The UAE’s construction sector is projected to reach US$130.8 billion by 2029, reflecting the country’s rapid urbanisation and continued investment in large-scale infrastructure. As infrastructure assets grow in scale, the focus is increasingly shifting toward safety, resilience, and sustainability across the built environment.
Addressing this shift, Encardio Rite, a global leader in geotechnical and infrastructure health monitoring, will host the 2026 edition of Safe Dubai on February 13, 2026, at the Grand Hyatt, Dubai. The one-day forum will bring together senior industry experts to examine emerging trends and challenges, and how monitoring data is being used to reduce risk, plan interventions more effectively and make stronger lifecycle decisions.
A key highlight of the forum is the keynote address by Professor Kenichi Soga, from University of California, Berkeley, who will draw on his global project experience to examine how monitoring, intelligence and engineering judgement shape real-world infrastructure decisions.
Arushi Bhalla, Managing Director, Encardio Rite Group of Companies, said, “Smart construction has progressed from data collection to predictive and intelligence-driven asset management. Today’s challenge is not access to data, but the ability to interpret it in a way that improves safety, performance, and lifecycle outcomes. Safe Dubai 2026 provides a platform to examine how infrastructure intelligence is being applied across complex, real-world projects.”
According to a McKinsey report, inefficiencies in the global construction industry cost an estimated US$1.6 trillion annually, driven partly by limited visibility and fragmented insights. As infrastructure systems become larger, more complex, and increasingly interconnected, the need for intelligent, data-driven decision-making is becoming critical. Safe Dubai 2026 brings together a community committed to making monitoring deliver measurable outcomes. The focus is on efficiency, safety and accountability as the foundations of stronger project and asset control across complex infrastructure environments.
