US software company Oracle opened a technology collaboration centre in Abu Dhabi that aims to help public and private sector organisations leverage the use of emerging technology to boost their bottom lines.
The Al Mustaqbal Oracle Innovation Hub on Reem Island will promote the integration of innovation into companies to streamline their cost and operational efficiencies, the Texas-based company said at the launch on Wednesday.
It will focus on artificial intelligence, machine learning and the Internet of Things, as well as supporting the development of the UAE capital’s knowledge economy.
The hub is part of Oracle’s continued investment in the UAE and the second after the Zayed Innovation Hub in Dubai. The company declined to disclose the investment cost of the centre.
Representatives from Abu Dhabi government entities attended the launch, including from the Ministry of Interior, the Department of Finance, the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA), Abu Dhabi Customs, the Human Resources Authority and sovereign wealth fund Mubadala.
“Data is the beginning,” Mohamed Al Askar, director general of the ADDA, said in a keynote. "We spend huge time using technology, changing and impacting our interaction. The journey will never stop.
“We always want to explore and do something new. And along that journey and transformation we always seek the right partners.”
GCC states are attracting a large number of global technology companies because of the rise of tech-focused young consumers and an evolving digital landscape in the region.
Data centre companies have been a key factor in helping economies keeping in step with the rapidly-evolving digital landscape.
The UAE is ranked first in the Middle East in the 2021 edition of the Global Innovation Index, cementing its status as among the world’s leading countries in adopting the latest technology.
Oracle and a host of other global technology companies have flocked to the Emirates to set up various facilities to support the country's technological push.
The company currently has 33 cloud regions globally, with three in the Middle East, and the most recent one opened in Abu Dhabi last November. The Jeddah and Dubai regions were inaugurated in 2020.
Microsoft and Amazon, among the world's most valuable companies, have also opened their respective cloud regions in the UAE.
"We are seeing an increasing demand on how the government and the private sector leverages data and analytics," Leopoldo Boado, senior vice president for business applications at Oracle, told The National.
"The main challenge is how we use and take advantage of the value of this data. Data centres have that maximum level of security and sovereignty."
The global cloud computing market was valued at $368.97 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of almost 16 per cent from 2022 to 2030, according to Grand View Research.
Global spending on public cloud services, meanwhile, is expected to rise by more than 20 per cent annually to $495bn this year — nearly $84bn more than what was spent in 2020 — and hit $600bn in 2023, according to research firm Gartner.
The UAE provides the ecosystem, talent and support to explore innovation. We always want to be the first in digital transformation
Mohamed Al Askar,
director general of the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority
Additionally, the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology had announced that it would adopt the Smart Industry Readiness Index, the global standard used by the World Economic Forum, to help local companies use Fourth Industrial Revolution technology to boost productivity and their contribution to the economy.
Oracle's new innovation hub aims to help public entities and private businesses to co-innovate to be able to capture the new opportunities in the market, Mr Boado said.
“There is a big shift right now among chief financial officers, mainly on cost reductions. The main focus is on the top line and how they can increase revenues."
In addition to corporates, the programme will also support start-ups and small and medium enterprises, both of which are major pillars of the UAE's economic engine.
Mr Al Askar said: “The UAE provides the ecosystem, talent and support to explore innovation. We always want to be the first in digital transformation."
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
%3Cp%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%201.9km%20King%20Salman%20Boulevard%2C%20a%20Parisian%20Champs-Elysees-inspired%20avenue%2C%20is%20scheduled%20for%20completion%20in%202028%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20Royal%20Diriyah%20Opera%20House%20is%20expected%20to%20be%20completed%20in%20four%20years%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%20first%20of%2042%20hotels%2C%20the%20Bab%20Samhan%20hotel%2C%20will%20open%20in%20the%20first%20quarter%20of%202024%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20On%20completion%20in%202030%2C%20the%20Diriyah%20project%20is%20forecast%20to%20accommodate%20more%20than%20100%2C000%20people%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20%2463.2%20billion%20Diriyah%20project%20will%20contribute%20%247.2%20billion%20to%20the%20kingdom%E2%80%99s%20GDP%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20It%20will%20create%20more%20than%20178%2C000%20jobs%20and%20aims%20to%20attract%20more%20than%2050%20million%20visits%20a%20year%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20About%202%2C000%20people%20work%20for%20the%20Diriyah%20Company%2C%20with%20more%20than%2086%20per%20cent%20being%20Saudi%20citizens%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
ENGLAND SQUAD
Joe Root (captain), Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad
'Tell the Machine Goodnight' by Katie Williams
Penguin Randomhouse
The%20specs
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Monday's results
- UAE beat Bahrain by 51 runs
- Qatar beat Maldives by 44 runs
- Saudi Arabia beat Kuwait by seven wickets
