SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 29 March 2024, Friday |

Dubai ranks first in Arab world on latest innovation index

According to the Dubai Innovation Index, which was released on Wednesday, Dubai led the Arab world and ranked 20th globally last year.

The index report, created by Dubai Chamber in collaboration with PwC, looked at 39 cities.

The emirate ranked higher than global cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Sao Paulo, thanks to strong performance in infrastructure, government, and society.

According to Hamad Buamim, president and chief executive of Dubai Chamber, the emirate’s performance reflects its ability to deliver “innovation-driven development” in order to transform the emirate into a global innovation hub.

“Dubai is on track to achieve its aspirations by providing a supportive environment, a robust regulatory and legislative framework, and highly developed infrastructure, as well as comprehensively addressing various vital enabling drivers,” Buamim said.

Singapore and Hong Kong remained first and second on the index. Stockholm jumped three spots to take over third place from London, which fell five spots to eighth this year.

Toronto jumped the most of any of the 39 cities on the index, rising seven spots to 10th place from 17th in 2019.

Since its inception in 2014, the Dubai Innovation Index has influenced a slew of new policies and procedures, including public-private partnerships, robotics, blockchain, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and 3D printing.

Agile government, infrastructure, funding, the business environment, and society are among the assessment categories.

Dubai received high marks in the agile government category for its e-government services. The report emphasized Dubai’s Paperless Strategy, which aims to achieve a paperless government by the end of this year.

41 government entities have already cut their paper use in half as part of the transformation and are on their way to becoming completely digital.

The Dubai Blockchain Strategy, which has enabled the city’s adoption of blockchain records in 24 applications across 24 industries, also contributes to Dubai’s performance on the index.

Dubai was recognized in the infrastructure category for its academic institutions, which promote innovation by sharing resources with start-ups and entrepreneurs.

In terms of funding, Dubai performed well in the venture capital sector, owing to government-led incentives and the support of global VCs looking to enter the market as well as those who have already invested.

Tax breaks for venture capital funds, public-sector matching of investments, and government assistance for early and mid-stage start-ups through additional services are examples of incentive approaches.

“By embracing new ideas to improve excellence and rapidly implementing dynamic creative solutions, Dubai is improving the performance of sectors across its economy,” said Buamim.

According to the index, digitalization underpins the transformation of the most innovative cities, and governments in the most innovative cities do more to promote innovation.

It also demonstrates that Covid-induced collaboration has accelerated innovation by providing innovators with improved opportunities for knowledge sharing, market access, and funding.

    Source:
  • The National News