The ‘U.A.E. Drones for Good Award' signed a memorandum of understanding with ‘Indra', one of the leading technology companies in Europe and Latin America.
This was part of efforts to expand the scope of the award through international partnerships and take advantage of the latest expertise in technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.
"The ‘U.A.E. Drones for Good Award' is another example of the commitment of the U.A.E. government to integrate the latest technology in the efforts to provide more accessible and cost-effective services to our citizens. Moreover, the award discovers the potential uses of this technology in the humanitarian field,” said Saif Al Aleeli, Project Manager of the U.A.E. Drones for Good Award at the U.A.E. Prime Minister's Office.
"This is a global award as we believe that innovation has no specific address; innovative ideas might come from any part of the world,” he added.
"We highly appreciate our partnership with Indra which brings great value to the award in terms of its global network and technical expertise. Strategically, the U.A.E. Drones for Good Award and Indra share a single vision when it comes to utilising UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technology to address current challenges and provide value added services that improve people's lives,” Al Aleeli added.
Alex Moya, General Manager of Indra in the U.A.E., said, "We feel very proud to be collaborating with the United Arab Emirates government. Indra has an important commitment in the country with offices in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai.”
José Luis Angoso, Indra's Innovation and Alliances Director, said, "The U.A.E. Drones for Good Award reflects our vision of innovation and technology as key factors for meeting new global challenges and guaranteeing social progress. We want to reward an idea that exploits the full potential of UAVs to benefit citizens, using our experience to help turning the winning idea into a new business project.”
An Indra representative will be part of the evaluation panel that will judge the proposals submitted to the international competition and will select the ideas that progress to the second phase of the award. The final phase contestants will be invited to the U.A.E. to present their proposals. The winning initiative will be awarded US$1 million.
In addition, Indra will sponsor the ‘From Idea to Reality' community award for the most voted international semi-finalist initiative.
The international competition is open to any individual, team, institution, university or company, anywhere in the world.
The only requisite is that participants must post a brief description and a short video explaining their idea on The U.A.E. Drones for Good