Technology has permeated every aspect of our life, from banking to healthcare and from manufacturing to energy, ensuring optimized functionality in our day-to-day lives. It has been the key catalyst in driving change in our ecosystem. The foundation in the development of future cities lies in its power to utilize technology effectively. One of the vital components of a city's urban development strategy is lighting networks.

Governments have also embraced smart technology solutions in a bid to offer the general public a resource-efficient and enhanced way of life. Keeping in line with the societal requirements, the technological innovations in the field of lighting have been far too many. Characterized by the intelligent lighting solutions, the new systems are an amalgamation of technology and artificial intelligence that optimize power consumption and drastically reduce maintenance savings. Apart from safety, good visibility and energy efficiency, the aesthetic appeal and reduction in light pollution are also additional factors that promote the implementation of smart street lighting systems.

Cities across the world are experimenting in innovations in street lighting technology and have undertaken measures to implement sustainable smart lighting systems that provide an optimal experience for its citizens. Adoption of smart controls to street lighting installations plays a significant role in moving towards a sustainable society.

In the Middle East, the Abu Dhabi Municipality has been making remarkable strides in implementing smart street lighting projects across the city. With an aim to equip all streets of the Abu Dhabi Municipality with smart intelligent lighting solutions, the city has undergone a massive transformation by replacing its traditional streetlights with power-saving LED lighting systems, thereby achieving its ambition of providing better lighting levels while optimizing power consumption.

The city of Abu Dhabi has emerged as a front-runner in implementing intelligent lighting projects and has successfully positioned itself as a benchmark in lighting technology innovations in the GCC. The Abu Dhabi Municipality has adopted a lighting strategy that offers a host of benefits, from ensuring improved lighting services and safety on the road to enhanced customer satisfaction from drastically cutting maintenance savings to reducing light pollution and CO2 emission. As part of its extensive strategy, the focus lay on applying smart street lighting solutions across the city's arterial and internal roads, highways, traffic prone areas, pedestrian crossings and parking areas.

With this in mind, the Middle East Smart Lighting and Energy Summit 2015, in its fourth year will highlight the innovative trends in street lighting and the benefits to the society at large. The event will be held on 23-24 November, 2015 at Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi.