Global industry leaders discussed the transformative impact of digital transformation and how it was shaping the future of the region’s smart buildings and cities at a key event organised by Honeywell Building Technologies in Abu Dhabi.

The importance of implementing robust cybersecurity strategies to protect operational technologies across industries too was also highlighted at the Honeywell Abu Dhabi Technology Day 2019 held at the group’s high-tech office complex in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi,

It was attended by smart building and city decision-makers from the UAE’s public and private sectors.

The discussion focused on how smart building technology solutions can support the UAE government’s objectives, such as UAE Vision 2021 and Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, and how business leaders can adopt and incorporate these technologies more actively.

Earlier this year, a research by Honeywell found that more than 70 per cent of medium-to-large organisations in the buildings and cities sector in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are expecting an increase in spending on digitalisation and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) technologies over the next five years.

The research also revealed a growing appetite for investments in cybersecurity solutions in the next five years in both the UAE (75 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (68 per cent).

The Technology Day event comes close on the heels of the launch in April of the Honeywell Masdar Innovation Center, an innovation and knowledge-exchange hub advancing digital transformation across the oil, gas, petrochemical and infrastructure sectors.

Honeywell has been serving customers in the Middle East for more than 60 years, and has been operating in Abu Dhabi for over three decades.

Its solutions blend physical products with advanced software to create value for industries while supporting long-term national development visions and economic diversification across the region.-TradeArabia News Service