Talking to Secretary Fox, it becomes clear that the future of the 15 minute city is not simply technology driven: it’s values driven, economics driven, and regulation driven, requiring real-time and deep collaboration between the private and public sectors. From connected vehicles to semi autonomous supply-logistics on land, sea and air the future of mobility is more efficient, but hopefully more human too.
Joel Dietz has worked on Ethereum from the very beginning, during a time when even giant incubators like the famous YCombinator appeared to have trouble predicting the utility of a 'smart contract.' An MIT Connection Science Fellow, Joel is described by MIT as a “serial entrepreneur and intellectual historian who helped found a number of initiatives in the cryptocurrency space, including Ethereum, MetaMask, the first smart contract educational channel, and the first academic work on crypto-econo...
Sensorium describes itself as “building the future of the senses” in the metaverse. Global artists such as David Guetta, Carl Cox and Armin Van Buren have signed up for live and pre-recorded performances in ‘Prism World’, a VR and metaverse enabled music entertainment experience described as ‘immersive’ and literally “out of this world.” The Sensorium websites features sharp video trailers of what these experiences look like. We were lucky enough to speak with Deputy CEO, Alex Blagirev, on the t...
McCauley’s work would help to develop USB drivers, kernel mode drivers, the first scrolling feature for a computer mouse, and the Guitar Hero controller, which made gaming both more tactile and accessible. Then there is his work on the Oculus Rift Dev Kits I and II, before the VR headset company was sold to Facebook US$2.3 billion in cash and stock, in March 2014. In this episode we talk about hardware, education and the early Oculus kickstarter campaign, which probably remains the most famous c...
Much of the discussion on cybersecurity concerns, well “cyber” - computers surveilling computers, algorithms to detect algorithms, or AI scanning massive amounts of data. What is often lost is a focus on human beings. The field of cybersecurity itself is rapidly evolving into an established profession in which a combination of technical and analytical skills are required. A lot of the discussion on the 4ID around the world covers technology replacing humans. While this is true across many indust...
Popularized in sci-fi movies like the Terminator, the Matrix and others is the concept of a “machine-age”, or what Matthew Yarger and others refer to as “the machine economy.” We’ve seen this debate in regard to ethical AI, or "fairness in algorithms,” but a new frontier is appearing in regard to centralization, walled gardens and networks with “a single point of failure.” In a centralized system, there are fears automation could allow “Skynet” scenario - machines making decisions so complex, th...
Today we’re talking to Emad Haffar, Head of Technical Experts at Kaspersky cybersecurity Middle East. Emad has managed large cybersecurity projects across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. From machine-learning pattern recognition to analyst driven intelligence and a specially developed IOS for the Internet of Things, Emad provides a comprehensive introduction to the “New Threat Environments” consumers, businesses and governments are facing. Over the past 12-18 months digitalisation has accele...
One of the stereotypes of the Middle East is things don’t happen quickly here. Entrepreneurs in the Levant and GCC are often frustrated that their peers in the west can take advantage of regulations and infrastructure they don’t have access to - or simply get stuff done more quickly. Of course it’s not that simple, but there is a sense that business depends on building firm relationships and a lot of diligence before the ink is signed. And then the UAE signed a peace deal with Israel, and we saw...
A couple of years ago there was a big buzz around 3D printing. Many Tech analysts suggested a future in which we’d all be ‘print-publishing’ consumer items in our homes. That hasn’t happened yet. It’s even possible that 3D printing on the consumer end will remain a niche skill set, favored by designers, engineers and inventors. But the wider industrial implications of 3D printing are beginning to emerge. Right now students across the UAE learning the process, software and techniques necessary to...
Algorithms watching algorithms - a 21st century version of the Latin dictum, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes, or ‘who watches the watchmen’. This time written in code. New business services engineered and launched within days, rather than months - the idea that COVID-19 is forcing an adaptive response in which efficiency and speed are critical; & that empathy, particularly during challenging times, can be designed into a process. In the UAE, a complex scenario in which government acts as a gra...
This week we’re talking with Dorian Barak, a prominent investor and fund-manager based in Israel. Earlier this year Dorian founded the UAE-Israel Business Council to explore opportunities for investment between the two countries. With the passing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020, collaboration and integration between two of the region’s most globalized economies is suddenly possible. Until recently, such collaboration existed only behind closed doors. American-born and educated at Yale, ...
Smart city access points that unlock new mobility solutions. A VR enhanced history lesson on the ancient silk roads. A health app that directly monitors your vitals and communicates with local health providers. Faster gaming and larger online communities. All of these near-horizon services have one thing in common: bandwidth. As smartphones serve as the portal to the cities we live in, and the wider digital economies around us, faster and more robust data networks are unlocking a new phase of ec...
If you’ve been tuning in, you’ll have noticed that FINTECH is a recurring theme in discussions on the UAE Tech podcast. It’s receiving significant VC investment across the region, often with little fanfare. From physical cash to digital 1’s and 0’s, how we receive, send, invest and spend money is critical to, well, pretty much everything. There are two arguments about the nature of the changes taking place across financial institutions. The first is a ‘cyberutopian’ argument - centralised banks,...
Can artificial intelligence have character? What’s it like to visualize the brain in VR? How can software be programmed to identify the biomarkers of disease or provide a diagnosis that is often more accurate than a human. How is haptic feedback making physical space more accessible to people of determination? This week we’re talking with Hailey Yoon, the founder of a Dubai technology practice called IO21, working to build new software products for private and government clients. Between 2017 – ...
One reasons for a lack of outside investment in the Middle East tech industry is a lack of reliable data. Over the past decade Venture Capital (VC) has been slowly transforming the SME space, but mapping this process hasn’t always been easy. That's why this week we're talking with Philip Bashosy, the founder of MAGniTT, to explore MENA's increasingly confident venture capital (VC) industry. We'll be going into a deep-dive into the kind of investment data that less than a decade ago, simply did n...
This week we’re talking with Paul Bogan, Chief Digital Officer for Serco Middle East. Serco is a British company providing public services support to governments around the world. Serco have a compelling vantage point on the mega-trends shaping how data is driving government services, how robots work in real life - and not just in the movies - or how COVID-19 is accelerating digital adaptation within large organizations. For reasons of client confidentiality it’s often difficult to go into techn...
How are blockchain technology and the wider battle for '#FreedomontheInternet' related? Why is a decentralized index the future of the Web? What are “walled gardens” and why does the “Web 3.0” need to replace them? Finally, how can we code our values in cyberspace? To talk about these issues, Amy and Devon James from Alexandria Labs joined the UAE Tech Podcast to discuss their pioneering work on the Open Index Protocol and a more fun, sovereign and creative Internet.
This week we’re talking with Alessandro Casucio of CONVZ Analytics, on the evolution of the region’s now booming e-commerce sector. Alessandro Casuccio arrived in the UAE eight years ago, shortly before e-commerce was to witness a massive surge in growth. At that time the e-commerce ecosystem in MENA was working hard to solve challenges in logistics, supply-chain management and online payment infrastructure. After working with Noon, Namshi, Careem and others Casuccio had the market insight requi...
Danish Farhan describes himself as someone who is “building nations with stories.” His personal story, and the story of Xische and Co, the company he founded as a nineteen year old, are intimately connected to several of the trends taking place in the UAE right now. Danish and his team have been directly involved in everything from Smart City Planning, to co-authoring Dubai's Blockchain strategy to projects that involve auditing happiness or collaborating with a government backed future technolo...
UAE Tech is an exploration on how technology is merging with government in the United Arab Emirates. In this promo edition we’re really lucky to have the inimitable John McAfee help us launch the series. In America, the UK and CommonWealth John is a household name. For our listeners in the Middle East, John is the mind behind the first ever commercial antivirus software. McAffee antivirus sold to Intel in 2011 in a deal valued at $7.68 billion dollars. In the intervening years, John McAfee has b...
