Dubai’s IFZA partners with Smart Cities Summit North America
IFZA, Dubai’s dynamic Free Zone community, has announced its key partnership for the upcoming Smart Cities Summit North America (SCSNA), taking place in San Francisco from May 6th to 8th. The summit, a collaborative effort with prominent organizations like the Charter Cities Institute, Deep Tech Week, and the Smart Cities Council, will gather over 450 global experts from government, business, and academia. This year’s focus, “Public Safety, AI, and Africa & Middle East in Focus,” will explore the intersection of innovation and policy in shaping the future of urban living.
As a key partner, IFZA will lead several pivotal sessions, including a keynote address by CFO Holger Schlechter. Schlechter will highlight Dubai’s strategic role as a global business gateway and IFZA’s vision to empower international entrepreneurship, foster digital economies, and attract Foreign Direct Investment into the UAE. He emphasized that this summit marks a significant step in IFZA’s US expansion, connecting the entrepreneurial spirit of San Francisco and Silicon Valley with the opportunities in Dubai and the broader Middle East. IFZA aims to build bridges that enable innovation, collaboration, and sustainable growth, aligning with the Smart Cities Council’s mission of social transformation through economic innovation.
Corey Gray, Chair & President of the Smart Cities Council, underscored the strong and strategic links between the UAE and the USA, which catalyzed the summit’s inception. He noted the UAE’s recent $1.4 trillion investment pledge in US manufacturing, energy, and AI, and the new US administration’s early engagement with the UAE, highlighting the compelling strategic alliance. Dubai’s unique position as a launchpad for the wider Middle East and African engagement further strengthens this collaboration.
As the Middle East regional lead for the Smart Cities Council, IFZA is committed to facilitating meaningful connections, sharing global expertise, and enabling international innovators to scale their smart city solutions from Dubai to the world. This aligns with the broader UAE-US partnership, which continues to strengthen ties in crucial sectors like AI, clean energy, infrastructure, and smart technologies. The UAE, recognized for its open and future-ready economy, remains a significant economic partner of the United States, with over 1,500 US companies currently operating within its borders. The summit plays a vital role in accelerating cross-border innovation, investment, and collaboration between the two nations.
The Smart Cities Summit follows recent bilateral talks between the UAE and the USA focused on joint investments in AI, healthcare, Future Tech, and industrial innovation. With high-level delegations from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman expected to attend, the event is poised to catalyze significant dialogue and unlock new cross-border opportunities. The summit represents a key step in IFZA’s broader US engagement strategy, which also includes participation in Deep Tech Week San Francisco, Smart City Expo Miami, and Deep Tech Week Dubai.
