Gitex Day 3 – Five conferences in one
This year, for the first time, five major tech shows come together to form one monumental conference. GITEX, GITEX Future Stars, GISEC, Future Blockchain Summit and Marketing Mania will offer access to insights from the world’s leading tech minds and business magnates headlining the sessions. In addition to these, free to attend talks were held throughout the show.
His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum attends UAE-Israel Future Digital Economy Summit
His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, attended part of the inaugural UAE-Israel Future Digital Economy Summit held at GITEX on Monday. The event featured government ministers, business leaders and tech innovators, who shared their vision for collaboration between the two countries. The Israel Export Institute (IEI), Strategic Country Partner for GITEX, in partnership with Bank Hapoalim, is leading a delegation of Israeli government officials, entrepreneurs and business executives to the event. The Summit presented attendees with vast opportunities in the areas of innovation exploration, capacity building, investments, and co-creation.
His Excellency Omar Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications delivered an address to an audience which included HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed, senior UAE government and business leaders as well as a delegation of Israeli ministers, business executives, and technology entrepreneurs. Al Olama noted that the normalisation of ties with Israel presents a number of opportunities and that the UAE could become Israel’s largest trading partner.
On the occasion of the inaugural bilateral summit, HE Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General, Expo 2020 Dubai, extended her gratitude to everyone involved in making the UAE-Israel Future Digital Economy Summit a reality. The Summit brought together specialists in AI, 5G, future mobility, food security, fintech, future mobility, cyber security, healthtech and agritech who are seeking collaborations and new deals with UAE and global businesses at GITEX.
His Highness toured Gitex accompanied by HE Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) visiting pavilions of leading companies including Avaya, Huawei, Honeywell, Software AG, Etisalat, du, Dubai Electronic Security Centre and Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
Future Blockchain Summit: world-famous futurist explains how Blockchain can build safer cities
Hacker, inventor, entrepreneur, and technology futurist, Pablos Holman, discussed the potential of merging Blockchain with artificial intelligence to build safer cities and enhance government services.
Holman stressed the power of cryptography, a fundamental element of blockchain and an underlying technology for wallets and transactions. He added that an open-minded community of technologists is essential in fostering innovation in cities like Dubai. “With the increase of the human population, technical problems have arisen that kept humans from thriving. We need to invent new technologies to help solve the problem on a global scale. Today, the world is no longer computationally constraint - we are imaginatively constrained. This is what we essentially need to realise. We have the tools available but we lack in imagination and good ideas. Opportunists figured out how to make the right product at the right time based on technologies that came before them. Utilising the actual technologies and data, inventors managed to not just replace a business, but replace an entire industry.”
Sean Reyes, Attorney General, State of Utah, speaking alongside Holman, stressed the need for strengthening intellectual property rights. “This is one thing that Dubai can continue to develop – it is one of the parts of a recipe that can be made to create a strong innovation ecosystem,” he said.
Gitex Future Stars shortlists finalists for Supernova Challenge
Gitex Future Stars have announced the finalists for its Supernova Challenge 2020. 73 startups from around the world pitched over two days of intense semi-finals to be shortlisted to win the top prize USD 50,000 with two runners-up getting US10,000 each.
This year’s finalists include:
· iERP (Slovakia - Best AI Startup)
· Gallant Pump (UAE - Best Emirati Startup)
· Bee Free Agro (Israel - Best International Startup)
· Jaeem (UAE - Best Female-Led Startup)
· BC Labs Co. Ltd. (Korea - Best Fintech Startup)
· ONE MOTO (UAE - Best Scaleup)
· Dreemzrock Ventures Pvt. Ltd. (India - Best Youth Startup)
· Jade Autism (Brazil - Best Social & Environmental Impact)
· Switchy (France - Best Marketing Tech Startup)
· Radix Technologies (Israel - Best Innovative COVID-19 Solutions)
In addition, two wild card entries have been added to the shortlist:
· LUMOFY (Education Tech - Bahrain)
· CYBER MANAGEMENT SRL (Software - Italy)
Finals will be hosted on the 10X stage in Sheikh Rashid Hall on 9 December.
