MENA region’s first fully-integrated AI-powered office building to open in Q4 2019
Bee’ah says industry leaders; Microsoft, Johnson Controls and Evoteq selected as technology partners for new Sharjah-based HQ
Bee’ah has announced a technology-driven partnership with Microsoft Corp., Johnson Controls and Evoteq, yesterday in Redmond, Washington.
The agreement signed between the companies will make Bee’ah’s new Sharjah-based HQ the first fully-integrated artificial intelligence powered office building in the UAE and MENA region.
The building is designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, and extensively powered by renewable energy. It is also optimised for the sustainable use of resources to have zero net energy consumption and achieve a LEED platinum certification.
HE Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO at Bee’ah said that environmental sustainability and digital technologies are mutually inclusive pillars in driving an economy of the future and are deeply ingrained in everything they do at Bee’ah.
“By partnering with the world’s leading technology firms and sector shapers, our new headquarters will embody our vision for this future and exemplify the most sustainable solutions and advanced technologies, with no compromise on innovation or delivery,” he said.
The company stated that as per the agreement with Johnson Controls, it will deploy a technical infrastructure for the building to monitor its environment virtually with Microsoft Azure Digital Twins and IoT technologies. This will help Bee’ah to look at data to optimise building operations and drive efficiency.
Bee’ah also mentioned that its new HQ will have intelligent concierge capabilities to help employees and visitors locate meeting spaces and book appointments, and give directions, hail rides and support day-to-day tasks, respectively.
“Digital Vault and our building apps will give Bee’ah the power to make faster, intelligent data-driven decisions to run its headquarters more safely, efficiently and sustainably, and will increase productivity for the people working and visiting Bee’ah’s headquarters,” stated Bill Jackson, vice president and president, Global Products, Building Technologies & Solutions at Johnson Controls.
Meanwhile, Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, Cloud + AI Group at Microsoft said: “Bee’ah’s iconic new headquarters will be among the first buildings globally to have end-to-end experiences designed and built on the Azure platform.
“Our new HQ will be the first building in the UAE and MENA region, and one of the first in the world, to have full integration with AI to support new seamless experiences for optimization of efficiencies, performance and functionality,” added Al Huraimel.
He concluded that they look forward to the gradual rollout of AI-powered small building solution at other Bee’ah offices and locations within the UAE.
