Can you imagine Dubai today without the metro?

When introducing Innovation Talks, Dubai’s Executive Council Secretary General Abdulla Mohammed Al Basti claimed that “innovation” was not a virtue that should be discussed. He credited the late Sheikh Rashid with initiating the city’s makeover in the 1950s.

The expansion of the creek, the construction of the Dubai Airport in the 1960s, and the development of Jebal Ali are all examples of this creativity. He wanted the city to be the hub of the area, so he constructed landmarks that were novel at the time and counterintuitive to locals, the official explained, adding that His Majesty was a man of vision. Dubai’s Ruler and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has carried on this goal and embraced this principle.

In our line of work, we frequently see initiatives that initially went over the heads of a large portion of the population. People might question whether or not we really need the metro, to provide just one example. At now, it carries about 600 thousand passengers daily. “Dubai without the metro? Can you even fathom that?” he questioned.

He said that innovative thinking might be prompted either by a need to address an issue or by a desire to set oneself apart and better the competition. Abdulla said that, in any instance, it is important to think beyond the box. “If you impose restrictions, you will find it difficult to attain what you desire,” he said.

According to Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, foresight and risk-taking are deeply ingrained in the culture of the country. When you take chances, you show that you have ambition and optimism. We will inevitably make some errors, but that is where our education will begin,” he remarked.

He explained that the organization’s mission is to foresee and plan for both the immediate and distant futures, and to make those envisaged futures a reality through legislation and actual construction. Khalfan has identified ten future megatrends, including the following: the materials revolution, the devaluation of raw data, technological vulnerabilities, energy boundaries, the preservation of ecosystems, borderless world fluid economies, digital realities, life with autonomous robots, the future of humanity, and improved health and nutrition.

He told Khaleej Times during the conference that UAE Innovates is essential in bringing together the many ideas being discussed in order to ensure a brighter future for everyone. There is a lot of competition for attention since the globe is so divided. During the Covid epidemic, we discovered this the hard way. Large countries struggled at times to implement effective quarantine or immunization policies. We’re leading by example here in the UAE,” he proudly proclaimed.

He emphasized that the epidemic taught us all a valuable lesson: the need to work together in the years to come. In addition to the health sector, he mentioned the digital economy, data protection law, and international business transactions as areas of interest.

Khalfan explained that the Dubai Future Foundation is constantly looking ahead to the next “unknown” whenever the current one is figured out. We’re always trying to figure out what’s going on in the globe, he added.

It’s also important to be agile, he said. The more adaptable your country is, the more of a global leader you will become. One of the greatest threats to humanity right now is mental psychology, the deterioration of social skills, and the physical effects of digital dependency, such as the rise in obesity, so governments need to be flexible with the regulations, amend them, and always put safety as a key ingredient, he said.

The three-day Innovation Talks is a part of the month-long, countrywide UAE Innovates 2023 celebration.

Source:

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/can-you-imagine-dubai-without-the-metro-uae-official-reveals-secret-to-citys-transformation-from-1