CBUAE launches Innovation Hub at Emirates Institute of Finance

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has announced the launch of the "Innovation Hub" at the Emirates Institute of Finance, a world-class centre for research, innovation, and development in the financial services sector.

The initiative aligns with the UAE's sustainable vision to promote technological transformation and develop specialised national competencies in financial innovation.

The opening ceremony at the institute's campus in Dubai was attended Khaled Mohammed Balama, CBUAE Governor and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EIF, Mohammed bin Taliah, Head of Government Services, Saif Al Dhaheri, Assistant Governor for Banking Operations and Support Services, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Institute of Finance; members of the Institute's Board of Directors; and Noura Alblooshi, General Manager of the Emirates Institute of Finance, along with CEOs of banks and financial institutions.

The Innovation Hub is a key component of the "Financial Infrastructure Transformation Programme," which comprises nine initiatives to accelerate digital transformation across the financial landscape.

This collaboration between the Emirates Institute of Finance and the Central Bank is set to foster a new generation of skilled professionals equipped to meet the industry's evolving demands.
The Hub aims to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies in the financial sector and AI activities by providing a flexible and supportive environment for research and development. The centre plans to establish a broad collaborative network involving universities, research institutions, and startups.

The Hub features six dynamic laboratories, including the Learning Lab, Digital Lab, Reg Lab, Think Lab, Collab Lab, and Future Lab. They provide a platform for students, researchers, and finance professionals to exchange ideas and tackle pressing challenges in the sector.

The inauguration ceremony showcased various technological solutions and global AI applications, highlighting the Innovation Hub's focus on advanced technologies.

Balama commented, "The launch of the Innovation Hub embodies the Central Bank's strategic objectives of establishing robust and innovative financial market infrastructure, and support shaping the future of the UAE's financial technology and digitalisation journey. The Hub will facilitate the adoption of digital technologies to reinforce the CBUAE's mission to enhance monetary and financial stability and encourage knowledge transfer between the Central Bank and the Financial Services sector.

This collaborative platform will advance the vision of our wise leadership of positioning the UAE at the forefront of the global digital economy in accordance with the 'We, the UAE 2031' national plan." The inauguration featured the signing of a collaboration agreement with Microsoft to develop advanced technological solutions that enhance digital efficiency within the financial sector. Through this collaboration, training courses in AI will be available to 10,000 professionals across the UAE's financial services sector.

"AI is changing industries and driving global innovation. The UAE aims to become a leading AI nation, and skilling is essential to this goal. By training over 10,000 professionals in the financial sector to use AI, we are fostering local talent and ensuring expertise. Our collaboration with the Emirates Institute of Finance supports the UAE's AI journey, building a talent pool that will drive excellence and innovation in the AI era," Naim Yazbeck, General Manager of Microsoft UAE.
Additionally, the Emirates Institute of Finance signed an MoU with Udacity and Accenture during the inauguration ceremony. This initiative aims to upskill 5,000 learners in key areas such as data analytics and cybersecurity.

"By leveraging our advanced digital learning platform, powered by Udacity and part of Accenture's LearnVantage, we aim to broaden the reach of this programme across all financial institutions in the UAE," said Omar Boulos, CEO of Accenture in the Middle East.

The event witnessed the signing of an MoU between the Emirates Institute of Finance and Ernst & Young (EY), a global leader in professional services. This collaboration partnership aims to support the development of sustainable digital solutions in the financial services sector and provide advanced training programmes in data analysis, cybersecurity, and digital transformation.

Khurram Mian, EY Mena Assurance Leader, said, "EY Academy will facilitate EIF in building their capabilities and amplify efforts to realise the goals of the Emiratisation agenda. The agreement includes long-term plans to offer certification programmes to establish industry-leading regional and international benchmarks." The event also included a speech by Brett King, founder of Moven and a recognised authority in financial technology.

Meanwhile, DMCC, the international business district that drives the flow of global trade through Dubai, and the global crypto exchange Bybit, have concluded the second edition of the Middle East’s largest Web3 hackathon focused on pioneering the latest innovations in Web3.
With an increased prize pool of US$160,000, the event saw 15 of the world’s most innovative Web3 startups compete to develop creative technical solutions to a range of challenges at the cutting edge of the sector, including tokenisation, AI, Web3 infrastructure, zero-knowledge protocols, digital identity and DePIN (decentralised physical infrastructure networks).

The 15 projects were carefully curated to promote real-world industry solutions, encouraging tangible, practical applications that create meaningful impact. Judges evaluated each project based on creativity, technical implementation, practicality, business potential and impact, focusing on how effectively each project addressed genuine challenges.

The five winners recognised for their technical prowess: KelpMe, a blockchain-based solution addressing private key loss and misdirected transactions with a recovery mechanism; Trepa, a Telegram app leveraging the tone blockchain for secure, low-cost prediction pools; Mavryk Network, a Layer 1 blockchain revolutionising asset tokenisation and DeFi applications; Hive, a compute-sharing platform harnessing home GPUs to democratise tech access; and Poppin, a browser extension transforming webpages into social hubs for real-time interactions.

Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DMCC, said, "By pioneering new solutions in tokenisation, AI, and zero-knowledge protocols, the DMCC-Bybit hackathon continues to show why Dubai remains at the forefront of Web3 innovation. With an expanded competition of 15 global start-ups and an increased prize pool of US$160,000, we are attracting the world’s best talent to Dubai to encourage practical applications and create meaningful impact.”

Ben Zhou, Co-founder and CEO of Bybit, stated, "It is safe to say there is such an abundance of Web3 talent here in Dubai. The fierce competition displayed a clear ethos of innovation, so we are proud to work with DMCC to advance Web3 globally. We look forward to seeing all of today’s competitors make their mark on the world of Web3.” With over 600 members, the DMCC Crypto Centre is a comprehensive ecosystem for companies that develop Web3 technologies, and associated value-added services. Providing everything that crypto businesses and entrepreneurs need to set up and scale their operations, it has become the largest concentration of crypto and Web3 firms in the region.

WAM