Innovation Arabia 13 Reveals Its Agenda In Dubai Today
Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU), the 13th edition of Innovation Arabia Conference and Exhibition – IA 13, a pioneering event dedicated to innovation in the Arab World, will be taking place from the 24th to the 26th of February, 2020 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Running under the theme ‘Building the Future of Business and Innovation: The Internet of Things (IOT) and People’, the 3-day premier gathering of industry experts, key decision makers and pioneering leaders, aims to explore the untapped opportunities and overcome future challenges posed by new digital technologies while also calibrating the impact of Internet of Things (IoT) on businesses.
This was announced earlier today during a press conference held at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University Campus in Dubai, which was headed by Mr. Fahad Al Saadi, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement, Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) and Eng. Anas Al Madani, Vice Chairman and Group CEO of INDEX Holding in the presence of a number of senior officials from HBMSU, INDEX Holding and media representatives.
Fahad Al Saadi, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement, Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU), revealed that Innovation Arabia 13, which is under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of the University, has returned this year to further explore the future of business and innovation, from the perspective of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Societies. Al Saadi explained that this year’s edition of Innovation Arabia 13 will present itself as a continuation of the key momentum sustained from its previous editions, particularly in terms of driving investments into innovation, which is being viewed as the cornerstone of a prosperous, safe and sustainable future.
Fahad said: “The agenda for this year’s sessions continue to live up to Innovation Arabia’s reputation of offering richness and diversity, while also placing special emphasis on innovation, that is in line with directives of the UAE, which is recognized as an Arab pioneer and global leader in the move to adopt and harness technology. The country plays a leading role in the creation of a competitive economy based on knowledge, productivity, creativity, and entrepreneurship, in accordance with the vision presented by the UAE’s wise leadership.”
Al Saadi added, “A large part of the agenda is focused on the Internet of Things (IoT) as it represents one of the most prominent technological innovations that support the path towards economic growth based on the strategic opportunities and creative ideas that it brings to the fore. The focus proves to be both timely and strategic as the country is currently witnessing a remarkable increase in the volume of IoT spending, which is expected to reach USD 1.4 billion by 2023 and USD 17.63 billion for the Middle East region during the same period.”
“HBMSU is pleased to help organize the event in partnership with INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions, in driving the path of innovation, entrepreneurship, knowledge enrichment and effective solutions for emerging challenges that face universities and institutions from both government and private sectors, based on the strong pillars of technology and innovation. We look forward to the success of the event where we can achieve important results across various fields, specifically related to smart cities, learning, quality of life, ethics, and technology. These are all seen as essential elements designed to better serve the endeavors of governments to create strategic roadmaps to build a future that will bring happiness and prosperity to present and future generations,” Al Saadi concluded.
Commenting from his side, Eng. Anas Al Madani, Vice Chairman and Group CEO of INDEX Holding, said, “Today, we are witnessing a newly emerging trend where more and more companies and governments around the world are adopting the Internet of Things (IoT) to maximize their businesses and we recognize that it is indeed a great opportunity to leverage future technologies for fostering business creation and supporting the growth of innovation in business. According to McKinsey & Company, by the end of 2025, it is expected that 5G will reach 2.6 billion subscriptions, accounting for nearly 65 percent of the world’s population while the number of cellular IoT connections, is estimated to reach 5 billion worldwide, compared to 1.3 billion today. Moreover, the economic value generated by IoT adoption by businesses globally is expected to be anywhere between 3.9 trillion dollars to 11.1 trillion dollars a year by 2025.”
Eng. Anas Al Madani added, “INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions – a member of INDEX Holding is highly delighted to organize the 13th edition of Innovation Arabia Conference and Exhibition – a pioneering event dedicated to innovation in the Arab world, in partnership with the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU). This year, Innovation Arabia 13 features a comprehensive conference agenda witnessing the presence of top-notch speakers, leading innovators, key decision makers and experts in the field of innovation representing the most important sectors of the economy. With a rich line-up of speakers confirming their participation, we are immensely confident that Innovation Arabia 13 will provide an ideal platform for the exchange of the most up-to-date knowledge related to innovation, explore how governments, businesses and organizations can successfully harness the power of innovation and most importantly prepare themselves for the ever-growing challenges in the digital age.”
This year, Innovation Arabia 13 conference agenda comprises a series of panel discussions, intensive debates and seminars on a number of topics under 4 parallel tracks such as ‘The Future of Work and Play’, ‘Smart Cities’, ‘Learning, Wellbeing and Trust’ and ‘Ethics and Technology – The Internet of Things’.
On the sidelines of the conference, Innovation Arabia 13 presents a dedicated seminar on ‘Innovation in Higher Education’ by Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University and Chairman of the Governing Board, UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education.
While the conference features a panel discussion on ‘Do new technologies make us happier?’, a separate debate discussion will feature conversations about ‘Building Trust and Empowerment between government and the citizens they serve’. Additionally, a panel discussion will be held on the topic ‘Wellness the new productivity KPI’. On the other hand, a debate will be held on ‘Are educational systems changing at the same pace as future market needs?’ while a dedicated panel discussion will be held on ‘Will we have enough ethics to regulate the IoT?’.
Furthermore, Innovation Arabia 13 agenda will include a seminar on the topic ‘The IoT Security Big Picture’, while the workshop program will include discussions on various topics such as ‘What Does 5G mean for IoT?’, ‘Innovation enables at work’, ‘Next Generation of cities: Leverage on AI to build and Adaptive smart cities’ to name a few.
As part of the conference program, Innovation Arabia 13 features the ‘Internet of Things Camp’ where industry experts will focus their attention on ‘IoT State of the State’, ‘Camp Firestarter’, ‘Campfire Talks’, and ‘Camp Activities’ while the IoT Camp/Workshop will include discussions on many topics including ‘IoT Introduction, overview and market trends’, ‘Connected and Integrated Buildings’ and ‘Digital Transformation – Building IoT’, ‘Cyber Security’, ‘Machine Learning’ and ‘Industrial IoT’ among other such topics.
Additionally, Innovation Arabia 13 features the all new ‘U-Start Competition’ which is a nationwide competition for university students’ startups. The competition encourages student entrepreneurs with either an innovative or a business startup idea to submit a business pitch to a panel of judges. During the student competition, all attending participants will have the opportunity to present their business idea to a jury of established entrepreneurs, government officials, funding institutions, and educators who can lend their support.
Moreover, the ‘Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart University High School Innovation Challenge’ taking place for the first time in the UAE, on the sidelines of Innovation Arabia 13 will be an innovation-based competition, testing student participants about the latest innovations, the innovators as well as the dates of the inventions.
Meanwhile, with the aim of celebrating the achievements of top-notch innovators and key decision makers in diverse fields and sectors, Innovation Arabia 13 hosts the HBMSU Awards, where under the ‘Harrington Best TQM Thesis/Project Award’, HBMSU in conjunction with a number of European partners from The European Universities Network – TQM, sponsors a prestigious award to encourage pioneering and original research work in the field of TQM. In addition, the ‘Parasuraman Service Excellence Prize’ award recognizes and rewards original theoretical and empirical research focusing on various dimensions of service excellence.
Running parallel to the Innovation Arabia 13 conference, the exhibition will offer leading brands and companies from various fields and sectors including business, smart solutions, digital technologies and wellbeing a unique opportunity to showcase their latest tools and services while also giving them a chance to interact and engage with key decision makers and experts in the industry.
Innovation Arabia 13 is organized by INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions – a member of INDEX Holding, in partnership with Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University – HBMSU. Innovation Arabia 13 is sponsored by the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (KFED) and supported by UAE Innovates.
