With the UAE set to become the most innovative nation in the world by 2021, Majid Al Futtaim is empowering its own employees to get creative when it comes to improving customer experience and come up with the company’s next big innovation. Having already created some of the region’s most iconic concepts, Majid Al Futtaim is this week hosting a group of more than 80 employees, from its businesses across the region, to take part in an Innovation Challenge in Dubai.A wave of creativity is already washing over Dubai and accelerating the Emirate towards the diversification of its economy.
Innovation is at the heart of Dubai’s exciting future, helping it to maintain its competitive advantage in the region and forming a vital part of its growth plan, as recognised by H.H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. In the retail sector, a culture of innovation has been present for over twenty years and has helped Dubai to become the second most important retail destination in the world.
Majid Al Futtaim’s history of innovation in customer experience has supported Dubai to become a retail powerhouse, providing an excellent example of the importance of innovation within the UAE’s public and private sectors. The Innovation Challenge is the first of its kind in Dubai and enables Majid Al Futtaim to promote innovation internally and play an active role in the UAE’s vision to cultivate innovation from the ground up.
Ahmed Galal Ismail, Chief Executive Officer at Majid Al Futtaim Ventures said: “The UAE’s innovation strategy is set to support economic prosperity and private sector businesses have an opportunity to make a significant impact in the development of new innovations. At Majid Al Futtaim, innovation in customer experience lies at the heart of what we do and drives our business forward. We foster a workplace that incentivises, empowers, encourages and rewards innovation at all levels.”
Organised in conjunction with VentureScout, a company which specialises in working with large companies to implement internal and external innovation, the Innovation Challenge requires employees to submit ideas, big and small, that can be developed into a new product or service which will improve customer experience across Majid Al Futtaim’s business portfolio. The Challenge will begin with a three-day Hackathon, where employees will present their ideas to a panel of judges. With thirteen hundred written submissions received, the judging panel selected just over eighty entries to take part in the Hackathon. During the first day the top ideas will be selected and teams formed around those ideas.
The finalists are given 48 hours to refine their ideas before they present for three minutes to the judging panel at the end of the third day. A few days after the Hackathon, the best two ideas will then be selected and both teams will attend a five-week innovation lab in London starting in October, where they will further develop their ideas. In November, the teams will present their innovations, with one selected to become Majid Al Futtaim’s next great moment and be awarded AED 250,000.
Galal Ismail continued: “The Innovation Challenge provides a unique opportunity for us to foster a culture of innovation amongst our people. We believe that our employees can bring new ideas to the table that will challenge our current thinking and help us deliver on our brand promise to deliver great moments for everyone, every day.”
