Business & Money | Tuesday 15 May, 2018 3:46 am |

Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline & Group, Dubai Quality GroupConcludethe 2 day Ideas Arabia 13thInternational Conference & Competition 2018on 13th& 14thMay 2018 at Le Meridien Dubai.

The theme of the conference this year was “Spirit of Innovation”, to involve business talents and to explore innovative ways of enrolling their talents, time and skills.

The two-day conference was graced by 150participants & 300 delegates, business leaders, industry experts and professionals brought together from public sectors and leading organizations to discuss innovation & suggestion Scheme from around the world, and they were greeted by her Excellance Fatma Buti Al Mheiri,Chairman of Dubai Quality Group, Board Members, and Mr. Hussein Al Fardan, Chairman of Ideas Arabia & UAE Ideas.

This year the participants exceeded 40%compared to previous years, which is proves the importance given to innovation in the region. as received around 150submissions to the Ideas Arabia competition, from UAE and GCC countries. Also, the assessors have been chosen with a high professional for the evaluation of the award categories to ensure transparency, integrity, and accuracy of results.

The first day of the conference was opened with the welcome note of Fatma Buti Al Mheiri,Chairman of Dubai Quality Group, thanked all the conference’s audiences and sponsors for their supporting and she pointed out that DQG was able to facilitate this unique platform, where experts in innovation & suggestion scheme come together to share their knowledge and experience following the right path in development and innovation in line with the vision of UAE Government, also pointed to the importance of innovation to become a government habit, daily practice, and well-established organizations culture.

Fatma Buti Al Mheri, Chairman, DQG, said “Over the years, Ideas Arabia Conference is one of the flagship events under Dubai Quality Group, which believes that innovation is one of the major pillars of its strategy for comprehensive, sustainable growth. The Conference held for the 13thconsecutive year, confirms that we are on the right path towards development and innovation, in line with the vision of H.H Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and the Ruler of Dubai (Allah bless him), as he believes in the importance of new ideas and their role in achieving rapid development and the need for innovation to become ‘a government habit, a daily practice, and a well-established organizational culture”.

She Said“Since its establishment, UAE has accomplished much internationally thanks to the wise leadership and vision of H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, (May Allah have mercy on his soul). For four decades now, we have been determined & working towards being internationally recognized as one of the most developed and progressive nations in the world.”

She Said“The innovation is not a luxury, but rather the secret of revitalizing Nations & its people, which in turn will determine our place among other Nations, and the value we bring to the world around us. As we believe that creativity and innovation is an integral part of the UAE's culture, its leadership and its people, Dubai Quality  Group   has   taken  responsibility to contribute its part in spreading awareness on the importance of innovation and embedding it deep into our culture to in order to ensure a sustainable growth for generations to come.”

She added“It is an honour to inaugurate a platform to exchange creative ideas and best practices to support innovation and sustainable growth. It is a matter of pride that we are able to facilitate this forum that brings together experts from all over the world to showcase innovative experiences, discuss various methodologies to arrive at innovative ideas for a robust economy that match global standards.”

She said” Advancing a step further to go global, Ideas Arabia is pleased to join hands with its counterparts Ideas UK, Ideas America & Ideas Germany to encourage the Ideas Arabia Competition 2018 applications to compete internationally for the Global Awards.”

The conference had international, regional and local speakers from various industries and businesses in both public and private sectors to share, network, learn and talk, along with the leaders and experts came together to meet for the two-day conference to support the spirit of innovation, to join hands in making UAE an innovation destination

The first day of the conference was eventful, with SpeakersDr Alex Sanders
President Global Executive Institute, USA talk about "The 4 Innovation Skills Employees Require to Develop an Optimized Culture Framework of Design Thinking by Failing Fast and Failing Cheap to Get to Market", Ashish Sehdev
Senior Director & Markets Leader Everest Group, talk about “Developing the ‘Everyday Innovator’ mindset”, Yousuf L. Caires
Vice President of Expo Live Expo 2020 Dubai, talk about “Expo Live: In search for Innovations that Matter”, Aman Merchant CEO & Co-founder Impact Hub Dubai, talk about“System Innovation”. Fiona Newsonsmith
Master Facilitator Forth Innovation Method
Rocket Innovation, she talks about Case Study: “First Projects in Middle East using FORTH Innovation Method”.

The Second day of the conference was eventful, with Speakers Cris Beswick Advisor on Innovation Strategy, Leadership & Culture Bestselling Author & Keynote Speaker, UK., talk about“Beyond Innovation Theatre: Why we need to build innovation-led organizations, now!”, Dr Abdul Hameed
Manager- Corporate Excellence Department, ADNOC LNG and Shree Phadnis
Team leader - Innovation Management ADNOC LNG, both talked about “Brainstorming for innovation v/s systematic techniques for innovation”, Jamie Qiu CEO & Founder Studio Zao talk about“Intrapreneurship, Collaboration & Risk-taking”.

This year Ideas Arabia honoured winners 2017 of 2 categories General Directorate of Residency & Foreigners AffairsDubai forExecutive Leadership & Mministry of Health and Prevention forIdea of the Year, where they won globally in ‘The Global Award 2018.

The Ideas Arabia Competition 2018, was conducted yearly along with the annual conference, to recognize the most significant ideas implemented by companies during the previous year. This competition seeks to identify employees and organizations for their outstanding ideas. this competition provides an opportunity for participating companies to benchmark against other leading organizations, and acts as a motivational tool for employees.

Participation in this competition had many benefits. It provided additional recognition to the employees, and highlights how involving the employees can benefit the organization. It helped in imparting one’s experience to other companies, and provided an opportunity for one’s employees to learn from practices followed in other organizations.

The second day saw the most exciting part of the conference, with the announcement of the winners of the Ideas Arabia Competition 2018 marking the finale of the event.

1. Dubai Public Prosecution, winner of ‘Education” Category.
2. Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), winner of ‘Health & Safety” Category.
3. General Directorate of Residency & Foreigners AffairsDubai, winner of ‘Customer Happiness” Category.
4. Dubai Land Department, winner of “Technology –Team Idea” Category.
5. Emirates TransportWinner of “Technology – Individual Idea” Category.
6. Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), winner of “Productivity–Team Idea” Category.
7. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), winner of “Productivity–Individual Idea”Category.
8. Dubai Municipality, winner of “Financial” Category” Category.
9. Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, winner of “Best Shared idea” Category.
10. Dubai Municipality, winner of “Sustainability– Team Idea” Category” Category.
11. ENOC winner of “Sustainability– Individual Idea” Category.
12. Dubai Policewinner of Innovation– Team Idea” Category.
13. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), winner of “Innovation– Individual Idea” Category.
14. Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA)|, winner of “Best Suggestion Program Coordinator” Category.
15. Dubai Policewinner of “Executive Leadership” Category.
16. Saudi Electricity Company, winner of “Idea of the year” Category.

The conference was sponsored by Dubai Electricityand Water Authority, Dubai Customs, Dubai Municipalityas Main Sponsors, and (ENOC) LLC, Emirates NBD as Gold Sponsors, and Dubai Media Inc.as Strategic Media Partner.