Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU), the 11th edition of Innovation Arabia Conference & Exhibition will be held from the 11th to the 13th of March 2018 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, under the theme ‘Innovate, Disrupt and Transform’.
This was announced during a press conference held earlier today at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai, headed by Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University-HBMSU and the Chairman of the Conference’s Higher Committee, Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani, Chairman of INDEX Holding and the Executive Chairman of ‘Innovation Arabia’, and Prof. Nabil Baydoun, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Academic Affairs Division, among other dignitaries and media representatives.
Speaking during the press conference, Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, said: “Under the constant guidance and patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and the President of the University, Innovation Arabia continues to play a key role in driving innovation, which has become an integral part of the UAE’s vision towards building a sustainable future. The upcoming edition of the conference will focus on innovation as a pivotal tool for bringing about the change required within the business, health, environment, smart learning and Islamic economic sectors in the Arab world, led by generations empowered with knowledge economy tools and qualified innovatively and knowledgably to create and explore the future meeting requirements of the 21st century. We look forward with confidence to the outcome of the eleventh session, which will undoubtedly serve the development drive, based on innovation, which is a strategic priority for our wise leadership that reflects the mystery of the renewal of life and the progress of mankind.”
Commenting on the significance of this event, Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani said, “We at INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions – a member of INDEX Holding, are greatly honored to organize Innovation Arabia 11 in partnership with ‘Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart University’, which has become the most prominent eventon ‘Innovation’ held in Dubai every year. The aim of this conference is to explore the enormous potential of Arab states to accelerate the pace of socio-economic growth and enhance their capacity for sustainable development, in line with the visionary framework of the Dubai Plan 2021, which aims to move Dubai towards a sustainable economic model driven by innovation.”
He added, “Innovation Arabia 11 will bring togethertop-notch speakers on innovation, leading academics, world renowned researchers and key decision-makers in the public and private sector, who will share their experiences and knowledge in different fields. We hope that this event will greatly help in creating robust and competitive knowledge based economies in the region and around the world.”
Innovation Arabia 11 will feature specialized discussions on 4 parallel tracks this year that will include ‘Quality and Business Management’, ‘Health and Environment’, ‘Smart Learning’ and ‘Islamic Banking and Finance Track’.
Amongst the keynote speakers in the Health & Environment Track will be: Dr. Amer Ahmad Sharif, CEO of Dubai Healthcare City Authority – Education Sector (DHCE) and the Vice Chancellor of the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) , Dr. Demetris Francis Lekkas who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environment (University of the Aegean, Greece), and Prof. Abdallah Shanableh, Professor of Environmental Engineering and Director of the Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering at the University of Sharjah.
While Dr. Ahmed Mourady, Head of Strategy in Inbound Fintech in UK and member of Fintech accelerators groups and networks in UK, UAE and Egypt, and Mr. Khalid FerdousHowladar, Managing Director and Founder of Acreditus, will be speaking in the Islamic Banking and Finance Track.
Professor Asha Singh Kanwar, one of the world’s leading advocates of learning for sustainable development, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) will be speaking in the Smart Learning Track along with Dr. PetarStojanov who is a management consultant and entrepreneur in the UAE.
In the Quality and Business Management Track, Mr. Safder Nazir who heads Huawei’s Digital Industry Center of Excellence will be speaking in the conference along with Mr. Idriss Al Rifai, an entrepreneur passionate about disrupting the Middle East retail market with technologies and customer-centric services that enable the growth of e-commerce in the region.
Running parallel to the 3-day conference, the exhibition will offer Digital Agencies, Software Companies, Technology Providers, Educational Institutes, Smart Universities, Government excellence and Acceleration programs, and Islamic Banking Firms an opportunity to showcase their latest products and services in the field of innovation.
In addition to that, the event encourages research and professional development of the faculty, staff, administrators and students, by recognizing the achievements of the leadinginnovators in various fields with the special awards namely ‘Best Paper Award’ and ‘Student Research Award’.