Dubai, UAE: du from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) is pleased to announce it has been awarded the ‘People of Determination’ award at this year’s Gulf Sustainability & CSR Awards, held on the 20th February in Dubai.

The award recognises du’s BabNoor Project, an initiative to assist the ongoing development of communication skills and learning in children with a range of disabilities. This was achieved by distributing a free app to learning centres for children with special needs and then monitoring the effectiveness of the app to provide future improvements.

“We are proud to have been able to contribute once again to the future development of the youth of the UAE. Initiatives such as the BabNoor project reveal what can be achieved when people work together, and how technology can help enable them to make real improvements to people’s lives,” said Abdulwahed Juma, Executive Vice President of Brand and Corporate Communications, du.

The BabNoor app was developed in partnership with Flagship Projects FZ-LLC , and it is the first Arabic, cloud-based tablet application of its kind in the region and conforms to international communication standards for people with special needs. It has been designed to enable easy and effective communication between children, parents and teachers through the use of on-screen cards that can be combined to build sentences.

The BabNoor app features include an Arabic interface and vocabulary - enhanced by provision for localised dialects; cloud-based libraries of content and picture cards - with the ability for users to personalise or create their own cards; as well as ongoing updates to improve the app based on monitored case studies.

du distributed the BabNoor app to more than 2,000 students with special needs across the UAE and have plans to distribute to more. Through specialist monitoring of students’ progress and teachers’ feedback, du will continue to measure the impact that the app is having on the lives of its users.

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About du

du is a vibrant and multiple award-winning telecommunications service provider serving 9 million individual customers with its mobile, fixedline, broadband internet, and Home services over its 4G LTE network. du also caters to over 100,000 UAE businesses with its vast range of ICT and managed services. Since its launch in 2007, du has many UAE firsts to its credit, including introduction of Pay by the Second® billing system, IPTV and self-service portal.

du is ideally placed to support the realisation of UAE Vision 2021 and transformation of Dubai into a Smart City. du is also the official strategic partner of the Smart Dubai Office and the platform provider for Smart Dubai. Following the successful testing of the Middle East’s first Internet of Things (IoT) network, du is on course to complete deployment of its IoT network in 2016.

Brand Finance ranked du as the 12th most valuable brand in the Middle East in 2016. du previously won the coveted Brand of the year title by Superbrands Middle East in 2013. The company has been recognised with several other awards such as ISO 27001 certification of Managed Security Services and having the distinction of opening UAE’s first LEED Platinum Certified Green Shop. du also has the unique distinction of the first telecom in the world to release Sustainability Report based  on GRI-G4 guidelines in 2014. du is also credited with du’s world-class teleport is the largest of its kind in the Middle East and ranked among the top teleports in the world by World teleport Association.

du is 39.5 percent owned by Emirates Investment Authority, 19.75 percent by Mubadala Development Company PJSC, 19.5 percent by Emirates Communications and Technology LLC and the remaining by public shareholders. Listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), the company trades under the name ‘du’.

About Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company PJSC (EITC)

The Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) was founded in 2005 as the UAE’s second licensed telecommunications provider. EITC is 39.5 percent owned by Emirates Investment Authority, 19.75 percent by Mubadala Investment Company PJSC, 19.5 percent by Emirates Communications and Technology LLC and the remaining by public shareholders. Listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), the company trades under the name ‘du’.

Saugat Chatterjee
PR Lead (B2B) Commercial
du
Mobile: +971 55 936 7045
Email: saugat.chatterjee@du.ae

Salma Chalak

Associate Communication Manager

MSLGROUP

M:+971 55 144 3109

Email: salma.chalak@mslgroup.com 

© Press Release 2018