Gitex draws big crowds as experts discuss innovation, sustainability

Sajjad Ahmad, Deputy Business Editor

The second day of Gitex Global 2023 has witnessed various announcements and launches from the local and global companies as the day attracted an unprecedented flow of visitors.

Innovative technological solutions were at display as experts and stakeholders were busy in discussions for more sustainable products to reduce carbon footprints.

Trade chain: As part of its vision to expand the “Invisible Customs System”, Abu Dhabi Customs launched its advanced digital platform “Trade chain” in the Abu Dhabi Government pavilion during its participation in Gitex Global 2023, held at Dubai World Trade Centre.

This advanced platform integrates with global blockchain platforms specialised in trade, providing benefits like improving customs operations performance, enhancing the reliability of information sources, and processing information proactively and quickly through a safe and secure platform.

The platform enhances the capability to monitor shipments, as well as the shipping and clearance procedures. It can also predict delivery times, contributing to reduced effort and costs associated with customs clearance. Furthermore, it facilitates seamless communication with trade partners and enhances supply chain security.

The platform also enhances the speed of data exchange with connected entities and guarantees the confidentiality of data shared with customs authorities and other entities using the platform. This results in a reduction of up to 80 per cent in the time and effort required for goods clearance.

Rashed Lahej Al Mansoori, Director General of Abu Dhabi Customs, said that the launch of the advanced customs platform “Trade Chain” comes within the framework of Abu Dhabi Customs’ ongoing efforts to facilitate trade, bolster security and safeguard society, by adopting advanced technologies to enhance its customs system and consolidate its pioneering position, in line with the directives of the wise leadership, and the economic visions for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE, through continuous foresight for the future and keeping pace with innovation in trade facilitation and the opportunities that the Fourth Industrial Revolution technology brings to increase efficiency and effectiveness and save time, effort and cost within all customs transactions, especially through establishing coordinated, effective, integrated and digital border management systems, ensuring invisible customs and governed borders that are both open and secure.

He explained that the Trade Chain platform, which aims to achieve a qualitative leap in digital customs transactions efficiency, allows better risk assessment and more efficient inspection of goods, with comprehensive monitoring of shipments, which will reflect positively on securing and facilitating trade and supply chains by expediting shipping process.

Furthermore, Abu Dhabi Customs, represented by Fahad Ghareeb Al Shamsi, Executive Director of Support Services Sector, signed a cooperation agreement with CargoX on the sidelines of the Trade Chain platform launch at Gitex, represented by Steve Cuckman, Managing Director, regarding data transfer via the blockchain platform.

The cooperation agreement aims to establish a framework for implementing blockchain projects and enhancing relations between the two parties to provide better services to Abu Dhabi Customs clients and clear shipments before arrival, as well as exchange expertise and information and meet business requirements and optimal use of the capabilities and expertise of both parties in areas of mutual interest.

Areas of cooperation include benefiting from the use of the Advance Cargo Information System, providing a blockchain data transfer solution to be presented to importers and exporters of goods through maritime ports in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to facilitate the flow of maritime imports and exports.

According to a study conducted by the World Economic Forum, the global market value of blockchain technology in the customs field is expected to grow to $20 billion by 2025, saving up to $200 billion annually in global customs

‘ADAAi’ Dashboard: During its participation in Gitex Global 2023, and after the successful debut of Al Mersad on the first day of the event, the Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority unveils ADAAi, a dashboard which enables senior management to take proactive decisions based on accurate data that is regularly updated. The dashboard works to establish transparency, cooperation, and accountability, which enhances the capabilities of the team and develops productivity and efficiency to keep track with the accelerating pace of work.The ADAAi dashboard automates institutional processes as it provides senior management from various departments and units with accurate information about completion rates for projects and operational processes in a unified interactive interface that is updated in real-time. This allows officials to link strategies and courses of action with operational plans to ensure that ADAA’s goals are achieved in record time. The dashboard also supports the monitoring of employees’ tasks and enables follow up on the workflow, responsibilities, optimal employment of human capital, budgets, disbursements, and completion rates, allowing for effective management of operations as needed. Featuring real-time integration with multiple data sources, the dashboard ensures that senior management have access to the latest information, interpreting complex data, assigning tasks directly and monitoring their completion through the dashboard.

HPE at Gitex: This year’s Gitex is focusing on AI, it has provided Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) with a chance to delve more deeply into the realm of AI-powered technology and explore together with customers and the opportunities new solutions like the recently introduced HPE GreenLake for Large Language Models offer. This and other AI-enabling and enabled solutions, as well as HPE’s edge-to-cloud portfolio with the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform at its core, is our focus for this year.

At this year’s Gitex, visitors have the opportunity to explore HPE’s diverse range of solutions that support and are enhanced by AI, which includes machine learning (ML), high-performance computing (HPC), unified analytics, and other products and services. Additionally, visitors are receiving updates on the latest developments of the HPE GreenLake platform, HPE’s portfolio of cloud and as-a-service solutions. In recent months, HPE has introduced a significant variety of offerings and innovationsacross its HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform, hybrid cloud services, private cloud portfolio, and partner ecosystem, cementing its position as a hybrid cloud leader.

HPE is exhibiting an electronic waste art piece featuring “Burj Khalifa” created by the visual artist Deniz Sağdıç, an esteemed Turkish artist who is known for her use of thought-provoking materials to make her art. The piece of art, made entirely of HPE electronic circuit board parts, aims to raise awareness among GITEX visitors for the environmental impact of the technology industry and symbolise the company’s ongoing commitment to address environmental challenges in the UAE and the industry.

The “Burj Khalifa” is part of Sağdıç’s Ready Remade Series, measures 100x160 cm, and will be the centrepiece of the HPE stand.

“Sustainability is the issue of the whole world and the future,” said Sağdıç. “As the stakeholders of this issue, every individual and institution bears responsibility. Aiming to inspire eco-friendly sustainable ideas while drawing attention to the sustainability of art, I aim to recreate all kinds of waste products and objects in the world of art with the principle of recycling and upcycling.”

“Technology can be seen as one of sustainability’s biggest stumbling blocks: From energy consumption to electronic waste, to supply chain – the tech industry has a growing ecological footprint and needs to take responsibility,” said Ahmad Alkhallafi, Managing Director for UAE & Africa at HPE. “But we also see that technology can be part of the solution, be it in research and development or as a driver for transformation. This is why we have dedicated ourselves to offering sustainable solutions and services that can help our customers and partners monitor, observe, and reduce their IT carbon footprint.”

As the first IT company to set science-based targets across its value chain aligned to the goals of the Paris climate accord, HPE recognizes the imperative to minimize the industry’s environmental footprint and the opportunity to enable a low-carbon economy. HPE is committed to becoming net-zero across the entire value chain – including the use of HPE products – by 2040.

Introducing Yasmina: Yango, a global tech company, is excited to offer a sneak peak of its current project – an Arabic-speaking, human-like AI assistant called Yasmina. This smart assistant is an empathetic companion that goes beyond basic tasks like streaming music or turning on smart home appliances.

What sets Yasmina apart from other assistants is the ability to maintain engaging, fun, and consistent dialogs that feel like you are talking to a real person. Yasmina’s ability to engage in a human-like conversation is based on a proprietary large language model that was thoroughly fine-tuned with the help of hundreds of content professionals, who edited and perfected Yasmina’s dialogs. A great number of people from different locations, like Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and more, were involved in training Yasmina to recognize a wide variety of speech patterns, intonations, and dialects.

Yasmina recognises if the user is male or female, understands the major Arabic dialects, speaks Khaleeji fluently, and will soon be able to both speak and understand English.

On a more practical level, Yasmina works as a smart home center: you can ask Yasmina to adjust the room temperature, turn on the vacuum, or find a new recipe. More than just an app on your phone, Yasmina can be built into other apps and smart home devices, including smart speakers.

Samer Mohamad, Yasmina Regional Director for MENA, Yango: “Our mission at Yango is to transform global technologies into everyday services for communities around the world. This is why we created an Arabic-speaking smart assistant that makes everyday chores fun and fits perfectly in any GCC home. Right now, we are fine-tuning Yasmina’s LLM to make the assistant even more fluent, creative, and emotionally intelligent.”