5 components of a smart ecosystem, from SmartLivingCity Dubai

“Dubai is a transit city, a hub for people from all around the
world and from all backgrounds.”

With these words Kamran Saddique, president and CEO of the City
Innovate Foundation and cofounder of Inside Investor, summarized
the reason he chose Dubai as the host of the first SmartLivingCity event, held
at Jumeirah Emirates Tower on September 15 and 16.

Choosing Dubai to host the event didn’t happen by accident, said
Saddique, who organized the event in partnership with Tasweek under the auspices of
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. “The city is
characterized by active and tech-savvy people who are eager to
transfer knowledge,” he said.

He and the organizers wanted the event to be a meeting place for
public and privatesector decision-makers, international speakers,
academics, and entrepreneurs, attempting to reach together a
definition of smart cities and their components.

Participants agreed on the fact that a smart ecosystem is one
where decision-makers are involved on all levels, “For me, a smart
ecosystem is one that relies on technology and promotes radical
innovation and behavioral change, and where all parties are
involved, including the government, institutions, and
infrastructure,” said Kamal Hassan, founder and CEO of the
accelerator i360. Hassan
believes that the MENA region is not a smart ecosystem yet; what is
still lacking is coordination between incentives and linking
between all the parties to achieve the success of the
ecosystem.”

Throughout the SmartLivingCity event, participants tried to
identify the components needed to build a smart ecosystem, and even
though they agreed that there is no magical recipe, they cited a
few first steps:

• Adopting a comprehensive vision: “If we
  develop such a vision,” says Hassan, “and give everyone what they
  need, be they banks or entrepreneurs, everything would go just
  fine.” He believes that accelerators play an important role, since
  they invest in technology, allowing for the ecosystem to invest in
  turn in entrepreneurs.

• Modifying the laws: The topic of laws is
  almost always discussed at entrepreneurship events in the UAE, as
  they constitute a major challenge. But the Emirati government is
  working on it, according to Alexander Mathew Williams, Strategy and
  Policy Director at Mohammed Bin Rashid
  Establishment for SME Development, who shed light on
  the government’s initiatives to solve existing legal problems, the
  most important of which being bankruptcy.

• Changing mindsets: For all the players in the
  ecosystem to cooperate with each other, tactical initiatives aimed
  at changing mindsets and behaviors will no doubt be necessary.
  Youssef Moutawaa, Chief Information Officer at DP World, emphasized
  the necessity of an innovation-friendly environment and culture
  that would allow entrepreneurs to fail and to experiment without
  being judged. Relations between large companies and startups also
  need to be improved, according to Ken Singer, the director of UC
  Berkeley’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, since each
  has a fundamental role in the ecosystem.

• Promoting risk-taking: When mindsets are
  changed, taking risks is possible. Serb Jodha, head of operations
  at Incept.co, believes that
  educational programs for angel investors will be important in the
  next stage so as to take away some of the fear. For his part,
  Singer believes that the ecosystem in the region should offer a
  second chance or a plan B for entrepreneurs who take risks and
  found their own companies. “Giants like Google and Microsoft spend
  an awful lot of time in our incubators waiting for an entrepreneur
  to fail, so as to recruit them or acquire their company,” he
  added.

• Facilitating funding: Participants disagreed
  on the nature of the funding challenge facing the Arab world; some
  believe that funds are abundant but are not being employed
  properly, and others see startups as lacking much of the needed
  funding. Kamal Hassan believes that the region does not lack
  seed or angel
  investors; many individuals are looking to invest in startups.
  However, what the region lacks is venture capital,
  and that is for two reasons. The first has to do with the fact that
  the number of startups “worthy” of Series A funding is very low.
  The second reason is that venture capital funds in the region are
  still very few and often try to take control over the companies
  through their share of equities and by micromanaging the smallest
  details. Hassan believes that the ideal role of VC funds should be
  injecting money into the startups and building their networks.

The road to a smart ecosystem for Arab entrepreneurs might be
bumpy and long. However, Kamran Saddique and the other organizers,
by gathering these participants (as well as 39 speakers), have tried to lay
the foundation. SmartLivingCity will be held twice a year, next in
San Francisco, and then Singapore.