NEWS
ASA Ventures
and IBC Group
to boost luxury
real estate
investments
SAS and colleges co-host
hackathon to develop talent
D
ubai-based venture capital firm,
ASA Ventures, has joined Blockchain
investment company, IBC Group Limited, to
introduce the Gallery Sukuk Token Offering
(Gallery STO) under the GST Offering Group.
The joint venture will manage the buy-out
and tokenisation of real estate assets in the
UAE and Portugal. The group will issue Sukuk
tokens, consisting of one security token and
two utility tokens for asset management and
property management, all fully compliant
with Islamic (Sharia) principles.
Through Blockchain protocol, recording and
tracing cashflow will be more transparent
and secure. The tokens are representative
of underlying assets, in this case a
200-apartment vacation rental portfolio in
Dubai Marina currently valued at US$100
million. Through Gallery STO, participating
investors will be entitled to remuneration
from the proceeds of vacation rentals both in
Dubai and Lisbon, two major world capitals
with flourishing tourism industries.
ASA Ventures’ CEO, Arif Saiyad, said:
“Through Blockchain technology, Gallery STO
can give more investors the opportunity to
diversify their portfolios and ultimately help
boost the real-estate sector in Dubai.”
Gallery STO is to be introduced at this year’s
Malta Blockchain Summit, and the SAFT
launch will be announced at a later date,
during which 2,000,000 available tokens will
be offered. Further announcements will be
made as to when the tokens are expected to
be offered publicly.
8
INTELLIGENTCIO
T
he Information Technology Division
at the Higher Colleges of Technology
(HCT) organised the SAS Data Science
Hackathon 2019 in co-operation with
SAS, a leader in business analytics, and
several leading public and private entities.
The competition targeted 25 IT students
from HCT branches in Dubai, Sharjah
and Al Ain, who competed for three
days at the SAS Hackathon, presenting
solutions to a range of real-life problems
and challenges using SAS advanced
solutions capable of analysing and
handling Big Data.
HCT–Dubai Men’s College (DMC)
Director Dr Hashim Al Zaabi, said: “We
are delighted to organise this event in
co-operation with SAS, which provided
students with training on how to analyse
and use Big Data in creating solutions for
challenges faced by different industries.
“This collaboration with SAS is not the
first and we are planning to advance it in
the future as part of HCT’s enthusiasm
to enable our students with the much
needed advanced technological skills,
particularly in Artificial Intelligence and
Big Data.
“This co-operation aims at inventing
ideas and creative solutions to serve
the needs of different sectors and their
development plans.
“It is important that students have
these skills and face these challenges in
partnership with specialised, international
entities, within the framework of HCT’s
‘fourth generation’ plan, which aims
at preparing students for the future,
enabling them with the skills of the
Fourth Industrial Revolution, developing
their ideas as well as supporting them in
establishing their own enterprises.”
www.intelligentcio.com