Smart Dubai Podcast

In this week's episode we welcome Dr. Dirk Boll, President of Christie's for the Europe, Middle East, Russia and India regions. Dr. Boll introduces us to what precisely is an NFT and discusses how the future of art is likely to be predominantly digital.

In this week's episode we welcome Basil Moftah, General Partner, Global Ventures. Basil clearly defines what precisely a Venture Capital is and the steps that his firm Global Ventures takes to pick the startups they wish to invest in and nurture to success.

In this week's episode we welcome Ram Sidis, Deputy General Director and Director of Innovation at the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel. Ram shares details on the key initiatives and strategies that are being led by the Federation of Local Authorities to build a smart and sustainable Israel, and also highlights key projects and initiatives the Federation is working on in collaboration with the UAE Government and Private Sector entities.

In this week's episode we welcome Jeremy Doutte, Vice-President for Talabat UAE. Jeremy discusses how Talabat's Tech Hub is leveraging technology and data science to enhance its offerings to the city's citizens, residents and visitors, and how Talabat is supporting home-grown business to succeed.

In this week's episode we welcome Christina Struller, Vice-President of Public Affairs for the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Africa at UPS. Christina discusses how UPS has partnered with Dubai Exports to run a women's empowerment program called SheTrades, and what it means to be the Official Logistics Provider for the Expo 2020 Dubai.

In this week's episode we welcome Zakaria Haltout, Managing Director, SAP UAE. As SAP is the Dubai Expo 2020's official Innovative Enterprise Software Partner, Zakaria discusses how the Expo 2020 is leveraging technology to enhance various services across the Expo site - such as - providing a seamless visitor journey, helping People Of Determination easily navigate the site and also powering sustainable solutions at the venue.

In this week's episode we welcome Dr.Ali Alazzawi, City Experience Advisor, Smart Dubai who discusses what it means to live a happy life, the impact of technology on wellbeing, and why the concept of Digital Wellbeing is more important today than ever before as people continue to embrace technology in every aspect of their lives.

In this week's episode we welcome Massimo Cannizzo, CEO and Co-Founder, Gellify Middle East, an innovation platform that helps companies design and implement digital transformation solutions. Cannizzo discusses current gaps in the market that startups can leverage as business opportunities, and touches upon how the business community can support emerging tech entrepreneurs in developing smart cities.

In this week's episode we welcome Ramy Assaf, Co-Founder & CEO of Zbooni, the Middle East's newest application for social commerce. Assaf discusses key issues SMEs were facing in order to receive payments prior to Zbooni, how Zbooni is accelerating the building of a cashless ecosystem in the Middle East and what are the implications that a cash to digital transition is having on VAT, accounting, and liability from the perspective of SMEs.

In this week’s episode we welcome Khalifa AlQama, Head of the Dubai Future Labs at Dubai Future Foundation. AlQama discusses why the Dubai Future Labs was formed and how it envisions to impact Dubai and the UAE? AlQama also sheds lights on key success of the Future Labs since inception, highlighting products or solutions that can be expected from the Labs in the future.

In this week’s episode we welcome Dr.Okan Geray, Strategic Planning Advisor at Smart Dubai. Dr.Geray discusses why governments must look at building circular economies to ensure cities become more sustainable, and unveils key highlights from his recently authored “A Guide To Building Circular Cities” published by the United Nations.

In this week’s episode we welcome Thierry Nicault, Regional Vice-President for Middle East and Africa at Salesforce. Thierry discusses why digital transformation is now a key priority for majority of organizations across the globe, and how organizations can support employees in developing the digital skills needed in the workplace.

In this week’s episode we welcome Faisal Toukan, CEO, Ziina. Faisal will be discussing how Ziina aims to be the default peer-to-peer payments platform in the Middle East, and how they plan to achieve that by helping consumers make payments to friends and vendors seamlessly, with minimal fees, whilst also enjoying the social aspect of using the application.

In this week’s episode we welcome Haider Pasha, Chief Security Officer of Palo Alto Networks Middle East & Africa. Haider will be outlining the importance and benefits of cybersecurity in today’s age and how the sector has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this week’s episode we welcome Ahmed Al Balaghi, Co-Founder and CEO of Biconomy. Ahmed shares his story on why he founded Biconomy, how it aims to accelerate the development of Blockchain powered applications and why he believes in the future of Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies. Ahmed is also the founder and host of the region’s leading Blockchain focused podcast titled Encrypted.

In this week’s episode we welcome Salah Yamout, Chief Operating Officer, Arabian Automobiles Company. Salah will be sharing his thoughts on what key technological trends are impacting or are likely to impact car manufacturers and car consumers, and how the Arabian Automobiles Company is supporting Dubai’s Autonomous Strategy 2030.

In this week’s episode we welcome Dr. Mohammad Al Redha, Director of the Project Management Office, Health Informatics and Smart Health at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). Dr.Redha will be discussing DHA’s latest initiative called Nabidh, that will help build and foster a stronger and more connected electronic health records ecosystem across the city.

In this week’s episode we welcome Hossam Seif El Din, General Manager, IBM Middle East & Pakistan. Hossam will be sharing his thoughts on the current rise in the global adoption of cloud technologies and what makes IBM's hybrid cloud approach truly unique.

In this week’s episode we welcome Eng. Nada Jasim, Director of Safety, Risk, Regulation and Planning Department at RTA, who discusses RTA’s latest updates towards meeting the goals of the Dubai Autonomous Strategy 2030 and also shares her thoughts on what the future of sustainable mobility will look like in Dubai.

This week’s episode not only celebrates the One Year Anniversary of the Smart Dubai Podcast, but also bring us into the year that celebrates the UAE’s 50th National Day. Our guest on today’s episode therefore is none other than H.E. Younus Al Nasser, Assistant Director General, Smart Dubai and CEO, Dubai Data Establishment. H.E. shares his views on how the UAE’s forward-thinking vision helped us battle the global pandemic in 2020 and what his plans for Smart Dubai’s future is over the next 50 years.

In this week’s episode we speak to Ammar Afif, Founder of Buy Now Pay Later platform Cashew, who discusses how Buy Now Pay Later options are bound to become the future of transactions across all industry sectors, and not just Retail. As a new founder, Ammar also discusses how Dubai’s governance models and infrastructure makes the city the perfect epicenter to grow, access global talent and tap into regional emerging growth markets.

In this week’s episode we speak to Reem Al Zarooni, Chief Operating Officer, Palmwood who discusses what Design Thinking is and why embedding Design Thinking with Urban Planning is crucial for the growth of sustainable smart cities. Reem also discusses some of the key projects being implemented by Palmwood today and how Smart Dubai Podcast’s listeners can support their work.

In this week’s episode we welcome H.E. Justice Dr. Jamal Al Sumaiti, Director General of the Dubai Judicial Institute. H.E. shares insights on how the rise of new technologies is rapidly changing the legal and regulatory framework in Dubai and across the globe. Additionally, he also discusses what he envisions the perfect bridge between technology and the legal landscape to look like.

In this week’s episode we welcome Mohammed Al Qaizi, Director of the Information Technology Division at Dubai Economy. Through the episode Mohammed will be shedding light on how Dubai Economy is continuously embedding latest technologies in their services to make opening a business in Dubai as seamless as possible, making it the most business-friendly city in the entire region.

In this week’s episode we speak to Selim Edde, Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google MENA, who shares details on initiatives Google has implemented globally to help advise governments on combatting the pandemic, and support businesses towards economic recovery. Selim also shares key points global policy makers should consider as cities and countries accelerate their digital transformation.

Should you be looking at Software Development, Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process Automation or Blockchain, in this week’s episode, Harsh Hirani, CEO, WhizKey discusses how his company has become the one-stop-shop solution to any entity’s digital transformation needs. Harsh also sheds light on the key aspects that make Dubai the perfect hub for startups to establish in, innovate and eventually expand across the region and the globe.

Patrick Rogers, Co-Founder of digital platform Clara discusses how the platform uses global best practices to guide and educate founders and startups through all their legal troubles, helping solve queries ranging from how to structure a company and where to incorporate, to how much a company should be valued when looking for investors.

H.E. Dr.Dena Assaf, UN Resident Coordinator for the UAE, discusses what exactly are the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how governments, private sector entities and individuals can collaborate to accelerate achieving them.

Sadly, food worth over USD 1 Trillion is wasted every year. Tune into this week’s episode to learn how Marc Zornes, Co-Founder, Winnow is using Computer Vision technology to battle food wastage across the globe, whilst also allowing hotels and restaurants to save millions of dollars annually.

Brigadier Khalid Nasser Alrazooqi, Director General of Artificial Intelligence, Dubai Police joins us on the Smart Dubai Podcast sharing a story on how Dubai Police has been adopting technological solutions since 1995 to better serve the city’s residents and visitors and continuously ensure Dubai is one of the safest and smartest cities in the world.

In this week’s episode Kari Aina Eik, Secretary General, Organization for International Economic Relations, shares with us the biggest opportunities and challenges governments have faced when working towards becoming more sustainable, and discusses how cities must collaborate to accelerate achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Nadine Mezher, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Sarwa discusses how her Dubai grown digital financial advisory firm is helping new investors make smarter, diversified and cost-efficient investment decisions. Investors can start an account with as low as USD 500 and leverage Sarwa’s algorithms to invest in different portfolios depending on their risk appetite.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted business models for a lot of industry sectors, with many traditionally offline businesses now primarily functioning online. Will this trend continue even after COVID-19? In this episode we speak to Patrick Noack, Executive Director of Future Foresight and Imagination at the Dubai Future Foundation, discussing the Life After COVID-19 series of reports which share insights on the impact the pandemic has had on several industry sectors such as Education, Retail, Financial Technologies, Logistics and more, and what the future of these sectors will look like.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has affected every single country across the globe, governments have realized the importance of food security and being agriculturally self-sustainable. Today, agro-tech is a solution, particularly for countries with harsh climates that primarily rely on imported food. In this episode Nikita Patel, Founder of homegrown vertical farming company Oasis Greens talks about the future of farming and how agro-tech can be answer the globe’s food challenges.

As the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is made in almost every decision affecting people’s lives today, Andrew Collinge, Advisor, Dubai Data Establishment shares his thoughts on what AI precisely is and why it is important for governments to regulate AI on a city-level to ensure ethical implementation of this rapidly evolving technology. Additionally, if you are a tech startup in the AI space, listen to this episode to learn more on how you can collaborate with Smart Dubai to further enhance Dubai’s AI ecosystem.

Haider Ali Khan, CEO of Bayut, discusses how technology has played a key role in Bayut’s success, what technologies can residents look forward to in the future, and how has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the local market.

Sayed Hashish, General Manager, Microsoft UAE discusses how Microsoft is helping government and private sector entities fight COVID-19 globally, and how should government and company leaders brace for what is going to be the work culture’s new norm

Noor Al Nahhas, Founder, Nybl discusses what Nybl is, what led him to start a knowledge driven AI company and how he envisions for AI to soon be integrated in to every industry sector globally, transforming data into intelligence, only nybl at a time.

Mark Balovnev, CEO, Educhain and Partner, Acceliance discusses how he came to Dubai for the very first time in 2017 to participate in Smart Dubai’s Global Blockchain Challenge, what his journey has been since and how he now calls Dubai home.

Dr.Essa Bastaki, President, University of Dubai, discusses how technology is shaping the future of education and what jobs are going to look like in the next 20 years.

Hamad Al Awadhi, Project Manager of the Dubai Happiness Agenda overseen by Smart Dubai discusses how collaborating with government and private sector partners to redefine customer experiences in the city is helping make Dubai the happiest city on Earth.

Dr. Marwan Al Zarouni, CEO of the Dubai Blockchain Centre and Accelliance Consultancy, and Director of IT at the Dubai Electronic Security Centre discusses the growth of the Blockchain ecosystem in Dubai, the difference between Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, why people should trust in Blockchain, and how one can learn more about this booming technology.

H.E. Khalfan Belhoul, CEO, Dubai Future Foundation discusses key roles of the Foundation and steps taken over the past four years to attract the globes best startups to Dubai, helping build an ecosystem to foster innovation in an era we define as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Also learn more about the recently announced Dubai Future District and how it is going to define the future of innovation in Dubai.

Dr.Saeed Al Dhaheri, Chairman of Smart World, ex-Director General of the Emirates ID and a renowned veteran of the UAE technology industry comes together with Ranjit Rajan, Associate Vice President of Research, IDC to discuss their latest book Digital Nation. The authors will discuss how the book uncovers the mindset and approach of the UAE’s rulers and its senior-leaders from the public and private sectors as they pursue a digital vision and bring it to life.

City leaders across the globe are trying to understand how to best unleash the value from data at hand. Our second episode discusses the four pillars Smart Dubai Data is developing to ensure data is the future oil for Dubai. The four pillars are – Value Creation, Data Governance, Data Architecture & Infrastructure, and Ecosystem Engagement.

Our guest for the inaugural episode of the Smart Dubai Podcast will share how Dubai is fulfilling its vision of becoming the happiest city on Earth, and emphasizing on how technology is the primary enabler to make this vision a reality.