UAE digital Startups can become the keystone in increasing global GDP by USD 1.5 trillion and creating 10 million youth jobs, industry experts announced this week at the recent SAP Startup Focus Event, held in the build-up to GITEX Technology Week 2016.
By 2020, digital startups in general will help increase global GDP by USD 1.5 trillion, according to the recent Accenture report “Harnessing the Power of Entrepreneurs to Open Innovation”. Demonstrating the UAE’s potential, the country ranks as the top in the Middle East and North Africa, and top 20 in the world in supporting entrepreneurs, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Index 2016.
In line with UAE Vision 2021, which is transforming the country into a global entrepreneurship hub, the SAP Training and Development Institute has conducted a second Startup Focus Event in the UAE, held in partnership with Dubai Internet City’s in5 Innovation Center.
During the two-day event with more than 150 participants, innovators gained insights from successful startup founders, and interacted with media and venture capitalists. Promising entrepreneurs also learned operational details on running their startup, and gained coding skills to build their application on SAP HANA, one of the world’s fastest growing in memory platforms. The event provided attending startups with the opportunity to become part of the global SAP Startup Focus Program.
Majed Al Suwaidi, Managing Director of Dubai Internet City and Dubai Outsource City, said: “We are pleased to supports this year’s SAP Startup Focus event which is one of the largest software companies in the world, and together we will offer entrepreneurs a vibrant environment to ignite their ideas. The success story of in5 innovation centre we launched in 2013, is a testament to Dubai Internet City’s commitment to support and encourage innovation and creativity among startups and technopreneurs by providing promising talents with opportunities to network and learn from experts. in5 has played a leading role in supporting the tech start-up ecosystem in the region, and we are developing the innovation hub to stimulate innovation and excellence across technology, new media, smart education and sciences”.
“We shall always try to provide small businesses and startups the right platforms to grow, expand and continue to look at ways to foster innovation, enterprise and entrepreneurship over the coming years”, added Majed Al Suwaidi.
The Startup Focus Program supports more than 3,400 startups worldwide, providing startups with free access to tools, support, and training to develop innovations on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform, and bring them to market in an ecosystem of 2 million people and 310,000 customers in 190 countries.
The SAP Training and Development Institute launched the Startup Focus Program in the Middle East and North Africa in fall 2015, while meanwhile 10 startups building their business success on SAP’s innovative technology.
ShortPoint is the program’s first successfully incubated and validated startup in the Middle East and North Africa and based out of Dubai. It develops tools to make web content design much quicker without coding requirements. As part of the Startup Focus Program, ShortPoint integrated their product with SAP HANA Cloud Portal enabling users to Design modern sites in just a few minutes, without coding or deep technical skills.
“The Startup Focus program offers world-class support and access on an easy-to-use open platform, which help to reduce development time and cost. Startup Focus has helped ShortPoint to enter the fast-growth UAE market and beyond, and we are committed to further supporting the region’s Digital Economy,” said Sami AlSayyed, Founder and CEO of ShortPoint.
“Rolling-out the global SAP Startup Focus Program in MENA has proven to be truly boosting regional innovation through SAP technology. Our second batch of startups will benefit from an expanded ecosystem and support network, and we are confident to again showcase innovative solutions from regional startups on the global stage at premier industry events like SAPPHIRE NOW, the largest global business technology event,” said Marita Mitschein, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, SAP Training and Development Institute.
UAE Startups such as ShortPoint aim to be further supported at the GITEX Startup Movement, which will bring together hundreds of global entrepreneurs, startups, and investors.