Across the GCC, cities are being built with ambition and intelligence. From NEOM and The Line in Saudi Arabia to Dubai’s Digital Twin initiative and Abu Dhabi’s smart traffic systems, the future is arriving. Fast. In fact, according to a 2025 International Monetary Fund report, the region is closing the gap on more advanced nations as they accelerate their efforts to diversify from their oil and gas economies. 

But, beneath the digital facades and autonomous services lies a tougher question that government and security leaders must face – how can all this technology actually work together? 

This is where system-level thinking comes into play. As the region pushes forward with some of the world’s most advanced infrastructure projects, organizations and governments need to move away from thinking only of individual devices and start thinking about how entire ecosystems connect, communicate, and evolve together. 

Moving Beyond the Device

For years, interoperability has mostly meant making sure that a camera from one brand could talk to a video management system from another. ONVIF has played a big role in making that possible. Today, there are more than 32,000 ONVIF conformant products available worldwide.

Yet the world is rapidly evolving. From buildings to city-wide services, security, operations, and infrastructure are running on cloud platforms, fueled by AI. Governments are beginning to demand open ecosystems in order to reduce cost, increase resilience, and allow for integrated collaboration.

For instance, Oman has its Smart City Platform (SCP) acting as a knowledge-sharing, collaborative, and networking environment for stakeholders. Its goal is to foster open collaboration among government agencies, utilities, and innovators in areas like smart building management, security, waste, transport, and video surveillance.

Qatar is actively developing standards for its “Smart Qatar” vision, focusing on digital transformation and smart city initiatives. This includes establishing a Smart Government and Digital Excellence Steering Committee to oversee the implementation of a digital government strategy. Furthermore, Qatar has developed a smart city solution called the TASMU Central Platform, which connects various smart solutions across different sectors, including transportation, utilities, healthcare, security, and more. The platform integrates data from multiple agencies into a unified “Marketplace Portal” and mobile app, fostering cross-agency collaboration through a single ecosystem

In the UAE, Abu Dhabi and Dubai were ranked 5th and 4th globally in the IMD Smart City Index 2025. Their approach to integrated planning, which covers transport, infrastructure, utilities, and governance, reflects an integrated, open ecosystem model.

System-level standards help remove duplication, reduce integration time and future-proof infrastructure investments. They also allow government entities to maintain control over their ecosystems, rather than being tied to a single vendor or platform.

Take a city like Lusail in Qatar or a port in the UAE. Security teams, building managers, law enforcement and transport authorities all need to work from a shared picture of what’s happening. That only works if the systems they use can speak to each other.

At ONVIF, we are also investing in the future of metadata. Not just how data is shared, but how it’s understood. Our work on semantic metadata is designed to allow systems to share meaningful information that can be analyzed, interpreted and acted upon consistently. That’s going to be vital as AI and predictive analytics become more embedded in physical security.

Future-Ready Means Open by Design 

Ultimately, our future cities aren’t just made up of a lot of clever devices, they will be built on open infrastructure, shared standards, and forward-thinking leadership. System-level thinking allows us to step back, see the bigger picture and make better decisions with longevity at the core.

So, whether you’re designing a new smart district, upgrading critical infrastructure, or enhancing public safety, ask yourself this: are we building something that can grow, adapt and connect? Or is this something that is “OK for now” but will need to be rebuilt in five years’ time?

Solutions based on open standards could save you a lot of time, money, and unnecessary complexity. And it might just make your city, your building, or your organization a whole lot smarter.