. We are very focused on infrastructure projects like resource management - water, gas, electricity - or transportation.
You took over as head of the programme in September 2011. What have you achieved?
The first important thing for us was to define the vision: what is a smart city, what can we do in this sector, what are our strengths, what added value can we provide to the customer? We invest in pilot projects and already have some large-scale deployments. In one area of Paris we have deployed nearly 1 million smart meters [real-time measurements of water consumption that allow people and companies to better manage their water use] as part of a joint venture with Veolia Water. At the moment it's only a French project but we hope that soon in the Gulf we might be able to deploy this kind of project because the water resource problem is a big problem in the region. Saving water or having water being consumed as it should is important.
Have you done anything in the transport sector?
We are providing 5 million Sim cards to car manufacturers. These will be put in the cars right at the plant when the cars are manufactured. This project is really a kind of revolution for in-car connectivity because today only about 4 per cent of cars in Europe have connectivity. These are mainly [luxury] German cars or small trucks that are part of a fleet. Starting from this year we will see a big increase in connectivity in cars because in new models this will be included quite systematically as a new service. It should grow quite rapidly and we want to contribute to that.
Car connectivity? Tell me more about that.
If you have an electric vehicle, it's interesting to know the battery life and with connectivity you can know where the closest recharging booth is. The second important use is having infotainment in the car: streaming music, the radio and things like that. Once you have connectivity in your car - and this is more in the future - you see examples of augmented reality projects where, for example, I will be in a street in Dubai and on my screen I will be able to see information about the buildings.
And is the Middle East an important region for you?
It's very important because here we see a lot of greenfield projects which is not the same as in old Europe. By greenfield I mean like Masdar City or the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. There was nothing and we have the opportunity to build them from scratch. This means you can interconnect the different services right from the beginning, which is something you cannot do in an existing city.
lgutcher@thenational.ae
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Company%20Profile
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Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Scoreline
Swansea 2
Grimes 20' (pen), Celina, 29'
Man City 3
Silva 69', Nordfeldt 78' (og), Aguero 88'
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
