22 May 2016
Dubai, UAE:  Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to support DEWA's  Strategy  in Research and Development (R&D), sustainability, diversification of the energy mix, in an environment that nurtures innovation and creativity.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA and Varun Kapur, Vice President and Head for Middle East and Africa at Tata Consultancy Services.

The signing ceremony was attended by Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President-Strategy & Business Development; Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President -Business Support & HR, Dr. Pedro Banda, Director - Research & Development, Mohammed Abdulkarim Alshamsi, Senior Manager - Sustainability & Climate Change, and Ahmed Abdullah, Senior Manager of External Communication at DEWA.

Ajay Singh, Country Head - UAE, Dr. Geetha Thiagarajan, Senior Scientist, Saurabh Agrawal, Head of Marketing and Dr. Krishna Prasad, Head Utilities Research at Tata Consultancy Services also attended the signing ceremony.

DEWA and TCS will be working in close collaboration through an innovation program network called "Co-Innovation" whereas both teams will come together to suggest ideas. The main focus of this "Co-Innovation" program is  in line with the key research areas of DEWA's Research and Development (R&D) Center and will cover: Solar Power Generation, Smart Grid Initiatives, Energy Efficiency and Water. TCS has dedicated Research and Innovation labs that span across industry sectors, focused on building cutting edge technology solutions for the higher order problems relevant to the company's customer base. This includes sustainability solutions in the energy and water space.

"DEWA gives priority to Research and Development (R&D), sustainability, renewable energy, and photovoltaic technology. This supports the National Innovation Strategy, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, to make the UAE one of the most innovative countries in the world," said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.

"As a utility, that adopts innovation as government culture, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) strives to achieve the vision of the wise leadership and continuously exerts efforts to develop the concept of innovation among the clean energy and water sectors. DEWA is making great progress on adopting innovative solutions for all operations in different fields," added Al Tayer.

"The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park plays host to many of the major projects in this field, such as the interactive innovation centre, equipped with the latest technologies in clean and renewable energy, enhancing the capabilities of national renewable and sustainable energy. DEWA's Innovation Centre features a group of R&D centres that specialise in clean energy technologies, drone research, and solar energy based desalination, worth a total investment of AED 500 million," concluded Al Tayer.

'The purpose of this relationship is to enrich and accelerate the way DEWA plans and delivers innovation. DEWA goals and values remain to leverage new ideas that reduce costs, improve efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction, by  leveraging TCS' Innovation ecosystem," concluded Al Tayer.

Varun Kapur, VP & Head of MEA, Tata Consultancy Service said: "TCS has a strong Co-Innovation Network (COINTM), where we partner with our customers, research organisations, academic institutions and alliance partners with our Innovation Labs spread across the globe playing a pivotal role. Through this MoU, we plan to bring our global expertise to UAE. DEWA is a leader in innovation and pioneer in energy efficient practices and TCS is proud to be associated with DEWA in this pioneering initiative. This partnership will create an ecosystem of excellence in the land of innovation."

-Ends-

For more information, please contact:
Ribal Dayekh or Noora Khoory                                          Jessy Chami or Rawad Khattar
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority                             Orient Planet PR
+971 4 307 2006 or 515 1798                                          +971 4 456 2888 or 055-8257576
ribal.dayekh@dewa.gov.ae                                                jessy@orientplanet.com
noora.khoory@dewa.gov.ae                                             rawad@orientplanet.com

© Press Release 2016