The UAE gathered representatives from 17 national and global companies involved in using the latest technologies to boost tech adoption in the industrial sector in an event hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology on Wednesday.
The network of “industry champions” includes Adnoc, Edge, Honeywell, Unilever, Schneider Electric, Emirates Global Aluminium, Cisco, Siemens, Aveva, SAP, Etisalat, IBM, Microsoft and Ericsson, with Strata, Huawei and PTC, the latest to join the group, the ministry said in a statement.
The representatives met government stakeholders and small and medium-sized enterprises during the Champions Network Assembly event to explore collaborative ways of accelerating the adoption of advanced technologies in the national industrial sector.
“The Champions Network Assembly has a crucial role in the UAE’s industrial sector, bringing together the most influential organisations to engage in exchanges that will contribute to the sector’s technological transformation,” said Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Future Technology, who attended the event.
As a result of this assembly, the sector will “benefit from new partnerships and collaborations that support the UAE’s Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Programme, Industry 4.0. The Champions Network Assembly, therefore, is a critical mechanism for achieving the objectives of the national industrial strategy”.
Launched by the ministry last year as part of the Projects of the 50, the Industry 4.0 initiative is designed to accelerate the integration of 4IR solutions and applications across the country’s industrial sector.
It is expected to improve the UAE’s overall industrial competitiveness, drive down costs, increase productivity and efficiency, improve safety and create new jobs.
The initiative aims to boost manufacturing by 30 per cent and add Dh25 billion ($6.8bn) to the country's economy by 2031.
The champions network, established in 2021 as a core pillar of UAE Industry 4.0 initiative, aims to support the creation of 100 “lighthouses” — categorised by the World Economic Forum as the 4IR organisations — by 2031 and attract 500 tech companies by the end of the same year.
“Industry 4.0 technologies such as cloud, AI [artificial intelligence] and IoT [Internet of Things] can deliver immense value to the UAE’s efforts to diversify its economy by accelerating the industrial sector,” said Jiawei Liu, chief executive of Huawei UAE.
“We are confident our … technologies and expertise will contribute to the Industry 4.0 champions network’s success and help the country achieve its digital transformation goals.”
During the event on Wednesday, 25 new technology pilots were launched and there was a focus on companies that have the “appetite and the potential to transform”, the statement said.
The champions network supports companies looking to use specific solutions, free of charge, to demonstrate the value of these technologies for decision-makers.
Emirates Development Bank also hosted a workshop of 48 companies that demonstrated interest in investing in technology following a recent survey. The bank works with the ministry to support companies to finance advanced technology projects by providing products such as asset-based financing, receivable financing, reverse factory and long-term financing among others.
The event also hosted a session on the digital maturity of the UAE’s manufacturing sector and panels on financing, sustainability and Edge's recently announced Learning and Innovation Factory (LiF).
The ministry is working with Edge to expand LiF, which provides an “immersive” environment to learn about advanced technology. The first phase includes a curriculum to support training and upskilling talent, the statement said.
The initiative will offer the Industry 4.0 module for chief executives covering lean, six sigma, lean digital, IoT and analytics. It also includes mid-management training with several modules on lean, six sigma and IoT.
“The [champions] network and the event are key to realising the full potential of UAE Industry 4.0,” Ms Al Amiri said.
“By implementing advanced technologies, we can create more efficiencies, enhance quality, boost productivity and increase competitiveness.”
She added that the ministry is committed to harnessing the strengths of each member of its industrial community in the UAE.
“Through initiatives like the Champions Network Assembly, we will continue to prioritise public and private sector collaborations that involve national and global organisations,” Ms Al Amiri said.
“Through the new partnerships forged by these projects, we will enhance the industrial sector’s digital maturity and support the objectives of the national industrial strategy.”
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
