Latest / DEWA Podcasts / Winners of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Water Award praise its role in bringing life to water-scarce communities
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome back, everyone. Today, we are exploring
- 0:04a really powerful initiative that is quite literally
- 0:07bringing life to communities worldwide. Wow.
- 0:11Yeah, we're discussing the Mohammed bin Rashid
- 0:13Al Maktoum Global Water Award. It's such a fascinating
- 0:17subject. This award is supervised by the UAE
- 0:21Water Aid Foundation, commonly referred to as
- 0:24SUKIA, UAE. Right. And it sits under the umbrella
- 0:28of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global
- 0:31Initiatives. Its core mission is to help communities
- 0:34that are just suffering from severe water scarcity.
- 0:38The way this impact is achieved is really inspiring.
- 0:42The award empowers winning projects to deliver,
- 0:45you know, far -reaching positive change. We are
- 0:49talking about providing clean, safe water to
- 0:52millions of beneficiaries. But the benefits?
- 0:55They don't stop just at hydration. Exactly. When
- 0:59you provide safe water, you immediately improve
- 1:02public health and reduce waterborne diseases.
- 1:05Yeah, absolutely. But there is also a massive
- 1:09social impact. By easing the time and effort
- 1:12required to access water, these communities are
- 1:15gaining greater opportunities for education,
- 1:17employment, and, well, a significantly improved
- 1:20quality of life. So true. hours a day fetching
- 1:26water, they can go to school or start a business.
- 1:29To capture the true essence and vision of this
- 1:32initiative, I'm going to read a statement precisely
- 1:34as it was delivered. Quote, Launched by His Highness
- 1:38Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al -Maktoum, Vice
- 1:41President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler
- 1:44of Dubai, The award supports the UAE's endeavors
- 1:47to drive research, development, and the innovation
- 1:50of sustainable solutions to provide clean and
- 1:53safe water for unprivileged communities around
- 1:56the world. By encouraging sustainable solutions,
- 2:00utilizing clean and renewable energy, the award
- 2:03promotes the deployment of the latest advanced
- 2:05technologies, such as artificial intelligence,
- 2:08to accelerate the design, implementation, and
- 2:11development of projects. thereby benefiting as
- 2:15many people as possible. It also provides data
- 2:18and information that helps stakeholders improve
- 2:21the lives of underprivileged communities, said
- 2:24His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al -Tayr, Chairman
- 2:27of the Board of Trustees of Sukia UAE. That statement
- 2:30perfectly illustrates the ambition here. Yeah.
- 2:34Combining renewable energy with advanced tech
- 2:37like artificial intelligence to solve a fundamental
- 2:40human need. And the, uh... financial backing
- 2:44is substantial. Right. With a total prize value
- 2:47of $1 million, the award is split into four main
- 2:52categories. Right. Those categories are the Innovative
- 2:55Projects Award, the Innovative Research and Development
- 2:58Award, the Innovative Individual Award, and the
- 3:01Innovative Crisis Solutions Award. The global
- 3:05reach is already quite impressive. Over the last
- 3:08four cycles, the award has recognized 43 winners
- 3:12from 26 countries around the world. Wow! According
- 3:16to the winners, this recognition has really broadened
- 3:19the reach of their innovations. This enables
- 3:22them to benefit more water -scarce communities
- 3:24worldwide and strengthen their contribution to
- 3:27tackling the global water crisis. Let's look
- 3:30at a concrete example of this impact on the ground.
- 3:33The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Water
- 3:35Award has provided significant momentum for the
- 3:38widespread deployment and implementation of a
- 3:41project called Pump and Drink. Oh yeah! This
- 3:44was submitted by Sotrad Water. The Pump and Drink
- 3:47project is a brilliant piece of engineering.
- 3:50It offers an integrated solution for pumping,
- 3:53treating, and distributing drinking water. Right,
- 3:56and it does this using solar energy within an
- 3:59autonomous system operating in rural communities.
- 4:02What makes it even more advanced are the project's
- 4:05unique remote monitoring solutions. These systems
- 4:08provide stakeholders with daily data on production.
- 4:10They also give key information regarding the
- 4:14performance and maintenance of each site. You
- 4:16don't have to guess if a remote well is working.
- 4:19Exactly. The data tells you immediately. And
- 4:23the results speak for themselves. To date, more
- 4:26than 1 ,250 pump and drink stations have been
- 4:28executed in six countries. Wow. They are currently
- 4:32serving rural communities that previously suffered
- 4:35from limited or unreliable access to safe drinking
- 4:38water. It is a remarkable testament to how targeted
- 4:41innovation and funding can change lives. Now,
- 4:45here's a question we'd like you to think about.
- 4:47Okay. How might the integration of artificial
- 4:50intelligence and renewable energy further transform
- 4:53the way we solve other fundamental global challenges
- 4:55in the future?