UAE leads Mena region in innovation, new report says

Kamal Hassan, founder of the i360 accelerator in Dubai, believes the UAE is fast becoming the destination for venture funds. Antonie Robertson / The National

The UAE is a magnet for innovators thanks to its status as the region’s “capital of business”, experts said yesterday.

They were speaking in Dubai at the regional release of the Global Innovation Index for 2014, which placed the UAE 36th in the world, up two places from 2013, and first in the Mena region.

“The enablers that have allowed the UAE to grow, such as trade with its proximity to the Creek and then the airport to move the cargo has been innovation through serendipity,” said Osman Sultan, the chief executive of du and also an angel investor.

“Then people were needed and then roads to move the people. Now it is digital components that [are] the driver of innovation here. Venture capital is in its infancy, but it is growing especially in the UAE and that ecosystem is enabling the innovation.”

Kamal Hassan, the chief executive of i360, Dubai’s only commercial accelerator, has begun two tech-oriented accelerators, one in Dubai which is open for all and one in Abu Dhabi which is open to Emiratis only.

He believes that the UAE is fast becoming the destination for venture funds and angel investing as it cements its pole position for business and innovation in the Middle East.

“I am associated with a venture capital fund in the US called Fenox Venture,” Mr Hassan said. “I take care of the Middle East operations and I have pumped in $25 million of funds dedicated to Middle East operations.There is a lot of venture capital being invested here, Wamda Capital, headed by Fadi Ghandour, is investing millions in start ups that mainly looks at e–commerce. Five years ago the situation was far from perfect but now it is liquid.”

The UAE, from a distance, might not strike the outsider as a centre for innovation with most of its GDP based on hydrocarbons, tourism and retail. However in a short space of time it has become a leader in the region and even has plans for a space programme that will visit Mars.

“From an outside perspective we are known for tourism and malls,” says Mohammed Abdullah Al Gargawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs. “We have 2 billion people around us and they look at the UAE as their capital of business and their future. This is the place they want to work, start a business and want to live. Of the 12 countries around us, the UAE is the No 1 destination, above the US or Europe. You need to be centre to generate innovation, there is a process, and be realistic about the process of what is achievable.”

The Global Innovation Index for 2014, published by Cornell University and the European Institute of Business Administration, Insead and the World Intellectual Property Organisation, uses 81 parameters to determine its findings. The US was in sixth position, China in 10th position and the UK led the index.

“Innovation is not always about men in white coats working in laboratories,” said Professor Bruno Lanvin, co-author of The Global Innovation Index. “It is about infrastructure that enables innovation to happen. The investment into the public sector is critical for innovation, it cannot be stopped. The West often says that the market should determine what should be built, that is not so, creativity and innovation need help.”

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