Latest / DEWA Podcasts / DEWA’s Sustainability and Innovation Centre wins two Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards • The latest accolades bring the centre’s tally of international honours to six in 2025

Transcript

DEWA’s Sustainability and Innovation Centre wins two Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards • The latest accolades bring the centre’s tally of international honours to six in 2025 · DEWA Podcasts

• 0:00
  OK, let's dive in. Today, we're going to unpack
• 0:01
  a really extraordinary string of achievements
• 0:05
  coming out of the Middle East. We are. Specifically,
• 0:07
  we're looking at the huge international recognition
• 0:10
  that the Sustainability and Innovation Center
• 0:12
  of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has
• 0:15
  recently received. And the mission here. for
• 0:18
  you listening is to get beyond just a list of
• 0:21
  awards exactly we need to understand what it
• 0:23
  actually means for one single center to rack
• 0:26
  up six major international accolades in 2025
• 0:29
  and you know why it's a focus is so relevant
• 0:33
  on a global scale right now so let's start with
• 0:36
  big ones the immediate focus is the dubai electricity
• 0:39
  and water authority sustainability and innovation
• 0:41
  center wins two brandon hall group excellence
• 0:44
  awards right and that name brandon hall is really
• 0:47
  important here. Why is that? Because they focus
• 0:49
  specifically on things like learning excellence
• 0:51
  and technology in human capital. So when the
• 0:54
  center got the gold medal in the best advance
• 0:56
  in education delivered through technology, that
• 0:59
  wasn't just a sustainability win. Ah, okay. It
• 1:02
  was a major validation of their digital training
• 1:04
  and their whole educational infrastructure. Precisely.
• 1:08
  And then you pair that with the silver medal
• 1:10
  they won. The one for best advance in social
• 1:12
  impact innovation. Yes. That pairing is the real
• 1:16
  story. It shows their top tier digital learning
• 1:18
  is directly creating measurable social impact.
• 1:22
  It's innovation with a purpose. And those are
• 1:24
  just two of the awards. Right. Those two wins
• 1:26
  from Brandon Hall actually brought the center's
• 1:28
  total for 2025 up to six international accolades.
• 1:32
  The scale of this is pretty staggering. OK, so
• 1:36
  let's talk about that, Brett. Help us connect
• 1:38
  the dots with the other honors. I'm seeing the
• 1:40
  SEAL Business Sustainability Award. Thompson
• 1:43
  Reuters Transition Advocator Award, and two others
• 1:47
  from the Business Intelligence Group. And they
• 1:49
  all recognize different facets of the work. The
• 1:51
  SEAL Award, for example, is for pioneering projects
• 1:53
  with tangible environmental results. And a Thompson
• 1:56
  Reuters one. Transition Advocator sounds like
• 1:59
  more than just doing the work. It is. It suggests
• 2:01
  they're leading the conversation, maybe even
• 2:03
  policy, around the clean energy transition. So
• 2:06
  you combine that with the Brandon Hall Awards
• 2:08
  for how they teach. And a clear picture emerges.
• 2:10
  A very clear one. The center is positioning itself
• 2:13
  as a global pioneer, promoting the shift to clean
• 2:16
  energy, not just by building things, but by exporting
• 2:19
  knowledge and skills for the future. This sounds
• 2:22
  like it ties directly into their core strategy.
• 2:24
  It's probably a good time to bring in the perspective
• 2:26
  of His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Altair, the
• 2:30
  managing director and CEO of Dubai Electricity
• 2:33
  and Water Authority. Yeah, his message really
• 2:36
  synthesizes all of this perfectly. He said these
• 2:39
  six awards underscore the center's position as
• 2:41
  a vital hub for sustainability, not just regionally,
• 2:44
  but globally. So it's designed to be a platform
• 2:46
  then. It is a leading platform to empower researchers,
• 2:50
  young people and society as a whole to turn knowledge
• 2:53
  into real tangible outcomes. And what's the strategic
• 2:58
  goal behind that? I mean, what's the end game
• 3:00
  for the national strategy? The key insight is
• 3:03
  the focus on equipping Emeratus for future requirements.
• 3:06
  They are very intentionally building the skills
• 3:09
  needed for a major economic pivot. A pivot away
• 3:11
  from traditional energy sources. Exactly. It's
• 3:14
  about supporting innovation and driving that
• 3:16
  shift to a low -emission, knowledge -based economy.
• 3:19
  Their future is built on smart grids, solar expertise,
• 3:23
  and green R &D. And the sources show this isn't
• 3:27
  just theory, right? This is where we see the
• 3:29
  operational scale, the how of it all. Precisely.
• 3:31
  They are executing this at an incredible scale.
• 3:34
  We're not just talking about academic papers.
• 3:36
  The center has hosted thousands of visitors.
• 3:39
  Thousands. Literally thousands. And it's run
• 3:41
  hundreds of specialized programs. It's also built
• 3:44
  these deep partnerships with international universities
• 3:47
  and institutions. That network is a huge multiplier.
• 3:51
  So to bring it all together, the core takeaway
• 3:52
  here is that the Dubai Electricity and Water
• 3:55
  Authority Center isn't just being recognized
• 3:57
  for its good intentions. No, not at all. It's
• 4:00
  being recognized for measurable operational excellence.
• 4:03
  It's about technology driven education, creating
• 4:06
  real social impact and doing it on an international
• 4:08
  level. Which leaves us with a final thought to
• 4:11
  consider. It does. And it's a question for you,
• 4:13
  the listener. This model, a high tech center
• 4:17
  that can rapidly teach and spread sustainability
• 4:20
  skills, is now the gold standard for success.
• 4:23
  What does that mean for the global energy transition?
• 4:26
  You mean for the speed of it? For the speed and
• 4:28
  the execution of it over the next decade. Are
• 4:31
  these kinds of training hubs about to become
• 4:33
  the new accelerators of change? That's something
• 4:35
  to really mull over.