Key findings:

Dubai Economy Tracker falls to 52.5 in October, from 54.4 in September

Employment levels contract again

Business confidence surges to record high, despite weaker new order growth

This report contains the latest release of data collected from a monthly survey of business conditions in the Dubai non-oil private sector. Sponsored by Emirates NBD and produced by IHS Markit, the survey provides an early indication of operating conditions in Dubai. The headline Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index is derived from individual diffusion indices which measure changes in output, new orders, employment, suppliers’ delivery times and stocks of purchased goods.

The survey covers the Dubai non-oil private sector economy, with additional sector data published for travel & tourism, wholesale & retail and construction.

Summary

Whilst the latest data signalled an improvement in the health of Dubai’s non-oil private sector, the rate of growth weakened to a 31-month low. Slower improvements in activity, new work and another contraction in employment contributed to the slowdown. Contrary to the general trend, the construction sector saw a stronger expansion in the latest survey.

The seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index – a composite indicator designed to give an accurate overview of operating conditions in the non-oil private sector economy – posted at 52.5, down from 54.4 in September, and the weakest figure since March 2016. Nonetheless, it remained above the critical 50.0 mark in October, thereby stretching the current phase of expansion to 32 months.

Travel & tourism was the weakest performing sector in October at 49.6, followed by wholesale & retail (53.7) and construction (55.5).

Business activity and employment

Output across the non-oil private sector increased at the slowest rate since December 2017. The expansion was below the historical average. The travel & tourism sector saw the weakest improvement during the latest survey period.

October data signalled a modest fall in employment in Dubai’s non-oil private sector. The rate of contraction matched the record pace recorded in the preceding survey. Some firms cited cost cutting as a reason behind job shedding.

Incoming new work and business activity expectations

Businesses reported a further increase in incoming new work during October, thereby extending the current phase of growth to 32 months. That said, the latest expansion was the weakest in two-and-a-half years. Whilst the increase was solid overall, it scored well below the historical average amid reports of slowing client demand growth in the non-oil private sector.

Despite the slowdown in output and new business, future growth prospects rose to a record high since this index began in 2012. Firms expressed optimism towards new project wins and developments surrounding Expo 2020.

Input costs and average prices charged

Average cost burdens in Dubai’s non-oil private sector increased for the seventh month running in October. Furthermore, the rate of inflation accelerated to a three-month high.

Output charges fell once again in the latest survey. Some firms linked lower selling prices to promotional activity. The rate of decline was modest overall, however.

Travel & Tourism | Business Activity and Employment

Business activity growth continues to soften

At 52.4 in October, down from 53.6 in September, the seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index for the travel & tourism sector fell to a ten-month low. The pace of expansion has slowed for five successive months.

Adjusted for seasonal factors, the Employment Index reached a record low during the latest survey period. The deterioration in employment levels was modest overall, however.

Travel & Tourism | Incoming New Work and Business Activity Expectations

Incoming new work declines for first time since February 2016

Travel & tourism companies across Dubai reported a fall in incoming new work during October. The fall was only the second in the survey history. Around 29% of firms noted a decline, compared with 24% that reported an increase in new business.

Despite contracting new work, firms continued to express optimism towards future business activity. The overall degree of positive sentiment reached a four-month high in the latest survey period.

Travel & Tourism | Input Costs and Average Prices Charged

Input price inflation sharpens

At 54.0 in October, the seasonally adjusted Input Costs Index accelerated to a three-month high. The figure was indicative of a marked increase in average cost burdens faced by businesses in Dubai’s non-oil private sector.

Output charges fell once again in the latest survey period. The finding thereby streched the current phase of price discounting to four months.

Wholesale & Retail | Business Activity and Employment

Job creation returns to wholesale & retail sector

October data signalled another slowdown in the rate of business activity growth across the wholesale & retail sector. Nonetheless, the figure remained well above the neutral 50.0 threshold and signalled a solid overall expansion.

At 50.4 in October, the seasonally adjusted Employment Index indicated a return to job creation in the latest survey period. The rate of growth was marginal, however.

Wholesale & Retail | Incoming New Work and Business Activity Expectations

Business confidence hits record-high

Adjusted for seasonal influences, the Incoming New Work Index registered above the 50.0 no-change mark at 56.2 in October, thereby indicating a solid expansion in new order books. That said, the expansion was weaker than the long-run average.

Business confidence towards future growth prospects hit its highest level since the series began in March 2015. According to anecdotal evidence, marketing efforts are anticipated to lead to stronger inflows of new business over the upcoming year.

Wholesale & Retail | Input Costs and Average Prices Charged

Selling prices fall at sharp pace during October

Continuing the sequence of input price inflation seen since April, businesses in the wholesale & retail sector noted another increase in average cost burdens during the latest survey period. The rate of inflation eased to a seven-month low, however.

At 43.8, the seasonally adjusted Prices Charged Index registered a sharp decline in selling prices across the wholesale & retail sector. Some firms linked falling charges to increasing competition.

Construction | Business Activity and Employment

Business activity growth hits four month high amid new project wins

October survey data signalled a sharp upturn in business activity growth. The latest expansion was steep overall and the strongest recorded since June. Anecdotal evidence linked the improvement to government projects.

At 51.6 in October, the seasonally adjusted Employment Index scored above the critical 50.0 mark once again. The figure was indicative of a modest level of job creation in Dubai’s construction sector.

Construction | Incoming New Work and Business Activity Expectations

Degree of positive sentiment matches September’s record high

The seasonally adjusted Incoming New Work Index hit a three-month high during October. The rate of growth was sharp overall and above the series’ long-run average. Some firms linked higher inflows of new business to government contracts.

Future growth prospects in Dubai’s construction sector matched September’s survey-record high in the most recent survey period. Anecdotal evidence suggested that developments surrounding Expo 2020 are forecast to lead to higher output over the next 12 months.

Construction | Input Costs and Average Prices Charged

Input cost inflation eases to three-month low

Input cost inflation faced by firms in Dubai’s construction sector eased to a three-month low in the latest survey period. The rate of inflation was only slight overall. 

At 48.6 in October, the seasonally adjusted Prices Charged Index remained below the neutral 50.0 threshold for the second month running. The rate of price discounting was modest overall and broadly in line with that registered in September. 

In today’s world, we have pressures on us to show the results of content marketing. If we only look at our owned media efforts as a replacement for advertising, and measure it under a content consumption model, we will ultimately fail at providing a positive return on investment.

A successful, long-term, Content Marketing approach is more expensive than advertising. It just is. The goal of content marketing must be to provide multiple lines of integrated value across the business. Thus, our true investment is not in content. It’s in the result of the content – a subscribed audience.

As mentioned earlier, Audiences as an output of media companies are not new. They have long been noted by scholars as being one of the two outputs from media companies. However, they have also been a much less analyzed source of value for businesses. Professor Philip M. Napoli, the author of Audience Economics: Media Institutions And The Audience Marketplace concluded: “Unfortunately, [audiences], the second major product of media firms has not been subjected to a comparable degree of analysis, although its production is inextricably intertwined with the production of the first.”

Today’s media company, works extraordinarily hard to create multiple lines of value through the production of content, and measurement of its consumption. But, today, because of the democratization of content distribution and production technology, the audience is the key asset. It doesn’t matter whether the company is selling access to content, the adjacent space to the content, or the merchandising made available by the content, or all of the above. The first output, the content, was only valuable to the extent that it was scarce, hard to produce and difficult to distribute to the masses.

Today content matters not nearly as much as the second output – the audience. As one television executive stated “I can’t think of another business that makes one product but sells a different product. We make programs and put them on the air. We are not selling the programs, we are selling the people that watch the programs.” In short: today, content only has value to the extent that it builds and keeps the audience.

So, what is different about that?

For the last 80 years, from the time that Robert Elder made his speech on that cold New York day about his Audimeter, the marketplace for the value of both content and the audiences that consume it has been determined by the third party measurement of content consumption.

As Nielsen, themselves have said:

“Our primary goal is to measure content and advertising no matter when it’s watched or on which devices.”

The challenge of course is that the value of measurement of content consumption also depends on those same two foundational elements: scarcity and difficulty in distribution. In today’s world – we as consumers have tools that filter through the noise for just exactly what we want, when we want it and where we want it. It is no longer tenable to make a mark on a piece of paper every time the dial is turned.

In turn, media companies are turning away from content measurement as a sole indicator of value. As Ad Age reported three years ago, the company is “once again in jeopardy, and this time its reigning dominance isn’t a sure thing. For the methodical research company, the accelerating pace of change in media may finally be getting out of hand.”

And, this year, marks a time when major television networks like NBCUniversal will offer advertisers something more than content consumption measurement. As was reported just this year: “the use of new and more fine-tuned audience data reflects the TV industry’s attempt to emulate the precise targeting abilities of digital.”

Now, of course the only way that NBCUniversal can even go beyond this is that they have access, through their parent company Comcast to the audience directly. It is their owned media audience.

Today, value is being created where media companies have a direct, and proprietary relationship with their audiences in order to sell them access to content, merchandise them to advertisers, or sell merchandise directly to them.

You can see this trend happening across the media landscape:

✼ HBO’s over-the-top service, HBO Now, is still only a small portion of their approximately 50 million subscribers in traditional cable. However, it has added 2 million subscribers in less than two years, and is accelerating. In 2017, HBO plans to add more than 600 hours of original programming.

✼ Netflix, which started as a DVD rental service, has now gone from approximately 27 million subscribers in 2012, to more than 60 million subscribers in five years. Consider that within the next few years more than 50% of Netflix’s content will be original productions.

Disney, whose content used to run on Netflix has recently decided to remove their content in lieu of starting their own streaming service.

✼ In a transformed news media environment, complete with “fake news” and mistrusted outlets – brands such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and others are seeing exponential increase in subscription rates.

And subscription is the primary means of driving their business.

✼ Amazon, the world’s largest retailer, has launched Amazon Studios, and will spend more than $2.6 billion on original content for its Amazon Prime service in 2017.

In short: media companies are doing exactly what was promised with the democratization of technology and distribution. They are routing around third parties who control access to audiences and the third-party measurement platforms that create markets. They are setting NEW values by establishing direct relationships with audiences that are proprietary. They are doing what marketers have done for 100 years. They are making their own markets.

But one of the above examples stands out even more than the others: Amazon. This is a company that less than 20 years ago was simply an online book store. Amazon’s move into becoming a player as a media company is the signal that this isn’t just a phenomenon among media companies. Amazon no longer just sells the content – it makes the content.

Source:The Content Advisory

Analysts to Explore Digital Disruption at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2019, March 4-6 in Dubai

Gartner, Inc. revealed seven digital disruptions that organizations may not be prepared for. These include several categories of disruption, each of which represents a significant potential for new disruptive companies and business models to emerge.

“The single largest challenge facing enterprises and technology providers today is digital disruption,”  said   Daryl Plummer  , vice president and Gartner Fellow . “The virtual nature of digital disruptions makes them much more difficult to deal with than past technology-triggered disruptions. CIOs must work with their business peers to pre-empt digital disruption by becoming experts at recognizing, prioritizing and responding to early indicators. ”

The seven key digital disruptions CIOs may not seeing coming are : 

Quantum Computing

Quantum computing   (QC) is a type of nonclassical computing that is based on the quantum state of subatomic particles. Classic computers operate using binary bits where the bit is either 0 or 1, true or false, positive or negative. However, in   QC  , the bit is referred to as a quantum bit or qubit. Unlike the strictly binary bits of classic computing, qubits can represent 1 or 0 or a superposition of both partly 0 and partly 1 at the same time.

Superposition is what gives quantum computers speed and parallelism, meaning that these computers could theoretically work on millions of computations at once. Further, qubits can be linked with other qubits in a process called entanglement. When combined with superposition, quantum computers could process a massive number of possible outcomes at the same time.

“Today’s data scientists, focused on   machine learning   (ML),   artificial intelligence   (AI) and   data and analytics  , simply cannot address some difficult and complex problems because of the compute limitations of classic computer architectures. Some of these problems could take today’s fastest supercomputers months or even years to run through a series of permutations, making it impractical to attempt,” said Mr. Plummer. “Quantum computers have the potential to run massive amounts of calculations in parallel in seconds. This potential for compute acceleration, as well as the ability to address difficult and complex problems, is what is driving so much interest from CEOs and CIOs in a variety of industries. But we must always be conscious of the hype surrounding the quantum computing model. QC is good for a specific set of problem solutions, not all general-purpose computing.”

Real-Time Language Translation

Real-time language translation could, in effect,  fundamentally change communication across the globe. Devices such as translation earbuds and voice and text translation services can perform translation in real-time,  breaking down language barriers with friends, family, clients and colleagues. This technology could not only disrupt intercultural language barriers, but also language translators as this role may no longer be needed.

“To prepare for this disruption, CIOs should equip employees in international jobs with experimental real-time translators to pilot streamlined communication,” said Mr. Plummer. “This will help establish multilingual disciplines to help employees work more effectively across languages.”

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is science, engineering and technology conducted at the nanoscale — 1 to 100 nanometers. The implications of this technology is that the creation of solutions involve individual atoms and molecules. Nanotech is used to create new effects in materials science, such as self-healing materials. Applications in medicine, electronics, security and manufacturing herald a world of small solutions that fill in the gaps in the macroverse in which we live.

“Nanotechnology is rapidly becoming as common a concept as many others, and yet still remains sparsely understood in its impact to the world at large,” said Mr. Plummer. “When we consider applications that begin to allow things like 3D printing at nanoscale, then it becomes possible to advance the cause of printed organic materials and even human tissue that is generated from individual stem cells. 3D bioprinting has shown promise and nanotech is helping deliver on it.”

Swarm Intelligence

Digital business will stretch conventional management methods past the breaking point. The enterprise will need to make decisions in real time about unpredictable events, based on information from many different sources (such as Internet of Things [IoT] devices) beyond the organization’s control. Humans move too slowly, stand-alone smart machines cost too much, and hyperscale architectures cannot deal with the variability. Swarm intelligence could tackle the mission at a low cost.

Swarm intelligence is the collective behavior of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial.  A swarm consists of small computing elements (either physical entities or software agents) that follow simple rules for coordinating their activities. Such elements can be replicated quickly and inexpensively. Thus, a swarm can be scaled up and down easily as needs change. CIOs should start exploring the concept to scale management, especially in digital business scenarios.

Human-Machine Interfaces

Human-machine interface (HMI) offers solutions providers the opportunity to differentiate with innovative, multimodal experiences.  In addition, people living with disabilities benefit from HMIs that are being adapted to their needs, including some already in use within organizations of all types. Technology will give some of these people “superabilities,” spurring people without disabilities to also employ the technology to keep up.

For example, electromyography (EMG) wearables  allow current users who would be unable to do so otherwise to use smartphones and computers through the use of sensors that measure muscle activity. Muscular contraction generates electrical signals that can be measured from the skin surface. Sensors may be placed on a single part or multiple parts of the body, as appropriate to the individual. The gestures are in turn interpreted by a HMI linked to another device, such as a PC or smartphone. Wearable devices using myoelectric signals have already hit the consumer market and will continue migrating to devices intended for people with disabilities.

Software Distribution Revolution

Software procurement and acquisition is undergoing a fundamental shift. The way in which software is located, bought and updated is now in the province of the   software distribution marketplace  . With the continued growth of cloud platforms from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Google, IBM and others, as well as the ever-increasing introduction of cloud-oriented products and services, the role of marketplaces for selling and buying is gathering steam. The   cloud platform   providers realize (to varying degrees) that they must remove as much friction as possible in the buying and owning processes for both their own offerings and the offerings of their independent software vendors (ISVs) (i.e., partners). ISVs or cloud technology service providers (TSPs) recognize the need to reach large and increasingly diverse buying audiences.

“Establishing one’s own marketplace or participating as a provider in a third-party marketplace is a route to market that is becoming increasingly popular. Distributors and other third parties also see the opportunity to create strong ecosystems (and customer bases) while driving efficiencies for partners and technology service providers,” said Mr. Plummer.

Smartphone Disintermediation

The use of other devices, such as virtual personal assistants (VPAs), smartwatches and other wearables, may mean a shift in how people continue to use the   smartphone  .

“Smartphones are, today, critical for connections and media consumption. However, over time they will become less visible as they stay in pockets and backpacks. Instead, consumers will use a combination of voice-input and VPA technologies and other wearable devices to navigate a store or public space such as an airport or stadium without walking down the street with their eyes glued to a smartphone screen,” said Mr. Plummer.

CIOs and IT leaders should use wearability of a technology as a guiding principle and investigate and pilot wearable solutions to improve worker effectiveness, increase safety, enhance customer experiences and improve employee satisfaction.

Two aircraft will be on display for visitors

Emirates is set for its largest participation yet at the 2018 edition of the Bahrain International Airshow (BIA) taking place from 14-16 November. This is the first time the airline will showcase its 100th A380, which is emblazoned with the HH Sheikh Zayed decal as a tribute to the late founding father of the UAE.

The aircraft on display will allow both trade visitors and the general public to explore all the features on this latest generation double-decker, including Emirates’ refreshed OnBoard Lounge.

The Emirates Flight Training Academy, which was inaugurated one year ago at the Dubai Airshow, will also participate at this year’s Bahrain Airshow with an Embraer Phenom 100EV jet on display, one of the Academy’s twin-engine training aircraft. The Emirates Flight Training Academy is a state-of-the-art facility that was developed by Emirates to meet the global aviation industry’s requirement for skilled commercial pilots. The Academy provides advanced learning technologies and training aircraft that provide opportunities for training cadets to develop and sharpen their flying knowledge and skills.

Adel Al Redha, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Emirates said: “The Bahrain International Airshow is an important event for the aviation and aerospace community, both regionally and on an international level. The Emirates A380 and Phenom 100EV being showcased during the Airshow demonstrate our commitment to the Kingdom of Bahrain and highlight Emirates’ contribution to the growth and development of aviation in the region.”

Anticipated to be popular with aviation enthusiasts as well as the general public visiting the Bahrain International Airshow, the Emirates A380 will feature 14 luxurious First Class suites, 76 flatbed seats in Business Class and 429 spacious seats in Economy Class, as well a refreshed Emirates’ OnBoard Lounge. Since the new OnBoard Lounge went into service in August 2017, it has wowed customers with more seating options, mood lighting, modern finishes, and other technological features.

Middle East’s largest communications event, EMENAComm, to highlight the role communications plays in transforming the region 

Over 200 of the region’s communicators and 40 global speakers will converge in Bahrain on the 11-12 February 2019 to meet at the IABC-organized conference

Communications and its role in driving positive change will be the highlight of the largest event held for communications professionals in the Middle East. EMENAComm, which is organized by the world's largest network of communication professionals, the International Association of Business Communicators, will bring together several hundred of the region’s leading practitioners with over forty globally-renowned speakers and experts for two days. The event, which will be held on the 11-12 February in Bahrain, will provide the region's communicators with the insights, know-how and tools they need to help their organizations achieve strategic transformation through communications.

With six tracks covering leadership and strategy, corporate social responsibility, the impact of technology, crisis response, and the latest thinking in external and internal communications, EMENAComm will seek to showcase best practices and innovations that are changing how corporations, agencies, and NGOs are achieving success through communications.

Keynotes will include talks by former Apple executive Cameron Craig on how communications played a leading role in Apple's turnaround. Australia’s foremost diversity specialist Tasneem Chopra will speak on organised disruption and how to change the way we communicate inclusively. Klavs Valskov, the former head of marketing communications at GE Oil & Gas, will share lessons on how GE Oil and Gas rebranded itself to become the world’s first digital industrial company, whilst UAE-based Dawn Metcalfe, founder of HardTalk, will speak on how communicators can create a stand up and speak out culture.

“The way we communicate has completely changed, and the role of the communicator is transforming as well,” says Alex Malouf, Past Chair for IABC Europe, Middle East and North Africa. “We’re expected to be able to both produce and publish content, engage internally and externally, defend reputations whilst driving change and engagement. Communicators have a valuable role to play in every organization, and EMENAComm will help drive this transformation so that the region’s communicators are both empowered to do more and are recognized as change makers by their organizational leadership.”

WARC, the global marketing intelligence service, has released its second MENA Strategy Report, examining trends in marketing strategy in the Middle East and North Africa, with lessons drawn from an analysis of the entries to the WARC Prize for MENA Strategy 2018.

Lucy Aitken, Managing Editor, Case Studies, WARC, comments: “Based on an in-depth analysis of the results of this year’s WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, we are able to put the thinking behind the campaigns into context to establish how the best strategic ideas are responding to consumer needs and growing brands in the Middle East and North Africa.”

WARC’s MENA Strategy Report 2018 highlights the following key insights and marketing trends in the region:

• Disruption drives growth in MENA 

This year’s winners demonstrated breakthrough thinking in sectors that are ripe for disruption. Whether it was Grand Prix-winning auto brand Nissan developing a new unit of measurement that was relevant to the region or a food brand encouraging families to be more conscious of waste around Ramadan, the campaigns that were successful showed how changing the conversation can be a powerful strategic statement.

Jury member Remie Abdo, Director of Strategic Planning, TBWA\RAAD Dubai, says: “Digging deep to find the real problem leads to more innovative work for brands, work that can radically change the conversation around a particular subject.”

• Rethinking gender equality 

It is impossible to ignore gender equality as an issue among the winners of this year’s MENA Prize. While many campaigns have aimed to show their support for women, what was different about campaigns such as Nissan’s #SheDrives and Puck’s Cook with Her, was how they also targeted men, encouraging them to take an active role in progress and equality. 

Mona Elsayed, Regional Planning Director, J. Walter Thompson Gulf and member of the jury observes: “Gender equality has made great strides in MENA’s marketing, but there is scope to be even more progressive.”

• Powerful local insights unlock brand growth 

Winning campaigns from local brands showed the power and significance of local insights leading to a strong strategic idea. Two campaigns from Lebanon demonstrated this: one understood and empathised with the country’s slow internet connection, while another tapped into the national pride felt by Lebanese living overseas. 

Laura Chaibi, Head of Market Intelligence and Syndicate Digital Data, MBC, and member of the judging panel, comments: “The ability to tap into and question, challenge or harness our own societies’ assumptions and then use that to act as a bridge into the hearts and minds of consumers is not new. However, the extent to which global brands are going local to gain market share is new in this region.”

• Everyday influencers that facilitate business transformation 

While the true value of influencers continues to be widely debated across the industry, this year’s winning entries offered some tangible examples of how influencers can be invaluable in brands’ quest for transformation. 

EGBank’s The Chronicles of Oufa radically altered how young Egyptians perceived the financial services brand identifying with the infantilised Oufa. Meanwhile, STC’s HouseWiFis were relatable characters that got Saudi mothers on side with the telco’s broadband offering. These everyday influencers are playing an important role at a time of rapid change in the region.

Summing up, juror Matt Butterworth, Regional Managing Director (MENA), MullenLowe says: “Many successful campaigns in this year’s Prize had in mind ‘a greater good’ and leveraged influencers to help communicate that message.”

Workshops, activations and events at 'Tasmeem Facebook' to bring together creative communities and encourage meaningful connections, aimed at facilitating the evolution of design and art in the region.

As part of its continued commitment to support and empower different communities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Facebook is set to celebrate the region’s vibrant art, creative and design ecosystem with an exclusive set of events at Dubai Design Week. Taking place from 12th – 17th November 2018 at Dubai Design District, Facebook will run events over six days, bringing together various groups including, design, art, community and technology.

The space, called ‘Tasmeem Facebook’ will host a myriad of activations during the course of six days, where guests visiting will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in interactive workshops, create and take home badges that can be made in a dedicated Badge Lab, and take a picture of themselves in a custom-designed Mirror Booth. The space will also host 'The Lab', where guests can learn more about how to effectively use various tools on Facebook. 

Rasha Kashkoush, Head of Communications for Middle East, North Africa & Turkey at Facebook said: “Facebook's mission is to give people the power to bring the world closer together and build communities around diverse interests. Our family of apps and services gives communities and creators the opportunity to connect with over 181 million monthly active users in the region, and we want to help them further by providing a nurturing space to express their creativity and innovative community-building ideas. At Dubai Design Week, the Tasmeem Facebook space aims to be a platform to facilitate burgeoning art, creative and design communities in the region to build meaningful connections with others in powerful, personal and practical ways.”

During the event, Facebook will showcase the incredible creative talent across the MENA region, partnering with the below entities to encourage people to express themselves through the medium of art: 

Blank Canvas, which is a community building initiative on Facebook that supports emerging talent and crowd-sourced creativity. At the event, a user-generated installation will be available from 10am-10pm everyday, where people can paint on canvas-covered cubes as a form of artful expression. The installation will bring together elements of culture, design, history, and individuality, becoming a manifestation of those that attend Dubai Design Week, and their relationship with Facebook.

Blank Canvas will also provide two-hour facilitated community expression workshops with live music, where participants can contribute to the same large piece of canvas, moving seats and building on one another's artwork. 

81 Designs, will host interactive workshops offering visitors an opportunity to learn how to do a traditional, unique style of Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery ‘Tatreez’. The materials which will be provided to the participants, have been collated and prepared by Palestinian refugee women.

MNDBAR, is an independent collective space that uses emerging technologies and design thinking tools to shift mindsets. Workshop attendees will learn the basic principles of innovative problem solving, how shift their perspective from expert to explorer, and identify opportunities for improvement, transformation and innovation. 

Distinguished guests including MPs, diplomats and academics were told that while Arab youth see religion as key to their national identity, they also believe it plays too big a role in the Middle East

Germany is the favoured European nation for Arab youth to live in and for their own countries to emulate

Young Arabs believe that religion is essential to their identity, but also say that it plays too much of a role in today’s Middle East, according to newly released findings from the 2018 ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey unveiled at a special German-Arab Friendship Association event hosted by H. E. Ali Abdulla Al Ahmed, the UAE Ambassador to Germany, at the Embassy of the UAE in Berlin.

Held under the theme “Investing in Arab Youth – Fostering Responsible Leadership” the event welcomed more than 80 distinguished guests, including MPs, diplomats academics and business leaders.

In his opening remarks, H. E. Ali Abdulla Al Ahmed told assembled guests: “The UAE is a young country, both in terms of when we were established, and in terms of our population. As we move beyond our dependence on our natural bounty of hydrocarbons, it is youth that will be our biggest asset. We are fortunate that, from our earliest days, our leadership has always focused on the issues most important to youth, especially education and employment, so our young people today are empowered to face the challenges and opportunities of our future diversified economy.”

He added: “Our dedication explains why the UAE is consistently ranked by the Survey as the number one country in which young Arabs would like to live, and would like their own countries to resemble.”

New findings from the Survey revealed that youth in the Arabian Gulf states are more likely to see religion as key to their identity, with 89 per cent agreeing with the statement ‘my religion is central to my identity’ compared with 74 per cent of those in the Levant countries, comprising Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and the Palestinian Territories. However, perhaps surprisingly given the importance of religion to their identity, two-thirds (68 per cent) of youth in the Gulf Co-operation Council states (GCC) agreed with the statement ‘religion plays too big a role in the Middle East’ – compared with just 56 per cent in the Levant.

Sunil John, founder & CEO of ASDA’A BCW and President of BCW Middle East, who presented the findings at the event at the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Berlin, said: “As the only European country to make the top five nations which Arab youth would choose to live in and emulate, the findings from the Arab Youth Survey clearly show an appreciation and recognition of Germany among the region’s youth. What’s more ambiguous in this year’s findings is the attitudes towards religion among young Arabs. Young people across the region clearly believe religion is central to their identity; it’s interesting, though, that a majority also believe it plays too big a role in defining the region itself.”

With the aim of exploring attitudes and sentiments of Arab youth across 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey is an annual snapshot of the hopes, fears and perceptions of the region’s most important demographic – its youth –  including how they view their future, the digital revolution and the shifting attitudes towards the region's friends and foes.

The Survey showed that while the UAE is the country young Arabs would most like to live in, as well as that which they would most like their country to emulate, Germany ranked fifth in both responses, and was the only European nation to feature in this top five. The three countries where Germany scored highest as an aspirational country to live in were Morocco (23 per cent), Jordan (22 per cent), and Bahrain (21 per cent). Among those looking for their country to emulate Germany were youth responders from the Palestinian Territories (35 per cent), Jordan (19 per cent), and Bahrain (18 per cent).

When you see something on Pinterest you’d like to own you should be able to buy it, or something just like it, that matches your unique style. That’s our vision for shopping with Pinterest.

People have always used Pinterest for shopping inspiration. Because everything’s visual, it’s easy to spot things that match your unique tastes—a new style to wear, or a new way to spruce up your home—even when you don’t have the words to describe what you’re searching for.

Once you find something you’d like to buy, simply click through to the retailer’s website to make your purchase.

With Shop the Look, you can even find where to buy individual items within a Pin. Or you can use the Lens camera to visually search for items you see out in the world. And now we’re introducing even more ways to shop with Pinterest.

Introducing new Product Pins and shopping recommendations

Today we’re making hundreds of millions of Pins shoppable with up-to-date pricing and stock information, with links that go directly to the checkout page on the retailer’s site where you can buy in a few clicks. Just look for the new shopping tag icon, and you'll know it's in stock. And, a new shopping recommendations section can now be found beneath Style and Home Pins so you can browse similar items across multiple brands.

With Products Pins more discoverable in home feed and search results, Pinterest as a whole has become markedly more shoppable for your unique needs. Now that Product Pins are integrated throughout Pinterest and in new shopping sections, they’ll be replacing the older Buyable Pin format. In the past quarter since we started testing these shopping features, clicks on products to retail sites have increased by 40%.

Now on women’s fashion and home decor Pins, you can browse more in-stock items inspired by the original Pin in the new shopping recommendations section. Clicking for more in the section will lead you to a shoppable feed full of similar styles, all in stock.

We’re also introducing a new shopping shortcut so you can shop right from your feed, rolling out on iOS in the U.S. today and soon on the Android app. Just hold down on any Home or Style Pin and click the shopping tag to immediately dive into a shopping feed with in-stock and related products for that Pin, from a variety of brands.

Pinterest is like your personal stylist. We can give you recommendations for products to buy based on your unique taste and what’s trending, and show you a range of visual ideas.

New Product Pins are rolling out globally across mobile apps and Pinterest.com. The shopping recommendations section is live in the U.S., and will be appearing globally in the future.