Business & Money | Sunday 3 June, 2018 4:51 pm |

The second edition of Annual National Treasure Conferenceconcluded in UAE recently with over 35 leading experts in healthcare, education, innovation, sustainability, woman entrepreneurial and social enterprises bringing a wealth of ideas, trends and insights for the audience.

The conference was hosted Under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Cabinet Minister and Minister of Tolerance, United Arab Emirates and President of UAE Genetic Disease Association in Amity University Dubai, 29-30 April 2018.

The inaugural speech given by HE Dr Maryam Matarfocused on building woman entrepreneur ecosystems promoting STEM careers followed by discussion on Nurturing Women in STEM with women leaders such as Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, Director General, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture; Dr Fatima Al Aydaroos, Space Science Senior Specialist, UAE Space Agency and Fatima Al Kaabi, Youngest Emirati Inventor and Maya AlHawary, Chairwoman of Board of Governors and Director of Planning at Dubai Carmel School. The woman leaders discussed their efforts to promote greater representation of women in STEM and also sharing what has enabled their rise to the top.

 

 

(From left to right: Dr Fatima Al Aydaroos, Space Science Senior Specialist, UAE Space Agency; Fatima Al Kaabi, Youngest Emirati Inventor; HE Dr Maryam Matar, Chairman, UAE Genetic Disease Association; Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, Director General, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture; and Maya AlHawary, Chairwoman of Board of Governors and Director of Planning at Dubai Carmel School)

 

Women entrepreneurs face barriers that disproportionately affect their ability to start and grow businesses. The second panel sessionWhen Women Win, We All Winhighlighted woman entrepreneurs and businesses that provide women with opportunities to grow and lead, (or) which are outstanding mentors to women and women-led organizations. The panel moderated by Uma Ghosh, Host & Producer, The Uma Show, Certified Health Coachfocused on boosting women’s participation in the workforce as a first important step in accelerating economic growth. The panel consisting of Heather Henyon, Founder, Wain; Helen AlUzaizi, CEO, Bizworld UAE and Ama Duncan, Founder, The Fabulous Woman Network (The FWN)emphasized increasing access to skills training, education, and career counseling is a powerful means to improving women’s lives 

 

(From Left to right: Ama Duncan, Founder, The Fabulous Woman Network (The FWN; Helen AlUzaizi, CEO, Bizworld UAE; Heather Henyon, Founder, Wain; and Uma Ghosh, Host & Producer, The Uma Show, Certified Health Coach)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first day concluded with another powerful session on Leading Innovation at Workplacehosting innovation leaders like Hussain AlFardan, Head of Innovation Centre, Strategy & Corporate Excellence, Dubai Customs; Dr Hoda AlKhzaimi, Director, Center of Cybersecurity, New York University Abu Dhabi; Arjun Ullas, Business Development Manager, Precise Distribution and Abdulla Al Qassab, Engineer Research, ADNOC.Change is exponential and to stay ahead of changing times, the rate of learning and innovation in any working environment must be higher than the rate of change in the external environment. The provisions for R&D to assess innovation and development with reference to the measurable benefits and impact, the coherent and integrated approach to technology and innovation led developments and overview of strategic partnerships for support as well as ensuring the digital ecosystem is fully aligned and serviceable across the network was discussed during this panel.

 

(From Left to Right: Hussain AlFardan, Head of Innovation Centre, Strategy & Corporate Excellence, Dubai Customs; Dr Hoda AlKhzaimi, Director, Center of Cybersecurity, New York University Abu Dhabi; Abdulla Al Qassab, Engineer Research, ADNOC; Arjun Ullas, Business Development Manager, Precise Distribution and Alkesh Sharma, Editor, Trends Maagzine)

 

 

The first session of day two pivoted around changing educational landscape and the role of educational providers. “The canvas of education has undergone a monumental change in the 21st century, the artists of education have undertaken a massive restoration project to peel away the layers of ignorance, lethargy, dogma and passive resistance with the aim to create a new image retaining the quality and creating an alignment with 21st century competencies. While initiatives across the globe over the past many years have been successful to create reach but left much desired in terms of quality. As estimated 100 year’s gap persists between educational levels in the developed and developing countries and if our approach remains the same this gap will never be bridged.  Education is changing and the world is your classroom. What is the risk of changing compared to the risk of not changing?” says the panel moderator Dr Farooq Wasil, CEO & Global Head - Affordable Schools, GEMS Education in panel with Dr. Lance E. De Masi, President, American University in Dubai and Isobel Abulhoul Obe, CEO & Trustee - Emirates Literature Foundation, Director - Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

 

 

Future Leaders on Sustainable Development namely Ivano Iannelli, CEO, Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence; Charles Blaschke, Managing Director, Taka Solutions, Khulood Hindiyeh, Senior CSR Specialist, Blue and Harbinder Singh, Project Director, Enviroserve played discussion over building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions to achieve sustainable development. The panelists also emphasized on the role of community participation and making sustainable development a part of nationwide learning objective for academic institutions.

 

 

(From Left to Right: Dr Hardeep Anant, Professor & Program Director of MBA, City University College of Ajman; Harbinder Singh, Project Director, Enviroserve; Khulood Hindiyeh, Senior CSR Specialist, Blue; Charles Blaschke, Managing Director, Taka Solutions; and Ivano Iannelli, CEO, Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence)

 

The highlight of the conference was what will the cities of tomorrow look like? Panelists: 

Dr Ahmed AlTarawneh, Excellence Senior Specialist, QHSE Section, Public Transport Agency, PTA CEO Office, Roads and Transport Authority – Dubai; Dr. Abdelaziz Hirich, Horticulture Scientist, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture and Maya AlHawary, Chairwoman of Board of Governors and Director of Planning at Dubai Carmel School shared technologies in Artificial intelligence that can be sustainable in building cities of tomorrow and what threats and opportunities are available as cities become smarter and get on the digital grid. “These technologies represent opportunities and threat to the public and companies, societies and governments can work together to ease these concerns” says panel moderator - Neha Shaikh, Founder, National Treasure.

 

 

The conference concluded with leading healthcare experts coming together to discuss the emerging shift in healthcare from treatment to prevention and insights on building business models to create more patient-friendly healthcare. People are increasingly playing an active role in their own health, supported by new technologies (mobile apps, virtual care center) and more personalized interactions with caregivers says Dr Raza Siddiqui, CEO, Arabian Healthcare Group. Panel also supported by Mr. Marwan Abdulaziz, Executive Director, Dubai Science Park; Dareen Zoughbi, Director, Middle East Region, GE Healthcare Partners and moderated by Christina Sochachki, Senior Associate, Al Tamimi & Company.

 

 

(From Left to Right: Neha Shaikh, Founder, National Treasure; Christina Sochachki, Senior Associate, Al Tamimi & Company; Dareen Zoughbi, Director, Middle East Region, GE Healthcare Partners; Dr Raza Siddiqui, CEO, Arabian Healthcare Group; Marwan Abdulaziz, Executive Director, Dubai Science Park; and Arsh Shearif, Head of Event, National Treasure)

 

 

National Treasure Business Excellence Awards 2018 was hosted on day two with participation from leading organisations and personalities who were presented awards in various categories.

 

Neha Shaikh, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, National Treasure  said: “My vision to National Treasure is to make it international Oscar award that everybody wishes to hold once in their lifetime. The series of excellence awards is much more than recognizing successful organizations or individuals; it is an encouragement and motivation to our winners to excel further in their respective fields. The winners were shortlisted and selected for extraordinary work towards youth, sustainability, women empowerment, society and innovation.”

 

National Treasure 2018 Excellence Awards Winner are given below:

1. Sustainable SME of the year - Taka Solutions
2. Extraordinary achiever - Man of the year - Harmeek Singh
3. Extraordinary achiever - Woman of the year - Kawthar Makahlah
4. Sustainable Community Campaign- Dr Farooq Wasil
5. Best Practice in Tolerance- Dubai Electricity and Water Authority
6. Women in STEM- Eida Al Muhairbi
7. CEO of the year- Hussain Sajwani
8. Company of the year- Emaar
9. Young entrepreneur    - Rashid Belhasa
10. Excellence in Customer Happiness - Marina Homes
11. Lifetime Achievement Award- Khalaf Al Habtoor
12. Startup of the Year- SellAnyHome.com
13. Influencer of the Year- Khalid Al Ameri
14. Woman Entrepreneur of the Year- Zaina Kanaan
15. Overall Excellence in CSR- IB Group
16. Visionary Entreprenuer in Hospitality- Rahul Wadera
17. Visionary Fashion Brand- Masala Chai
18. Best CSR Awareness Program- Dr Sana Sajan
19. Excellence in Innovation- Hyperloop Transportation Technologies
20. Innovation in Customer Happiness- Scent Strategy
21. Best Charity Initiative- Juhi Yasmeen Khan