Sajjad Ahmad, Deputy Business Editor

Gitex Global 2022 concluded on a strong note as global and local tech companies have signed new deals and partnerships during the 5-day exhibition. The event, which was held at Dubai World Trade Centre from October,10 to 14, brought together 5,000 leading technology companies from more than 90 countries.

This year edition of Gitex Global was the largest in the event’s history in terms of participation. The inclusive tech and startup event was held over an area of more than 2 million square feet, making it the world’s largest tech event.

ET and Etisalat sign MoU: Emirates Transport (ET) and Etisalat signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at consolidating the existing strategic partnership between the two parties, and pursuing future cooperation opportunities, especially in the areas of artificial intelligence applications and advanced tracking solutions.

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of Gitex Global 2022, by Faryal Tawakul, Acting CEO of Emirates Transport, and Masood Sharif, CEO of Etisalat, in the presence of several officials, managers and employees of both parties.

The agreement seeks to establish potential cooperation opportunities as well as setting the principles under which both parties aim to work together to consolidate their strategic partnership, while expanding joint work on artificial intelligence applications, and data analytics in the unified tracking system for the school buses fleet of Emirates Transport.

The MoU also focuses on enabling ET in developing its operational processes through the adoption of advanced tracking solutions that can achieve maximum savings in vehicle fuel consumption and other operational benefits.

The Acting CEO of Emirates Transport expressed her delight at the signing of the MoU which she asserts will help create more opportunities for cooperation, saying: “Emirates Transport takes great care in developing and expanding the horizons and areas of its partnership with Etisalat.

“This partnership is in line with ET’s efforts to implement its vision and achieve its ambitious goals in addition to accelerating the pace of the digital transformation of its services, employing the latest technology data, as well as enhancing its presence and competitiveness in the field of digital solutions and smart applications,” added Tawakul.  

PwC and G42 ink deal: At this year’s AI Everything x Gitex Global, PwC Middle East demonstrated its reimagination of digital services, with the launch of its latest digital twins report and signing of strategic agreement with one of the leading UAE entities, G42.

Virtual and metaverse technologies are a $8-13 trillion opportunity globally and are expected to contribute to 6% of MENA GDP in the next few years. Combined with AI’s potential to bring $320 billion into the region by 2030, governments, businesses and consumers will see enormous implications.

Exhibiting at Gitex over the five-day AI summit, PwC Middle East invited visitors to engage with its future-focused technologies with a walk-in metaverse experience, and showcased its digital twin capabilities at the #ReimaginewithPwC booth. PwC also headlined the Digital Cities x Ai stage which was inaugurated by Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama, UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy & Remote Work Application Office, who also visited PwC’s metaverse experience. PwC also showcased alongside its strategic alliances; Microsoft and AWS presenting digital solutions that bring a new value equation to clients.

Commenting on PwC’s presence at AI Everything x Gitex Global, Stephen Anderson, Partner and Middle East Markets Leader, said: “We’re proud of our extensive participation in this year’s AI Everything x Gitex Global, and are delighted to announce our new strategic agreement with G42, demonstrate digital solutions and launch our latest paper on digital twins in one of the world’s largest and most influential digital ecosystems.”

In line with PwC’s continuous investment in its digital capabilities and its purpose towards accelerating the region’s digital transformation, the firm also announced the signing of its new strategic agreement with G42.

PwC Middle East’s strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing with G42 - a leading artificial intelligence and cloud computing company based in Abu Dhabi, comes to drive innovation and uptake of AI across businesses and sectors through combining PwC’s technology consulting prowess with G42’s AI capabilities.

Speaking on the significance of the MoU signing, Talal Al Kaissi, G42 Cloud CEO, said: “We are proud to join PwC on this exciting partnership, as it marks a milestone in enabling regional customers in their digital transformation experience, to ensure security and strength of their solutions and applications. G42 Cloud’s scalable Cloud infrastructure aims to support both enterprises and government entities in the UAE to smoothly transition to a modernized cloud-based infrastructure and allow them to further enhance their data practice to become data-driven corporations.”

Concurrently, PwC Middle East also launched its latest digital twins paper, titled “How digital twins can make smart cities better” to explore the impact of emerging technologies in bridging the physical and virtual world. The paper has important implications for urban planning in the Middle East with the roll out of Dubai’s 2040 Master Urban Plan and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme, set to accelerate urbanisation with the development of major urban areas and mega cities.

CodersHQ: CodersHQ at Gitex Global 2022 hosted founders of successful digital companies to highlight their experience in AI and technology and share the story behind entering the coding world with experts, school, and university students.

The inspirational sessions included Amin Al Zarouni, co-founder of Bedu; a platform that specialises in Metaverses and advanced sciences, Murshid Mohammed, founder of DrivU, Hilal Lootah, co-founder of Lune, and Faisal Toukan, co-founder of Ziina, Talal Bayaa, co-founder and CEO of Bayzat, and Khaled Al Awar, data analyst at Talabat.

The Entrepreneurs shared the stories behind establishing digital companies and the development of the company idea from the beginning. They stressed the importance of patience in the world of entrepreneurship to reach a more significant number of users. Also, knowing the target audiences leads to providing services that elevate ideas to the globe.

The attendees were inspired by the discussion of developing ideas mechanisms, what is required to enter the technological industry, forward-thinking benefits, and forming a team with skills that meets the idea challenges that will achieve goals and success.

Entrepreneurs called the attendees to the importance of investing in building skills and capabilities and continuing learning to provide technological services, easing the community’s life.

DIB’s digital KYC journey:  Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest Islamic bank in the UAE and the second-largest Islamic bank in the world, announced its collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Interior (MOI) at Gitex Global. The new collaboration will enable the bank to digitize its KYC journey through a new-age facial recognition service, while also offering the capability to complete validation checks for New to Bank Customers opening an account with DIB.

The new eKYC journey is enhanced by the MOI digital verification face gateway service ensuring instant, accurate and highly secure validation of identity. This latest initiative will allow new customers to open a bank account with DIB remotely and digitally through face matching verification, eliminating the need for customers to physically visit a branch for initial KYC verification and onboarding.

Commenting on the collaboration, Dr Adnan Chilwan, Group Chief Executive Officer at DIB, said: “We are delighted to announce our new collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Interior. The initiative launched, as part of this collaboration, is aligned with DIB’s digital transformation strategy and the UAE’s vision for a truly digital economy. The use of facial recognition system is a key milestone in DIB’s journey towards becoming the most progressive Islamic financial institution in the world.”

“In line with the UAE leadership’s vision for a world-leading digital economy, we have been introducing a number of digitally intelligent banking solutions for our customers at regular intervals, a driving force behind our steady growth over the last few years. With an underlying aim to offer a more simplified, convenient and seamless banking experience for our customers, we are confident that these new and innovative solutions will help further affirm our commitment towards developing products, services, and other offerings tailored to the specific needs of our customers.”

Lt. Colonel Dr. Ahmed Saeed Al Shamsi, Head of the Artificial Intelligence Systems and Services Development Team at the General Directorate of Security Support at the Ministry of Interior, said: “We are working to expand cooperation with all national institutions working in all sectors, reflecting the vision of the UAE government to develop the work system in an integrated institutional manner based on scientific planning and investment of the best modern technologies and applications of artificial intelligence.”

He added “Now we are witnessing a sustainable cooperation with Dubai Islamic Bank, a prestigious banking institution, to benefit from the face recognition system provided by the Ministry of Interior as a digital authentication portal to enhance and facilitate banking operations within a fruitful cooperation. The main objective of this is to enhance the services provided to customers and take them to the next level.”

du strong presence: du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), has concluded its successful participation at Gitex Global 2022. As a leading digital telco presenting an innovative showcase under the theme ‘Powering Governments, Shaping The Emirates Reality’, du had a major presence at the event, with signing key strategic partnership agreements, visits of multiple dignitaries to its stand, as well as a cutting-edge displays of technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality, metaverse, blockchain, NFT and robotics.

At Gitex Global 2022,  visitors discovered a new digital universe driven by the technology revolution and future-forward thinking. During the event, du announced collaborations with several entities including Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) and Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to support the UAE government’s innovation roadmap. du also signed an MoU with Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council for the NAFIS program, a federal initiative that aims to increase the contributions of Emirati citizens within the private sector.

Further, du collaborated with world-leading companies such as Masdar to accelerate the sustainability agenda, Huawei and SINOTRANS and shape the industrial reality, Digital Dubai to empower the UAE startup ecosystem, GoDaddy to facilitate entrepreneurs and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to enable agility. Special offers were introduced for customers in cooperation with Fazaa and Al Futtaim.

Fahad Al Hassawi, Chief Executive Officer at du said: “Our participation at GITEX Global 2022 was a remarkable success allowing us to reach new milestones in our journey to becoming a leading digital telco. The event offered us an excellent platform to showcase how technology can be democratized to drive innovation, accelerate digital transformation, and deliver a seamless, digitally inclusive future. The strategic agreements we signed will support our efforts in fostering important partnerships to herald the new digital era aligning with the UAE National Agenda and facilitate sustained development in the UAE.”

Showcasing the digital synergies and benefits of tech-driven innovation, du presented closer-to-reality concepts through interactive exhibits and demos that will bolster digital lifestyles and further drive the smart city agenda. Showcases included the Transport Reality with the Digital Twin solution, the Health and Education Reality in metaverse powered by a 3D hologram, the Industrial Reality featuring 5G-enabled robotics and the Utilities Reality powered by smart grids.

Ma’an’s digital platforms: The Authority for Social Contributions (Ma’an) showcased a diverse array of digital platforms designed to support the social sector in Abu Dhabi as part of the Authority’s emphatic participation at Gitex Global 2022.

Ma’an partook part in the premier technology event through the pavilion of the Abu Dhabi Government, and the platforms and initiatives under its spotlight were particularly focused on developing and encouraging the capabilities of social entrepreneurs and social start-ups in Abu Dhabi Emirate.

Through its stand, Ma’an offered visitors a glimpse into its flagship platforms such ‘Ma’an Mentorship Platform’, ‘Ma’an Upskilling Platform’, ‘Ma’an Social Contribution Platform’, as well as the key themes and initiatives of the Ma’an Social Incubator (MSI), the Accelerator for Innovative Social Work in Abu Dhabi.