Health, safety issues key pillars of UAE strategy towards innovation

Staff Reporter, Gulf Today

Dubai: The Future of Health, Wellness & Innovation Forum,’ organised by Dubai Land Department (DLD), in partnership with Delos, the leading company in the field of health and promoting well-being in living and working places, kicked off  at the Museum of the Future in Dubai, in the presence of a group of officials and experts. The forum highlighted the importance of strengthening buildings and residential communities and making them healthier, safer and smarter, in line with DLD’s strategy to consolidate Dubai’s position as a preferred global real estate destination.

During his opening speech at the forum,  Sultan Butti bin Mejren, Director General of Dubai Land Department, commented: “Health and safety issues have always been fundamental pillars of the UAE’s strategy, and Dubai in particular, towards ensuring growth by promoting innovation and sustainability, in line with the developmental approach pursued by the wise leadership under the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.”

Bin Mejren added: “The Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan draws an integrated future map for sustainable urban development, the main focus of which being people and the improvement of their quality of life. From this standpoint, health, safety, and innovation standards have become integral to achieving Dubai’s vision to become the best city in the world to live and work.”

Paul Scialla, CEO of Delos and Founder of IWBI, shared his insight and future vision on the Global WELL Healthy Building Movement, and said: “It’s a great honour to be here today to announce and celebrate the collaboration between Delos and Dubai Land Department. It’s wonderful to see all these people coming together with this one singular focus, which is the well-being and health safety of our buildings. This scales because of the commitment of Dubai Land Department and the initiative their leadership has taken. I could not be more honoured to demonstrate to the world an example like Dubai, which now, I believe, has received the most amount of well-rated buildings per capita in the world, and we are just getting started. I think a forum like this demonstrates to both the public and private sectors how important this is, how immediate the need is, and how well it’s been received. This type of forum with this type of energy and demonstration of commitment is something that will breed more and more success and opportunity in the future.”

The forum witnessed the organisation of five panel discussions. The first session shed light on the future of health and well-being in buildings and communities, with the participation of His Excellency Eng Marwan bin Ghalita, CEO of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency; Paul Scialla, CEO of Delos and Founder of IWBI; Anas Kassem, Managing Director of Stantec; and Rob Devereux, CEO of Brookfield Properties Middle East.