An operator cannot manage the risk of assets it cannot identify. In a 21 October 2026 announcement, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) reported three agreements signed during WETEX. The Huawei agreement covers ICT infrastructure and support. The Nozomi Networks agreement covers a framework for cybersecurity licences and centralised visibility of assets and risks. The Syskey Softlabs agreement covers OT log management, asset-performance and network monitoring, and related support.
What was announced, and what was not
These are partnership scopes. The announcement does not establish that every planned capability is already in service, nor does it report a reduction in outages or cyber incidents. The useful signal for utility and industrial operators is the emphasis on finding, classifying and monitoring operational assets before expecting reliable automation or risk reporting.
The decision for a plant or property portfolio
Ask whether the current OT inventory includes the meters, gateways, controllers, interfaces and software that actually exchange operational data. For each asset, record the site and network, responsible team, supported protocol, firmware or maintenance owner, and the path for escalating an exception. Then test whether an unexpected device or a missing data stream can be found and assigned promptly.
This is ConnectME's operational checklist, not a DEWA requirement or an endorsement of a vendor. For teams adding Industrial IoT connectivity, the first deliverable is a defensible inventory and ownership map; it makes later monitoring decisions far easier to audit.
Source context: agreement scopes are from DEWA's 21 October 2026 announcement. ConnectME's recommendations were published 3 November 2026. The generated image is illustrative, not event photography or a DEWA facility.