News

Dubai Community Launches AI-Powered Pedestrian Crossings

The new safety system can activate flashing signs, lights built into the road surface, and traffic signal controllers.

Published

3 years ago

August 2, 2023

dubai community launches ai-powered pedestrian crossings

A new AI-powered pedestrian crossing has been developed by Dubai-based specialists Derq. The new system will be installed in a local neighborhood as a smarter method to warn pedestrians and vehicles of potential conflicts.

The AI-based crossing will use behavior prediction models to anticipate potentially harmful scenarios and then deploy flashing signs, in-road warning lights, and traffic signal controllers to alert anyone in the vicinity of danger.

The system will also collect data to enhance road user awareness and the effectiveness of authorities’ responsiveness to safety problems and traffic performance. The technology has taken two years of rigorous testing to bring to fruition.

The crossing is equipped with ultra-high speed 5G connectivity, enabling data collection of safety events and traffic while allowing for remote operation, maintenance, and re-configuration. In the future, the system will leverage 5G technologies to communicate safety information and alerts to connected vehicles approaching the crosswalk.

Also Read: Abu Dhabi-Backed Tech Sculpture To Be Installed In Houston

Muammar Al Katheeri, chief officer for engineering and sustainability at Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ), explained: “This system serves as a cornerstone in cementing DSO’s position as a technologically advanced zone, offering residents and business partners a seamless and intelligent living and working experience. Through our longstanding partnership with Derq, we will continue to make remarkable progress in ensuring pedestrian safety and advancing Dubai’s smart city agenda”.

According to Dr. Georges Aoude, co-founder and CEO of Derq, the new AI-powered pedestrian crossing system aligns with Dubai’s vision to establish itself as a bicycle and pedestrian-friendly city with a range of eco-friendly transportation options.

Related Topics:Artificial Intelligence Dubai

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Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 days ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.