Diego Simeone, the football coach on the losing end of Saturday evening’s Champions League Final, will still be deservedly praised and lauded for an incredible job he has done with relatively little resources compared to their fierce and victorious rivals Real.
Falling just short of the pinnacle belies a tale of sacrifice and hardship on the long road to the success enjoyed by this Atletico Madrid side, not least that Simeone has spent large chunks of time far from his family back home in his native Argentina.
He says this was made bearable by the “miracle” of FaceTime – Apple’s iteration of mass-market video conferencing services pioneered by Skype – that allowed him to join in dinner time conversation with his loved ones every evening.
There is something here beyond the straightforward emotion; the ability to feel close to those that matter most, wherever you might be in the world.
This technology has also removed the biggest obstacle to knowledge transfer – proximity.
And the hardened attitude to this and other similar innovations is costing us in this region at the most critical time.
In an era of low oil prices, the resulting ambitious programme of reforms and a new and long-needed focus on efficiency, we cannot continue to hold on to such an approach. The rapid development of our economic ambitions must take precedence to any short-term considerations.
While the revenues that the telecoms sector in the Gulf offers the dwindling coffers of government may seem evermore precious because of low oil prices, we must also recognise that we need every opportunity to stimulate the economic growth that actually generates those earnings.
Allowing closer cooperation between individuals, businesses and organisations, no matter where they are located, seems critical to fostering the activity and innovation that leads to job and wealth creation.
A study produced last year for Skype and its parent, Microsoft, on the economic benefits from the use of video conferencing said that it improved productivity and collaboration at businesses and helped increase savings by millions of dollars. The “easier collaboration” also saved time, which is then put back in to the organisation productively. Everyone wins. Unlike Atletico.
Simeone, while today is no doubt forlorn, is nonetheless immensely successful. This success is based on utilising every possible advantage his dogged team can find against often wealthier and individually more talented opposition. Denied the use of even one of these potential advantages, he would arguably not have been as effective a manager or employee. He may not have been able to stick around to oversee a period of unprecedented success.
Or he may have gone elsewhere.
To this point, some of Spain’s best footballers are gaining experience in Germany, England and Italy regardless of personal and domestic circumstances. The value of this learning, when applied at the national level at this summer’s European Championships, could be the difference between success and failure at such an elite level. Without conditions that allow these professionals to stay connected to home as much as possible, a much smaller number would be able to remain focused on the task at hand to the detriment of their nations.
There is clearly much more at stake than just losing a little face time.
malrawi@thenational.ae
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