The creation of Dubai literally from the sands of the desert sounds like a modern-day fairy tale, but it has its roots in a vision for the future, and owes its success to a willingness to embrace innovation and inclusivity.
Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama, minister of state for artificial intelligence (AI), digital economy and remote work applications in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), comments on what he believes to be the secret of Dubai’s success.
“I genuinely and sincerely believe that the secret and the most important resource for building the future is the ability to attract talent, those individuals with a spark in their eyes.”
Dubai’s development started with the discovery of oil, and the desire of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum to turn what was then a small cluster of settlements near the Dubai Creek into modern city, port and commercial hub.
Al Maktoum personally oversaw much of the early development, and determined that the city rising from the sands would focus beyond the needs of just his tribe, but embrace talent and resources from around the world.
“He was a man with a vision: but that vision was not executed by him alone, or by his family members or even by his tribe,” says Al Olama. “The whole world believed in the vision and flocked to Dubai to make it a reality.”
Five years ago, Dubai celebrated its first unicorn (a privately-owned start-up company valued at more than $1-billion); today it has 10. “This progress of the last five years is from the same momentum that created the city in the first place – because it is still important and relevant,” Al Olama says.
He adds that the city’s history is still relevant today in the context of artificial intelligence (AI) and smart cities.
“These things are still unproven, with a lot of ambiguity, but will be important for shaping the future. So we need a landscape to deploy alternative, where futurists can help us to understand outcomes without harming people. This would be a zone that allows technology to be deployed in a controlled environment.
“We could then decree the models into law or send people back to the drawing board to make iterations,” Al Olama explains.
To ensure it is in control of any potential negative impacts, Al Olama’s department has launched an IA ethics framework that seeks to ensure only non-controversial and ethical AI is deployed.
So far, AI is being employed in traffic management, and has succeeded in reducing congestion despite the number of cars on the road having doubled. It is also looking to AI to assist in zoning and land grants.
But there is so much more that could be done, Al Olama says.
“The opportunity at hand is huge. And we need to learn from our history: 1 000 years ago, the Middle East was the pinnacle of culture, and used to export science, technology and innovation to the rest of the world.
“But in 1455, when the printing press was invented, and was embraced by other cultures, it was banned in the Middle East because people feared ambiguity and didn’t know what would happen if we adopted it.
“This fear of ambiguity had a massive adverse effect on economies and society.
“The same opportunity exists today – it is the year 1455 all over again, and the decisions we take today will shape the next millennium.
“So we must embrace technology, and ensure that we leverage the good while regulating against the bad.”