It’s no easy task to regulate the UAE’s telecommunications sector and ensure a fair competitiveness environment, but Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori has been excelling in his role as director general of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) since 2015, so much so that he was awarded the Mohammed Bin Rashid Government Excellence Award.
Al Mansoori is also a member of the high-level Broadband Commission for Digital Development, one of the joint-international committees between the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UNESCO which aims to boost the importance of broadband on the international policy agenda and expand its access globally.
Moreover, Al Mansoori is also vice chairman of the Emirates Space Agency and chairman of the board of directors of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), a government entity which manufactures and operates earth observation satellites and is responsible for the UAE’s mission to reach Mars by 2021.
The centre also manages the national Astronaut Programme, which on September 25 saw Emirati astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri become the first Arab on the International Space Station as he joined two members on board the Soyuz rocket which blasted off from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.
In addition, the centre is developing the emirates’ Mars 2117 vision to build the first human colony on Mars. In his role, Al Mansoori supervised the manufacturing and launching of the satellite (KhalifaSat), setting the foundation of a new era in the national space sector. KhalifaSat is the first satellite built entirely by Emirati engineers in the UAE, with Al Mansoori having headed the team that launched the satellite from Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan in October 29, 2018.
Previously, Al Mansoori held the position of director general of the UAE mGovernment as well as the deputy director general for Information and eGovernment Sector at the TRA. In his roles, he contributed to the management and implementation of national projects for the provision of various eServices to customers of different government entities.
Throughout his career, Al Mansoori has also held several advisory positions with many government entities. He was advisor to the General Commander of Dubai Police for IT Affairs, technical advisor to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) and advisor to the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation for IT Affairs. He was also the advisor to Dubai Government Public Prosecution for IT Affairs from 2008 to 2010.
Al Mansoori is the chairman of the board of directors of the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST), board member of Emaratech for Technology Solutions, member of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Council and member of the UAE Fourth Industrial Revolution Council.
He held other prominent national positions such as director general of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Smart Learning Programme Pilot Project and UAE Portals’ Programmes Manager. In addition, he was a member of the Supreme Committee for Information Systems in the Ministry of Labour where he headed the eLinking project.
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