Scientists at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) believe that to be possible and have designed and patented an invention that uses data-mining algorithms to make forecasts based on historical information.

Developed by Dr Jose Berenqueres, assistant professor at UAEU’s IT College, the tool, called “System for Forecasting Future Events”, targets the aviation industry and the growing focus of airlines on predicting customer behaviour. In addition, the tool can also be used for other purposes such as healthcare. The invention, Dr Berenqueres explains, capitalises on the fact that data is now everywhere, and that it needs to be interpreted and put to good use in order to be of true value to businesses and to society in general.

“Reducing waste, increasing asset utilisation rates, and increasing delivered value to customers are key activities of any organisation with global aspirations,” he said. “Now that collection of data from customers is economical and widespread, companies that keep doing nothing with that data will, basically, slowly die, because the companies that do something with it will be one per cent or two per cent more efficient.”

Amazon.com, he revealed, is a prime example, with its model predicting which customers will become “gold” in a few months and which will not. With this information at hand, companies can better allocate their marketing resources and customer-relationship resources to the areas where they are more effective, and run on a lower budget while achieving the same results.

With his team, Dr Berenqueres built a tool related to airlines’ customer management and air-miles programmes, containing two methods of processing data that allow a computer to make accurate predictions.

The first – dummy-variable generation – converts categorical data, such as gender, into numbers that a computer can quickly understand. The second employs a technique known as blending, reflecting the belief that the average opinion will be closer to the truth if a larger number of opinions are analysed. The team has also used time-shifting, where an airline passenger’s data stream – akin to an air-travel fingerprint, detailing the flights they have taken, their purchase history, website interactions and other information – is reset to the first time they used the airline, allowing behavioural trends and developments to be identified.

“The combination of these three techniques yielded such good results that, when we showed them to airline executives, they were stunned and even we were surprised,” said Dr Berenqueres.

Staff Report/Dubai

Picture source: Supplied

rohma@khaleejtimes.com

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It works by conducting a comprehensive body scanning using the ‘PRO MYBIODI’ smart device to get a patient’s health status and identify the biomarkers in about a minute.

The collected data can serve as a health guide and initial diagnosis before a patient is sent for laboratory and other medical tests.

The unveiling was made during the ministry’s participation at the Arab Health exhibition and conference.

Dr Youssif Al Serkal, Assistant Undersecretary for the Ministry of Health and Prevention — Hospitals Sector, said the Health Mirror service technology is being offered for the first time in the Middle East.

Dr Al Serkal said that the ministry has also partnered with Atellica Solutions Siemens to launch an innovative blood sample collection device. Also a first in the Middle East, the device is equipped with an exclusive feature that enables transfer of blood samples 10 times faster than conventional systems. It is flexible, has the ability to handle different work rates, and easily scalable to deal with more than 30 types of samples.

Dr Kulthum Mohammed Al Balushi, Director of the ministry’s Hospital Management, said: “This device allows multiple vision cameras and intelligent systems for sample distribution and quality check to achieve better regulation and control of all samples. The innovative system can be used as a separate solution as connected solutions up to 10 units built together up to 300 different design and that including straight designs or in the form of L or U, it can also be connected to a mechanism system which raises services for various laboratory sections.”

Staff Reporter

reporters@khaleejtimes.com

Picture source: Alamy Image
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Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, accompanied him. Shaikh Mohammed also toured the museum of the centre, and was briefed about some of its components.

The two-day event, being organised by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the MBRSC.

Shaikh Mohammed hailed the forum which is, he said, “a global platform that gathers scientists across the globe together with Emirati youth in this field, who will benefit from the participating experts’ experiences.

Shaikh Mohammed also expressed his pride at the Emirati youth and his own and all national institutions’ support for them in order to maintain their aspirations to keep pace with international levels in this strategic sector, which is given wide attention and continuous follow up by the country.

Prof Noureldine Malak from the University of Massachusetts in Boston spoke about the scientific discoveries for incurable diseases and therapies since the era of the Arabic scholar Ibn Al Haytham, about 1,000 years ago. He also spoke about the latest developments and solutions in the medical treatment for these diseases that are still subject to a number of scientific research and studies.

The session was also attended by Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of Emirates Group; Shaikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, son of Dubai Ruler; Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future, Khalifa Saeed Suleiman, director-general of the department of protocol and hospitality in Dubai, Major-General Talal Humaid Belhoul, and Yousuf Al Shaibani, director-general of MBRSC, along with others

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The robot can dispense prescribed medication at the click of a button based on a bar code, thus minimising any human error. The DHA will soon adopt the use of robot in all its hospitals.

The robot, which can store up to 35,000 medicines and dispense around 12 prescriptions in less than a minute, will start serving customers from Sunday.

The new smart system was launched by Humaid Obaid Al Qattami, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority.

As the robot can dispense up to 12 prescriptions in less than a minute, it will significantly reduce a person’s waiting time, Dr Ali Al Syed, Director of the Pharmaceutical Services Department, said. The dispensing process will be paper-free as the robot will store the prescription as soon as a doctor documents it electronically. Leveraging the robot for dispensing medication will also allow the pharmacists to focus on giving the customers right instructions on taking the medication, he added

WAM

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Picture used for illustrative purposes alone

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And the list is growing. This is in addition to the excellent primary and secondary school facilities in the UAE.

These institutions are bringing bright young minds into the workforce, many of whom have decided to go into entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career. A key deciding factor is the ease of setting up shop in the UAE. Facilities like DTEC, in5, The Cribb are among a host of hubs that provide entrepreneurs with structure, licensing, mentorship and the basics required to incubate business ideas.

The background

Student life is complex and tough. It’s not just about academics. Co-curricular and social activities, essential for developing fully-rounded personalities, compete for mind-space and time. Challenges include avoiding course scheduling clashes, distributing workload, finding time for exercise and sports, getting to know about cultural events, finding the time to unwind. Scheduling, making intelligent trade-offs, prioritising and focusing are skills that are usually best learnt at this stage.

An alumnus of the American University of Sharjah, Monty (Montasir) Adams fully appreciates this huge demand on time. When in university, he observed that there are better-planned students who achieve a lot with the help of schedules and jottings in little notebooks and diaries. As opposed to the vast majority who end up missing out because of poor time-management skills. He recognised a B2B business opportunity that would enable institutions to help students proactively schedule and prioritise their time.

The business model

The idea is brilliant in its simplicity. A mashup between syllabi, mobile phone calendar and artificial intelligence scheduling. Jibber Jabber, the company that Adams leads, is based on translating syllabi, class schedules, campus content, examination rosters and event calendars into a highly usable and interactive visual calendar on a mobile and web app frame. The app is similar to the popular Sunrise Calendar, recently acquired and dissolved by Microsoft. Metacognitive intelligence helps translate the course schedules provided by universities into a calendar of events. It also recognises clashes in scheduling, highlights examinations and tests versus classes and submissions deadlines. It proactively slots in co-curricular, social and leisure time activity.

Mere ideas themselves are not good enough. Adams’ passion is finance. He needed to know that the numbers would work. Doing his homework he found that by 2025, there will be 262 million university students worldwide. This is according to Bob Goddard, an industry consultant and contributor to the book ‘Making A Difference: Australian International Education’.

The next step was to find a partner to help develop the minimum value product. He connected with one of the top globally recognised development houses – Mobile Jazz based in Barcelona, Spain. Rather than just invest, he agreed on a swap option that gave Mobile Jazz the choice to take an equity interest in Jibber Jabber. This is a flexible financial instrument, which will work out well for both. Importantly, Mobile Jazz has experience with a very successful similar sibling app focused on young children called Class Dojo. Mobile Jazz has also put together the immensely popular Skyscanner app.

In choosing the core team to take this forward, UAE’s multiculturalism comes to light. Adams is of Sudanese origin. Jibber Jabber’s lead tech head is Nabeel Kassim, of Indian origin and the anchorwoman is Hamdah Al Shirawi, an Emirati. The wider Jibber Jabber team is also reflective of the potent mix of talent that the UAE is creating.

The tool of choice for the Jibber Jabber team for structuring the proposition is the Business Model Canvas (strategyzer.com). Their approach is based on the “users and content first, revenue later” model. To refine the model further, the team works on a price per user tranche strategy and identified the universities themselves as the target customers. Initially the team will target local institutions and then expand via connections to the region. The company has also identified ad revenue as an additional top-line item for event organisers and booking services. To create barriers to entry, striking early alliances with the target customers is key.

Team UAE

Jibber Jabber reached out to DTEC in the Dubai Silicon Oasis. DTEC provided the mentorship, licensing, workspace and seed-funding for the team. This collaboration brought about enhanced access to Microsoft’s BizSpark Plus services for startups. This facilitates a solid access to cloud services as well as cognitive intelligence APIs. At the heart of the application is the Social Calendar.

The team has been shortlisted in multiple startup competitions based on the business idea, strong financials, excellent mentorship, a solid MVP, as well as support from DTEC and Microsoft. The team has won awards at Startup Events such as the ‘The Entrepreneurs Day’ at DSO.

The writer is director at Vyashara and a digital banking and digital payments evangelist, practitioner, advisor and consultant. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper’s policy. He can be reached at ves@vyashara.com

Sanjiv Purushotham

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The new vessel will be put into service by early next year, raising the Municipality’s marine equipment fleet to 13, which vary in size and volume. The new vessel has the capacity to collect waste floating on the water surface of the creek, and is equipped with scrapers with sophisticated and advanced hydraulic system.

Eng. Abdul Majeed Sifai, Director of Waste Management Department, said that while selecting the vessel, it has been taken into account that the design of the marine scraper has some of the specifications that increase the operational efficiency rate.

“We aim to provide all marine equipments with the most advanced technologies in order to reduce human intervention in the sea clean-up operation of the scrapers. It has an added specification of remote control devices, as we are always striving to introduce innovative ideas and development in all waste management projects,” he said.

“Over the last five years, our creek clean up equipment fleet has been developed and updated, so we have received this new 44 feet long marine scraper with an estimated load capacity of 3 tonnes, to clean up floating waste in small-space sites. This is part of an effort towards turning our focus to the future, through optimal resource planning and how to employ them. This is to meet the future needs of equipments and mechanisms for clean water canals and creeks,” said Sifai.

Yaqoub Mohammed Al Ali, Head of Specialized Cleaning Section, said the Creek is a vital artery and waterfront as well as an important commercial and tourist window. “Recently the Dubai Creek area has been increased as a result of the expansion of its length and the establishment of the new Warf Deira. Therefore, it was necessary to increase our fleet too to cope with the expansion. This is because the distance of Dubai Creek, which extends from Jaddaf until Ras Al Khor area, is about 14 kilometers with the addition of the new Dubai Water Canal.”

“Over the past years 4,267 tonnes of floating waste has been removed resulting from the cleanup of creek water,” he added.

Picture source: Shihab/Khaleej Times

Wam

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The new space science and technology section at the children’s edutainment centre has been opened by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC).

Teams will be guided through the process within the new, interactive labs by a representative of KidZania, and will have the opportunity to also learn about the projects already launched by the MBRSC and the ongoing projects, such as KhalifaSat and the Emirates Mars Mission.

“The partnership between the MBRSC and KidZania is representative of the centre’s strategy to engage and inspire younger generations of Emiratis to become interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at an early age, setting them up to enter into sectors such as space, aviation or engineering; sectors which are widely acknowledged to be pivotal to the UAE’s continued development as a nation,” the MBRSC said in a statement.

Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, director-general at MBRSC, said: “Today’s children are very receptive to interactive education and in partnering with KidZania, we have found an excellent platform to reach out to children and teach them about space science and technology, essentially getting them to think about its infinite possibilities from a young age.

“Through this project we are investing in the future development of the UAE’s space sector, as part of our many efforts to further the centre’s educational strategy. We are certain this initiative will inspire young minds to take an active interest in the work we do, and in MBRSC’s accomplishments. It will also attract young Emirati minds to work towards a future in space science in the UAE.”

Staff Reporter/Dubai

reporters@khaleejtimes.com

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Speaking at the Arab Thought Foundation’s annual FIKR15 summit, which focuses on Arab integration, Gargash noted that there are several reasons why the UAE is able to come together. The event, being held to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the GCC and the 45th anniversary of the founding of the UAE, is being held in cooperation with the Arab League under the patronage of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

“The rulers of the UAE adopted the vision of Shaikh Zayed. He was the right man, at the right place,” he said. “Then unity. It’s not obligatory for everyone. It’s based on community need. Shaikh Zayed used to meet the people.

“It was a systematic process to integrate Dubai and Abu Dhabi and by 1971 the rest of the emirates,” he added. “He faced a lot of issues, but they decided to implement (the plan) … unity never works based on emotion. It is based on hard work.”

Gargash’s comments were echoed by Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the League of Arab States.

“We need to take a deep look into the UAE as a successful model. A great example of unity,” he said, adding that solving the problems currently facing the Arab world requires “getting the best people on the job and asking the right questions. Coordination is not in the best shape, but we are on the right path,” he added.

Ghent also called for ‘intellectual health’ to be promoted across the region, and called for education to combat extremist ideologies and enhance understanding of Arab culture and the Arabic language.

Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al Zayani, secretary-general of the General Secretariat of the GCC, said the GCC has already had considerable achievements when it comes to integration.

The last main speaker of the day, Arab Thought Foundation Chairman Khalid Al Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, concluded by saying that “no one is going to rescue the Arab World other than Arabs themselves. We need to have a long-term plan to resolve the issues the Arab nations are facing.”

bernd@khaleejtimes.com

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The ceremony also honoured 22 inspiring Arab women in recognition of their outstanding contributions and exceptional achievements across fields including business, the arts, philanthropy and fashion. The special event was held in Sharjah, taking place outside Dubai for the first time in tribute to the late BinKaram, who tragically lost her life in a villa fire on October 2 this year. Her sister Reem BinKaram collected the award on her behalf.

The event was attended by more than 400 dignitaries and high-level businesswomen.

Keynote speakers praised BinKaram’s achievements, out-lining how she dedicated her life to enabling women through her tireless voluntary and humanitarian efforts.

“Today, we celebrate the multitude of Arab women’s achievements and their vital role in deve-loping our Arab societies. We honour the accomplishments of the late Ameera BinKaram; may the Almighty rest her soul in peace, and pay tribute to the eff-orts she spent for the good of her country and the Arab world. It was her ambition and vision that made these efforts a solid ground for women’s development and progression in various fields,” said Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development.

“The fact that this programme is held annually in the UAE shows that our country encourages ?women’s excellence and values their important contributions to society. We should all be proud of Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, for her generous support for all women causes and for setting new standards in societal and human development,” added Nahyan.

Sue Holt, executive-director of the award, said: “I’d like to mention someone very special and the reason we have bought the awards to Sharjah for the first time – Ameera BinKaram. I first met Ameera when she won the Humanitarian of the Year award in 2012 for her work with Friends of Cancer Patients. I was instantly taken with her enthusiasm, elegance and her passion for supporting others. She loved the ethos of the awards and was determined to help.

“Despite being a very busy person, she volunteered to join the judging board to later became the chairperson. Over the past four years, she helped create awareness not only for the awards but for many causes and people that she held dear. She was a very special lady and will be forever in our hearts.”

reporters@khaleejtimes.com

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This week, the focus is on Talent, Infrastructure and Capital.

As a direct consequence of the rhythm of writing a weekly column, I have had an accelerated opportunity to review the startup scene in the UAE. So far the focus has been in Dubai but I will be reaching out to Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah over the next few weeks.

The infrastructure being provided to entrepreneurs is of the highest level. The UAE is building on the diversified population mix, the establishment of colleges of higher learning and its access to talent and capital in a big way. Dubai Creative Clusters, Dubai Silicon Oasis and the Dubai Future Accelerators are creating opportunities for partnership with global digital giants as well as with educational institutions.

As an Adjunct Faculty in a business school in Academic City, I keep getting invited to hackathons and startup events hosted by the Dubai Silicon Oasis. A large number of my students are in the process of starting up instead of taking up a corporate career.

I met up with Rami Salman, Ayush Chordia and Rishav Jalan. Interestingly, we met via Wrappup, the meeting productivity app that they are spearheading. Their story exemplifies the UAE startup story. Salman is Lebanese-American, Chordia and Jalan are Indian. They met up in Dubai at a hackathon and have been incubated at in5 run by the Dubai Creative Clusters. Rami quit a corporate strategy consulting career with Bain in the UAE. Chordia and Jalan are from the Dubai campus of the famous Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.

Salman has an untiring creative spirit. After two years of working on a bunch of ideas, WrappUp was the one that took it home. A huge pain point for Rami was inefficient and sometimes inaccurate summarization of meetings held in the day. Often fielding seven simultaneous projects, he had to finish a series of lengthy meetings of up to four hours each. And then summarize, take notes and send out the minutes by the end of the day. He would be working up to 3am completing this task.

Chordia and Jalan built the app on top of IBM Watson (suggest that you read about David Ferucci). IBM Watson is on the forefront of Cognitive Computing – machine intelligence. With Wrappup, any note-taker – corporate employee, student, journalist, lawyer, can efficiently review meeting discussions in detail, pause to highlight areas of specific interest, link consistent themes across disparate points, search for specific discussion points using speech-to-text search amongst a whole slew of highly relevant capabilities. What’s more, soon meetings can be conducted within the app via VoIP or video. As Salman puts it, “Ayush and Rishav are just the right talent for technology building. It’s not about coding. It’s about being able to build an application from concept to reality.”

The story from idea to viable business model is remarkable. The concept became a working model after a 24-hour hackathon. The team came in to focus as winners of the hackathon run by AngelHack. After a 3-month bootstrapping phase, the team was identified by AngelHack to participate in their Global Demo Day in the Silicon Valley, California where the top 15 teams from around the world identified by AngelHack demonstrated their technology. Wrappup won the 2015 event. They had a choice to make. Stay on in the Silicon Valley, where there was offers for financing and accelerators available or return to the UAE. Their conviction about the UAE, cloud support from IBM and Microsoft as well as investments from Beco Capital helped them with the decision to come back. They were clear they would rather create a world-class product based out of the UAE. By doing so, they would be able to contribute back to the startup scene here by developing original concepts and leading the way for others.

I asked them about ideas being stolen in the process of meeting and demonstrating their application. The surprising advice that I got was that it is in a startup’s interest to get its ideas stolen. It means that it is a viable concept. And ultimately, it is about execution and not the idea itself.

You will be seeing more of Wrappup at an app store near you very soon.

Rami’s recommended reading is: “Who Moved My Cheese”.

‘Who Moved My Cheese’ by Dr Spencer Johnson deals with the two choices that we can make. To resist change or to adapt and prosper from it. The book, though seemingly simple, has left a lasting impression on me personally. When things have changed in my own personal and professional life, I have found fulfilment in the change. Cheese is not static. Neither is life.

The writer is director at Vyashara and a digital banking and digital payments evangelist, practitioner, advisor and consultant. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper’s policy. He can be reached at ves@vyashara.com

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