Saturday, Mar 12, 2011
Gulf News
Abu Dhabi Studies on the application of technology to improve lives of the poor are well under way at the New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) campus research centre.
The Centre for Technology and Economic Development (CTED) was inaugurated with the NYUAD campus in autumn last year. It hosted its first conference on enhancing economic development through technology at the capital’s downtown campus on Wednesday.
“The centre brings together economists, computer scientists and solar energy experts to develop technologies,” said Dr Yaw Nyarko, Director and Principal Investigator of CTED. “The technology is designed for people off the national grids in developing countries and poorer nations and we are looking to apply them mainly in the UAE, India and Africa.”
CTED was created out of a research grant through NYUAD and is one of three projects spanning the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. The projects will cumulatively receive some $20 million (Dh73.4 million) over the next five years.
In the UAE, CTED is working on developing intelligent solar panel farms, through the creation of software that will allow the solar panels to communicate with each other. “We’ve just started our activities but we are developing a system-wide communications network that will allow us to remotely monitor the panel activity...,” said Dr Nyarko.
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By Rania Moussly?Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
