SHARJAH, (Pakistan Point News - 10th Sep, 2025) H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and Chairman of the Sharjah Media Council, attended on Wednesday afternoon a panel discussion titled “How to Move Towards Smart and Sustainable Cities,” organised in partnership with Invest Bank, as part of the 14th International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) in Sharjah.
The session brought together Sheikh Saud bin Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Director-General of Sharjah Digital Department; Sherif Tawfik, Chief Partnerships Officer for AI and Sovereign Cloud at Microsoft; Gary Burniske, Managing Director of the Center for Global food Security at Purdue University; and student Rayan Bouslimi, winner of the International AI Olympiad in China.
Sheikh Saud bin Sultan Al Qasimi emphasised that building smart cities depends on a solid partnership between the public and private sectors.
He explained that governments provide the vision, while innovation and talent deliver the added value necessary to achieve it. He stressed that Sharjah benefits from global experiences to enhance growth and progress, adding that the success of smart cities depends on the availability of data and the integration of efforts across entities, not on isolated or delayed action.
He noted that Sharjah has launched one of the largest partnerships with technology companies, as governments alone cannot carry out this mission. He added that the rapid growth of smart cities requires meeting people’s daily needs based on precise studies that take their priorities into account.
