The metaverse isn’t some distant future. It’s here. It’s been here since we transitioned from wads of cash in wallets to glossy cards in sleek cardholders, to paying online and finally digital currencies. The world of payments is already virtual. So why not make it fun?

With technology woven into the fabric of our day-to-day life, Ziina is taking the awkwardness out of digital payments by making them simple, fast, and interactive. A progressive digital wallet that makessending cash as easy as sending a text message, The Dubai-based, YC-backed start-up is on a mission to revolutionize online money transfers for consumers in the Middle East and is designed with today’s digital economy and consumers in mind.

Launched in February 2022, Ziina allows consumers to easily send and receive payments in just a few taps. Not content with eliminating the tedious process of entering IBANs and swift codes, Ziina took it one step further and abstained from collecting user’s emails. As anyone with a spam folder knows, we could all receive less promo emails.  Users also have the option to punctuate their payments with GIFs, photos, texts and emojis. Requesting money from someone using a winking Zach Galafinakis GIF feels a lot more like a text than a payment request.

With the formation of its innovative Cashless Dubai Working Group, Ziina is at the forefront of shifting transactions, and the numbers support this. Euromonitor International reports that in 2019, 60% of all consumer payment transactions in the UAE were non-cash payments, a rate that is set to reach 73% by 2025. This is where Ziina’s two-click payment system is leading the way.

On its quest to help enable a cashless economy and make it a reality in the UAE, Ziina is focused on developing state-of-the-art tools that are fun to use, empowering individuals to gain more control of their financial future. And they’re doing it in less taps than any other platform. 

But it’s not just money transfers among friends and family that Ziina serves. Business owners can expect to replace PDF invoices with QR codes and payment links — keeping both vendors and consumers at ease.

For a pain-free financial experience in the UAE, download Ziina. No IBANs, Swift Codes, or e-mails needed. Available on the App Store and Google Play.

Total Experience is seen as the interconnection between Customer, Employee, User and Multiexperience.

A Global study conducted by IDG Communications found that over half of MENA enterprises believe they offer a ‘good’ Total Experience.  However, many businesses struggle to deliver on the individual facets that make up Total Experience: Customer, Employee, User and Multiexperience.

Avaya (NYSE:AVYA), a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration, announced results of an online market research survey conducted by IDG Communications, indicating that just over half of businesses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) believe they offer a “good” Total Experience.

Total Experience is the interconnection between Customer, Employee, User, and Multiexperience. While companies often develop the right strategies, the best customer outcomes occur where tools and strategy intersect and focus on this interconnection to deliver a superior Total Experience. Total Experience has been described by Gartner as one of the top strategic technology trends for 2022.

The global research polled business and technology leaders from a range of industries across the globe, including 80 from the MENA region, to explore the journey of enterprises as they evolve customer and employee experience from individual channels or applications towards a more interconnected experience.​ Respondents worked at firms with a minimum of 500 employees, and were manager-level and above.   

It found that, despite rating themselves ‘good’ when offering a Total Experience, many MENA firms are struggling to deliver on the individual facets that enable them to become truly customer-centric. Exactly half believe that they deliver a good Employee Experience, and just 33% say they offer a good Multiexperience. Just over half of MENA companies (54%) agree that they deliver a good User Experience, but only 43% say they offer a good Customer Experience.

“Regional businesses rightly place a high premium on customer experience, so it comes as no surprise that the majority are expanding their strategies to uplift the experiences that they deliver to their customers. To be truly customer-centric, organizations need a cohesive CX strategy that gives employees the tools to wow every customer on any device. The good news is that MENA firms realize this, and are already working towards it – 74% say they have a cohesive customer interaction strategy,” said Nidal Abou-Ltaif, President, Avaya International.

The vast majority of MENA firms (93%) say that customer experience is an intrinsic part of their brand value. However, those who scored higher in Total Experience empower employees with newer tools and platforms only used by some MENA firms – messenger platforms (44%), video chat (33%), chatbots (43%), and AI-based virtual assistants (31%). The organizations that support these newer tools have found that they simplify support, transform customer experiences, and benefit from more complete analytic tools.

Avaya OneCloud™ CCaaS makes it easy to connect everything—voice, video, chat, messaging, and more—to deliver effortless experiences for customers and employees at every touchpoint, enabling businesses to provide a Total Experience.

“A monolithic, one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t meet the wide range of needs that businesses have as they look to compete in the experience economy,” said Abou-Ltaif. “When companies combine customer, employee, user and multi experience thinking, they elevate everything these approaches can achieve on their own. This enables them to deliver exactly what’s needed at every interaction. Avaya OneCloud is a Total Experience platform that lets you compose the experiences that each moment demands—for both customers and employees.”

#MENABusiness #TBI #TrendingBusinessInsights #Technology #Avaya #OneCloud #magazineUAE #magazine #mediaUAE #UAEbusiness #myDubai 

Musfir Khawaja, Co-Founder nftONE.me

It would not be factually incorrect to assume that a considerable population of the world lives and dies while on the internet. The internet as we know has come a long way. From sending emails and messages to buying automobiles, one would think that there is not much left the internet cannot do. But industry experts say the show is just getting started because with NFTs, the internet has morphed into one big decentralized investment bank.

In simple terms, NFTs are the first step in the securitization of digital data. Most people think that NFTs are digital art, memes, music or audio but in reality, any data whose ownership is recorded on to the block chain, becomes an NFT.

You (anyone, anywhere) can sell anything digital (including images, video, audio, any other forms of digital data) by simply documenting its usage terms on to a smart contract on a block chain, creating a token out of it and then selling it to the highest bidder.

With an increase in the adoption of block chain technologies and the growing popularity of decentralized finance, NFTs have risen as a new asset class. To be fair, they are very speculative in nature. The digital data (lets for argument value assume is your photo of Dubai’s skyline) that you are selling as an NFT may or may not sell at all. There has to be a good reason for anyone to buy an NFT (Digital Asset). Lets look at some scenarios below

1. Trader mindset: Investor buys into a digital asset because they feel its undervalued presently and will quickly appreciate in value.
2. Collector mindset: The collector appreciates the aesthetic or collectible value of the digital asset and buys it to keep it in their collection.

For creators, NFTs open a new revenue stream. Where people earlier were collecting only physical art, digital art is fast catching up as a store of value and culture. Digital screens are everywhere, digital art is easy to load and even easier to store.

Recently, an NFT of “The Pontifex Carpet” was sold for over US$ 85,000 in Dubai, UAE.  The Pontifex carpet was gifted by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Pope Francis during a visit to the Vatican City. In September 2016, the two met to discuss the strengthening of the diplomatic relations between UAE and the Vatican as well as the promotion of inter-religious harmony.

In this scenario, the collector considers this digital asset as a store of value, culture and history at the same time. The NFT represents a watershed moment in history, a unique gift and involves two very influential people alive in this day and age.

This asset could be sold for much higher in the secondary market if a new collector decides it is imperative for them to collect this NFT for whatever reason.

Now imagine a less established creator trying to sell a photo of Dubai’s skyline as an NFT. Could it sell as an NFT? Yes, but who will buy this as a digital asset that by definition should appreciate in value over time.

The answer is a bit complicated as the buyers will be either people who believe that buying this photo is a sound financial investment and it will be highly sought after in a few months could jump at this opportunity or those who want to buy the photo as digital art and are happy to receive an in-tangible return on their investment by only looking at it or perhaps using it to fill an empty space in their otherwise empty wall.

Most buyers in the NFT space today, however, are traders who are speculating on a sharp increase in value of a certain digital asset. This could very easily turn out to be dud investments in three to six months’ time but in order to hedge their risk, these buyers hype up the value of that digital asset and then invite others to buy it from them at a higher price because they want the new buyer to believe the asset is still undervalued and soon it will appreciate even further.

If you are considering getting into the NFT space, do your own extensive research before buying a digital asset. You must have a reason to buy it.

News Highlights

1). 2022 KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator competition is being hosted in over 21 countries round the world

2). 2022 edition of Global Tech Innovator competition will find the most influential tech innovator

3). 2021 competition attracted close to 700 competitors from around the world where Natufia – a smart kitchen garden concept stood the winner of local competition

4). The final Global Tech Innovator event will be held during the Web Summit 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal

Following the acknowledged success of the 2021 edition, KPMG in Saudi Arabia has returned with another competition, to find the most influential and inspiring tech innovator of the year. The firm is looking to find technological disruptors and influencers who are helping to reshape the world and leave a positive impact, and has invited entrepreneurs and start-ups to apply.

The 2021 KPMG Global Tech Innovator competition attracted close to 700 competitors from around the world, with for the first-time applicants from Saudi Arabia. The winner of the local competition, Natufia – a smart kitchen garden concept – went on to Lisbon to compete on the global stage. The start-up, which was up against four other tech start-ups in a closely contested competition from BRAQ Aerospace, Juleb Digital Pharma Company, Mawidy and Tarjama who were shortlisted in this inaugural edition.

To be recognized as a leading tech innovator, companies from start-up to accelerated growth stages are invited to pitch their innovations and present their strategic ambitions to panels of local and global industry experts. This is their opportunity to be recognized as one of Saudi Arabia’s most innovative and successful technology entrepreneurs.

Shortlisted companies will be given exclusive networking opportunities among industry experts and tech leaders. The winner in Saudi Arabia will progress to the Global Tech Innovator final event during the Web Summit 2022 in Lisbon Portugal, where they will pitch their growth plans to an international judging panel and compete with the participants from other countries for the global recognition.

In 2021, Brazil’s rapidly growing AgriTech startup Krilltech NanoAgtech was crowned the KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator winner, following an intense competition with 16 other finalists including Natufia.

Commenting on the competition, Dr. Samer Abdallah, Head of ICT Sector, KPMG in Saudi Arabia, said, “We are excited to see that start-ups are booming in Saudi Arabia. More and more entrepreneurs are succeeding each day, and their success inspires others. By bringing innovative technologies to light, we are supporting the growth of companies that are changing the world for better. No matter what type of technology a business is utilizing, whether they are tech-enabled, tech-led, or tech-driven, we encourage them to apply to this competition and take advantage of this incredible opportunity.”

“Making connections and gaining recognition among some of Saudi Arabia’s most respected advisors, industry leaders, and other major world markets through the global exposure in the competition, is an opportunity that every tech entrepreneur would be excited about.”

The 2022 KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator competition is being hosted in over 21 countries round the world.  

Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE: HPE), today announced that Rotana Hotels & Resorts has deployed the vendor’s Wi-Fi technology to deliver high-speed and uninterrupted connectivity for guests, staff, and business applications, while creating a platform on which to continuously deliver innovative, differentiated guest experiences. The implementation has enabled increase in allocated bandwidth per session from 8mbps to 25mbps, resulted in an average of 25% increase in guest satisfaction with wireless services, and saves an average of 35% of man-days required for solution management and administration. Fully wireless access to Guest Services Management greatly enhances staff mobility and flexibility, thereby improving their efficiency, and productivity. The technology provides reliable, efficient, and secure connectivity for point of sales (POS) terminals critical to conveniently billing guests and has enabled the introduction of Chromecast Solutions that offer guests high-quality media streaming.

In hospitality today, Wi-Fi is considered to be an essential amenity and any disruption or degradation of the service can significantly impact guest satisfaction. As a leading brand, Rotana Hotels & Resorts recognizes the role that reliable, high-speed connectivity plays, not only in fulfilling this expectation, but also in serving as the platform on which it can continuously deliver innovative, differentiated guest experiences.

To meet this objective, Mr. Wael Othman, Corporate Director of IT & Business Solutions at Rotana Hotel Management Corporation and the Corporate IT team have standardized on Aruba wireless and switching portfolio at 30+ hotel properties in UAE. This has enabled the brand to provide its guests and employees with uninterrupted access to mission-critical applications with impressively high levels of performance and reliability, irrespective of their location or movement around the property.

The network performance and reliability made possible by Aruba’s solutions have enabled Rotana IT Team to introduce a number of innovative guest experiences, most notably, Rotana Rewards – a single app through which guests can avail of a myriad of services. “We now offer an intuitive app that puts key experiences at our guests’ fingertips. Everything, from booking to check in, making restaurant reservations and even managing their loyalty program benefits, is delivered via Rotana Rewards,” Mr. Othman said. In the post-pandemic era, this paves the way for all-important contactless experiences.

Rotana Hotels & Resorts leverages its Aruba network to deliver a host of IP-based services. “Aruba has given us the confidence to route some essentials guest and employee services through the wireless network. This ensures that we can run critical services such as Point of Sales terminals, HD-video streaming devices, and our Guest Services Management system, with complete confidence in their performance and availability,” Mr. Othman commented.

Additionally, Aruba’s integration with Zigbee has made it possible to consolidate IoT gateways with the network. Doing so has allowed the Rotana Hotels & Resorts to leverage smart sensors and devices such as digital locks that make guest experiences more convenient and effortless.

“Digital technologies and services will increasingly define operations and guest experiences in our sector, and IT will become ever more embedded across all functions. Through our partnership with industry-leaders like Aruba, Rotana Hotels & Resorts will ensure it stays at the forefront of this digital revolution in hospitality,” concluded Mr. Othman.

Mr. Jacob Chacko, Regional Director – Middle East, Saudi & South Africa at HPE Aruba commented, “In the fast-paced hospitality sector, only true innovators can consistently lead and stand out. Rotana Hotels & Resorts is always keen to leverage the latest digital transformation technologies. With Aruba’s technology in place, the Group now has a rock-solid platform on which they can continue to innovate and keep delivering on their commitment to guests, employees and other stakeholders.”

Newage Learning FZCO, a leading training provider of instructor-led software programming and immersive cybersecurity bootcamps, has announced its partnership with American University in the Emirates (AUE).

The leadership of the UAE announced the country’s national strategy for artificial intelligence (AI), with a clear vision of becoming world leaders in AI by the year 2031. Key objectives within this strategy include the attraction and training of talent and developing a fertile ecosystem for AI. The programmes offered by Newage Learning, through the Viva Coder initiatives ensure that the talent pool for coding is being cultivated within the universities present in the UAE.

In addition, the country has announced the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) Strategy to strengthen the country’s position as a global hub and to increase its contribution to the national economy by means of advancing innovation and future technologies.

The partnership between American University in the Emirates and Newage Learning seeks to strengthen the two parties’ academic cooperation to promote mutual objectives in holding joint bootcamps, as well as creating a community of coders throughout the university. As a partner institution of AUE, Newage Learning will establish skills based training programs targeting various colleges in AUE.

The AUE President, Professor Muthanna Ghani Abdul Razzaq, said: “It is vital that the higher education sector respond to the global technological needs with strategic approaches to maximize the potential of the students by building their skills required across industries. The shared value of AUE and Newage Learning including lifelong learning and students’ success, makes this collaboration an important step towards bridging the digital gap within today’s workforce”.

The Newage Learning founder and Director, Shailesh Dash, affirmed: “We find AUE are the best partner in creating a technology-focused community in boosting the student’s digital skills. Our partnership will create most up-to-date technology courses tailored to the specific learning styles & needs of the participants.”

The immersive programs will also offer opportunities for students to secure roles in digital and tech companies, to freelance or to follow their entrepreneurial pursuits.