In line with the ongoing situation in the UAE, the Ministry of Health has launched a self-driving vehicle to distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) to people in Sharjah.
According to the MoHAP, the autonomous vehicle will distribute personal protective equipment including masks, gloves, and sanitizers to residents and workers within a residential complex in Sharjah.
Ministry Rolls Out Self-Driving Vehicle to Distribute PPE
The initiative, which was rolled out in partnership with the Sharjah’s Family Health Promotion Center, and Huawei, comes under the ministry’s efforts to reduce the spread of infection within the emirates using the latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and fifth-generation technology (5G), as shared in a report by the Khaleej Times.
This is just one of the country’s efforts to utilize technology to promote sustainable living and to support the economy through these kinds of innovation.
Last April 25, His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai announced the deployment of its smart self-driving transport strategy, which aims to convert the city’s transport system to utilize smart and driverless technology by 2030.
This initiative is expected to result in annual economic savings that will exceed AED 22 billion.
The strategy implemented by the Dubai government is backed by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Dubai Future Foundation.
Moreover, Sheikh Mohammed launched the Dubai World Challenge for self-driving transport, the largest tender around the world in which global companies, academic institutions, and research centers will compete to implement scenarios and applications of self-driving technology on Dubai roads.
According to Sheikh Mohammed, “Dubai is on the front foot compared to cities around the world and is achieving a qualitative shift in using artificial intelligence to serve humanity and establish a unique global model for cities of the future. Dubai is transforming into the largest global lab for technology and research and development.”
The Dubai leader explained that with a clear strategy for smart transportation, the initiative will prove to be a key aspect for achieving a sustainable UAE economy and create a phase that complements a series of achievements and coincides with the Dubai clean energy strategy that was launched in November and the launch of the largest solar energy complex in the world.
Sheikh Mohammed also pointed out that the end goal of the strategy is to make Dubai a sustainable place to live in that future generations can enjoy with high-quality smart services rendered in a sustainable environment.
A new innovative experiment developed by the Ministry of Health and Prevention in cooperation with (Neolix) and (Huawei) as a part of the precautionary and preventive measures applied in the UAE, the self-driving smart car deploys the latest digital systems & AI technology pic.twitter.com/SBbQiIqcEW
— وزارة الصحة ووقاية المجتمع – MOHAP UAE (@mohapuae) May 6, 2020
Meanwhile, the effort of the MoHAP utilizing the innovation involving smart cars can also be seen as an important aspect in which this kind of technology can be used.
As of this time, there is a non-imposition of lockdown measures in the emirate because “there was no massive spread of infections in any location within Sharjah” according to Major General Saif Al Shamsi, Commander in Chief of Sharjah Police.
And while residents are free to move around in the area, officials are still monitoring the situation if certain measures will need to be put into effect.
It can be recalled that movement in the Al ras and Naif areas was recently restricted as a precautionary measure but they have now reopened.
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