Some events are historic because of the times that they occur in; and certain others, because of what they represent. The Dubai Expo 2020, which was rescheduled because of the Covid-19 outbreak to this year, ticks both those boxes.
There is a global consensus around the big-picture crisis that humanity is facing, because of the industrial, manufacturing, energy, and resource models that we have adopted in the last couple of centuries. The Dubai Expo is an event that will kick off a technology and innovation led response to this crisis.
The UAE administration sees the Expo as the beginning of a new era
It’s not a coincidence that the Expo more or less coincides with timeframe allocated for the goals of the UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda. The UAE has been actively pursuing a diversification of its economy, to prepare for the post fossil fuel era. Emerging as a major global and regional commercial hub; the UAE of today has positioned itself as a nation that will be a knowledge economy, with innovation as the cornerstone of its success. In the Global Innovation Index rankings released for 2021, the UAE improved its ranking by two spots to 33, maintaining its number 1 ranking among Arab nations.
The goal that the UAE administration has set for the longer term is even more ambitious – that of making the UAE the world’s leading knowledge economy, and a hub for cutting edge research and development. And the results of this approach are beginning to bear fruit. 33 startups named in the Forbes “50 most-funded startups in the Middle East” list – and 7 of the top 10 – are headquartered in the UAE. The Arab nation is beginning to take centrestage in outstanding scientific accomplishments as well, such as successfully sending the ‘Al-Amal’ – or Hope – robotic probe, to Mars.
The Expo’s impact on the future of the UAE
A few days prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, authors Jonathan Grix, Paul Michael Brannagan, and Donna Lee – of the Manchester Metropolitan University – released a book titled “Entering the Global Arena”; as well as an article that became very famous at the time, which was titled “China’s Coming Out Party?”. The article and book proved to be a very accurate description of the place that China would claim as a global superpower, in the decade or so since; as well as the significance of the 2008 Olympics, to that rise.
I share this example to illustrate that global events – especially those of the scale of the Olympics and the World Expo – can play a massive role in manifesting a transformation that has been in the making for some years already. The UAE government and business community are certainly taking this perspective to the Dubai Expo; and the world is starting to respond in kind as well. Such shifts in perception can play a massive role in boosting incoming investments, talent, and recognition; eventually becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Fortunately, the UAE administration has initiated several programs and projects, to ensure that the moment is seized.
From the DXB Plus masterplan to revamp Dubai International Airport, and expand the volume it can handle to make it the ‘biggest and best’ facility of its kind in the world; to the UAE’s announcement that it will be the first GCC nation to be net-zero in carbon emissions by 2050; and a host of new future-ready projects – both Greenfield and Brownfield; the UAE is preparing to set global benchmarks in infrastructure. Widespread digitalization initiatives across industries, a proactive and energetic Blockchain policy, and a long list of groundbreaking people-centric reforms, are proof that the UAE is implementing a holistic development vision; each aspect of which will magnify and boost the whole.
The UAE is emerging as a benchmark, and a beacon of hope
The United Arab Emirates is a young nation state, in the modern sense of the word. However, it is deeply rooted in its traditional identity as well. It has a naturally youthful appetite for innovation, and a self-confidence from being anchored in its ancient past. The visionary leadership at the helm of the Emirates is successfully harnessing this unique energy, and laying a roadmap that, I believe, will eventually be emulated around the world. As the world collectively shifts to a sustainable, innovation driven, and knowledge focused model of civilization; the UAE is beginning to stake a claim as one of the leaders of that historic shift.
