Intelligent CIO Kuwait Issue 4 | Page 9

NEWS Kuwait set to benefit from 5G growth says Huawei Kuwait airport to revise plans for facial recognition technology K uwait is one of the countries set to benefit from the delivery of 5G technology, according to Huawei. Huawei has held its ‘5G is ON’ Summit based on the theme of ‘5G-driven Digital Upgrades’, and Ryan Ding, Executive Director of the Board and President of the Carrier BG of Huawei, delivered a keynote speech entitled ‘Industries + 5G, Enabling New Growth’. “Huawei has so far gained 50 5G commercial contracts and shipped more than 150,000 base stations,” Ding said. “Globally, 5G is gaining strong momentum in its commercial adoption. Since the first half of this year, a good number of countries, including South Korea, UK, Switzerland, Italy and Kuwait, have commercially launched 5G networks, two thirds of which were constructed by Huawei. “Industries are starting to embrace 5G and 5G is starting to explode into prominence by promoting a comprehensive Digital Transformation and improving efficiency in many industries. Huawei’s modular and full- series solutions will put operators in unique positions to build green, converged and ultra-lean 5G commercial networks that drive continuous growth.” At the summit, Ding presented a video demonstrating how 5G connects various industries, such as smart transport, smart policing, smart healthcare, smart entertainment and smart ports. www.intelligentcio.com P lans to implement facial recognition at Kuwait International Airport’s newly- built T4 are in the ‘preliminary stages’ after a proposal was received from an unnamed international firm, airport authorities have revealed. Yousef Al-Fouzan, Director General at Kuwait’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA), said on the terminal’s one-year anniversary that the technology is currently ‘under revision’. Besides better passenger handling, the system will also be able to locate the whereabouts of passengers at all times, resulting in better airport services, he explained. Kuwait’s civil aviation body is in the process of adding more features to the new terminal, according to the head of DGCA’s engineering department Saleh Al-Fadagi, who revealed that the plans would cost a total KD 46.4 million. He also revealed that national carrier Kuwait Airways would begin flying directly to New York out of T4 this month once aviation safety measures are complete. Kuwait International Airport has seen a spike of up to 10% in passenger traffic with the completion of the sprawling terminal, with officials expecting to bring the figure closer to six million passengers. Kuwait launched its new airport terminal last year as part of its 2035 development plan, hoping it would push the country one step closer towards becoming a global financial and commercial hub. n INTELLIGENTCIO 9