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T
he UAE’s new Advanced Science
Agenda 2031 is another visionary
move highlighting the impact that
innovation harnessed to the sciences (from
analytics to robotics and materials science)
can make on the long-term vision and
strategy for the country.
It also recognises the central importance
of talent to success: skilled people with
the right training and knowledge, working
collaboratively to create new ideas.
Just recently, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin
Saeed Al Maktoum, in his role as Chairman
of Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) Authority,
personally led the inauguration of our new
Middle East and Africa regional headquarters
in DSO.
The occasion highlighted the vital
importance and value of direct personal
contact between people; this human
contact cannot be replicated, although
tech tools get very close to it even for those
working remotely.
Digital transformation is a fact of life but
it’s really all about people and how they
organise themselves and collaborate to be
more creative and innovative, productive
and efficient, enabled by technology.
Digital tools can allow colleagues to work
together better and collaborate more
efficiently, anywhere in the world, and
this digital collaboration can lead to more
ideas and creativity that directly leads to
innovation. But in an increasingly digitally
connected world, where communications
technology is ubiquitous, the power of
peer-to-peer, face-to-face, hand-in-hand
collaboration cannot be ignored; designing
communities and workspaces to facilitate
collaboration is all part of this.
The industry clustering concept so
effectively pioneered in the UAE, with
more than 40 ‘free zones’ such as Dubai
Silicon Oasis, is a prime example of
bringing people together to create and
benefit from synergies, and from being
easily ‘discoverable’ for talent, ideas and
investors. ‘Silicon Valley’ may largely be a
concept but it does also refer to physical
campuses, communities and the strong pull
they have for new ideas and innovation.
Dubai Silicon Oasis mirrors this.
www.intelligentcio.com
Luc Serviant, Vice President, Middle East and
Africa, Orange Business Services
“
HUMAN CONTACT
CANNOT BE
REPLICATED,
ALTHOUGH
TECH TOOLS
GET VERY CLOSE
TO IT EVEN FOR
THOSE WORKING
REMOTELY.
Dubai has taken the cluster concept further
and is actively seeding innovation with the
development of a range of business start-up
communities and government supported
incubator and accelerator programmes,
attracting innovators from around the world.
I have the privilege of sitting on the
Accelerator Selection Committee of the
Dubai Smart City Accelerator, based at DSO
INTELLIGENTCIO
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