Dubai Police wins the Middle East Technology Excellence Award 2025

In a new achievement that consolidates the UAE's position as an incubator for digital innovation, the Dubai Police General Command, represented by the Virtual Technology Center in the General Department of Training, won the Middle East Technology Excellence Award 2025 for its unique initiative: Smart Awareness Through Video Games.

During the ceremony, held at the Conrad Dubai Hotel with the participation of leading government and private institutions in the field of technology and innovation in the region, the honor reflects the significant transformation achieved by Dubai Police in employing technology to serve community security, and sets an advanced model that can be emulated in the rest of the Middle East.

What are the objectives of the Middle East Technology Excellence Award 2025? The Middle East Technology Excellence Award is one of the most prestigious awards given annually in recognition of technological innovations that effectively contribute to the development and quality of services in both the public and private sectors.

The 2025 edition witnessed fierce competition between smart initiatives developed by leading institutions across the Gulf and Middle East.

The Dubai Police's award is the culmination of a long history of adopting interactive technical solutions in the security field, particularly in training and community awareness, which confirms Dubai's leadership in both the digital and security sectors .

How did the idea of smart awareness through video games begin? With the increasing digital influence and increased time spent interacting with video games among young people, the Dubai Police General Command realized the importance of leveraging these platforms to disseminate security and awareness messages in a manner that aligns with the interests of the modern generation.

The General Department of Training at Dubai Police, led by Brigadier Ahmed Mirdas, has launched a unique initiative that uses video games to engage with different age groups. The goal is to instill positive behavioral concepts and promote discipline and self-awareness in an interactive and engaging manner.

Features of the technical and training initiative The initiative includes designing an interactive virtual environment that combines learning and entertainment, where awareness content is presented in the form of educational video games based on:

Virtual and Augmented Reality: Provides participants with realistic simulations of real-life situations and everyday behaviors, such as traffic safety or dealing with cyberbullying, within engaging educational scenarios. Multi-level interaction: Ensures the integration of different levels suitable for children, teens, and young adults, so that everyone gets the most out of every experience. Constructive competition: The system uses incentives and virtual rewards to motivate users to learn and acquire behavioral skills. Impact measurement and data analysis: Enables Dubai Police to evaluate program outcomes and adjust content based on audience engagement and responses. These features make Dubai Police an integrated model that combines modern technology and its use in serving the community, not only at the educational level, but also at the development of preventative behavior and the promotion of the concept of responsible digital citizenship.

Smart Security in Dubai: From Traditional Education to Digital Innovation The launch of smart awareness through video games comes as part of the Dubai government's strategy to transform into a smart city. The vision focuses on employing digital technologies in various sectors, most notably the security sector.

The Virtual Technology Center has focused on developing educational and awareness programs that align with the aspirations of the city and its youth, striving to create a safe and stimulating learning environment that keeps pace with the rapid development of digital education tools.

Brigadier Ahmed Mirdas, Director of the General Department of Training, emphasized the Dubai Police Center's commitment to expanding knowledge partnerships with academic and technical institutions to create a sustainable system for developing security education and awareness methodology.

This approach contributes to building generations that are more aware and cognizant of security threats in innovative ways that encourage them to interact rather than passively receive information.

The Importance of Interactive Security Awareness in the Digital Age With the growing threat of cyber and behavioral threats among young people, there is an urgent need to develop new teaching methods that go beyond traditional approaches. The Dubai Police initiative represents a revolution in security education tools because it focuses on:

Full integration with the digital world of youth: Games offer content that speaks the language of the era and captures the interests of young people. Activate participation and experimentation: Instead of listening to traditional, rigid lectures, participants actually experience virtual situations and make decisions that increase their awareness of personal safety and community security. Promoting social responsibility: The initiative is based on the concept of a digital citizen capable of acting positively in both the virtual and real worlds. Raising critical thinking and problem-solving skills: Virtual game-based awareness platforms allow participants to face diverse challenges in a safe environment, developing their ability to analyze, make decisions, and understand the consequences of actions. This, in turn, creates a generation more capable of handling security situations and daily dilemmas intelligently and flexibly. The Award's Implications and Success Lessons for Arab Security The Dubai Police's win at the Middle East Technology Excellence Award underscores the development of the UAE's security sector and encourages other security institutions in the Gulf and the Arab world to invest in modern technologies and smart education strategies.

The next step will be to expand the initiative to include cooperation programs with schools and universities, in addition to activating the family's role in security awareness . Among the most important lessons learned are:

The need for innovation and foresight in awareness-raising tools: Relying on traditional methods is no longer feasible; rather, we must keep pace with technological developments. Partnerships with the private sector and academic institutions: Ensuring the quality and sustainability of digital awareness programs relies on multi-stakeholder collaboration. Leveraging data analysis: Measuring impact and engagement enables programs to be modified to be more effective and meet the needs of target groups. The future of security awareness in the region Reliance on smart technologies in the security sector is expected to increase in the coming period, extending beyond educational games to include big data analysis, artificial intelligence technologies, and advanced interactive simulations.

Such solutions will make security education more comprehensive, realistic, and relevant to user behaviors in the digital age.

These progressive visions enhance the ability of Arab societies to confront various security challenges and contribute to the formation of an aware and empowered generation capable of handling technology responsibly and efficiently.

Thus, the smart initiatives of Arab institutions, led by the Dubai Police , prove that investing in digital development and interactive education is the best path to building a safer and more advanced future for all.