July 2013 51 www.bahrainthismonth.com A technology conference in Bahrain brings to light the latest innovation trends globally while showcasing the Kingdom’s home-grown innovators. Bahrain has a substantial opportunity to drive economic growth by developing a vibrant technology sector, but it hasn’t fully capitalised on the opportunity. According to a World Bank report, the MENA region remains a consumer and net importer of technology, generating only around two per cent of its GDP through information and communications technology (ICT). The Inovtech Conference 2013 aims to stimulate innovation in technology in order to drive forward business growth and facilitate the culture of entrepreneurship in the region. However, big businesses tend to be at a disadvantage when it comes to innovation, believes Dave Ulmer, founder of ChangeYourDNA and a key speaker at the event. “The very skills that make an incumbent successful are obstacles to innovation,” Dave maintains. “Companies thrive on consistent, predictable results, whereas innovation requires experimenting in the unknown. And nothing is harder for an organisation than providing valuable resources to projects with unknown, unpredictable, and potentially disruptive outcomes.” Having worked for large companies like Motorola, LG, and SingTel in Singapore, Dave’s career has revolved around driving growth in businesses. He will conduct the ‘Innovation in Business’ workshop at the event in Bahrain. Innovation has always remained a challenge for the MENA region and the World Bank data shows that in the last 13 years the region filed a total of 3,224 patents, compared with some 1.7 million patents from Japan alone. Dr Nasser Fouad, senior adviser at the Egyptian Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology, believes that the educational system in the MENA region doesn’t offer much space for creativity or innovation, based as it is on textbooks. “The amount allocated in government budgets towards research is not enough due to many reasons. Furthermore, the registration offices in the Middle East ask for a lot of restrictive and unnecessary procedures, which results in a lot of people applying directly to countries like USA and Germany,” he notes. Dr Nasser will speak on the importance of patents and strategies of awareness at the conference. e-Shabab competition A key component of the Inovtech Conference is the e-Shabab initiative, which aims to bring innovative projects by youths to life. Bahraini youth are being invited to learn and compete by presenting and marketing their project, which can either be an innovative idea or the development of an existing concept. The event will have a display area for these projects. Local projects will be provided support to compete internationally and the participants will attend an annual gathering to discuss trends in innovation. E Call 17 717-200. Also this month 52 x Entrepreneur - 54 x Interview businessthismonth When? July 1-3 | Event? Technology innovation conference | Venue? Bahrain International Exhibition & Conference Centre Driving Innovation Zain Bahrain has launched its premium Signature service in Bahrain, promising its customers excellent bundled services as well as luxury lifestyle perks. Signature customers will enjoy concierge service, personal assistants and messengers as well as complimentary access to more than 60 premium lounges at airports across the world. “We are proud of this unique lifestyle component of our Signature service, which rewards and recognises our customers’ uniqueness with only the highest-quality services,” says Hisham Alfateh, director of Zain Signature. The service also allows exclusive telecommunication benefits such as free international minutes, free roaming minutes and free devices. Signature Deal
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