The Fourth Industrial Revolution in the UAE

Leading technology-driven transformation through experimentation

A week ago, Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority tested a driverless flying taxi built by Volocopter, a German company. No people were inside, but the autonomous air taxi was flown in Jumeirah Beach Residence in the south of Dubai.

The test comes after plans for an autonomous taxi were unveiled in February at the World Government Summit in Dubai. And at the same time, the Road and Transport Authority is working with Hyperloop One on a superfast passenger service in the UAE. This is on top of their existing pilot projects to support Dubai’s goal that 25% of all trips will be in autonomous vehicles by 2030.

A year close-up to Dubai’s technology policymaking has left me astounded at how quickly frameworks and strategy documents turn into actions, and the enthusiasm with which its done. The desire to start an industrial revolution — supported by today’s most exciting technologies — is materialising fast.

But what does it look like if a group of technology changes are spearheaded by a 45-year-old Gulf State? How does the local perspective affect the way that the future, and the industries in it, is imagined? How is a government’s approach different when over 80% of their residents are ex-pats from other countries?

The Fourth Industrial Revolution as a signaling device

In November 2016, His Excellency Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs & the Future announced a six pillar plan at a World Economic Forum event in Dubai: “to transform the Fourth Industrial Revolution into a global movement spearheaded by the UAE.”

This specific language is important; it describes taking an existing turn of phrase and remaking it as the umbrella for a group of initiatives. This statement is not concerned with defining the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but signaling the direction of change that the UAE wants to be part of.

The result is that this becomes the phrase of the moment — much like ‘shaping the future’ the year before. A recent conference on manufacturing in Abu Dhabi or another in Sharjah on Foreign Direct Investment put the term Fourth Industrial Revolution front and centre. Whether you prefer to imagine the changes afoot as the next generation of manufacturing or a new way of describing the mixing of biological, physical and digital systems, the umbrella can encompass them all.

That said, last week’s the first annual UAE cross-Government meeting launched a more detailed Fourth Industrial Revolution strategy. Developed by colleagues in the Prime Minister’s Office, the strategy picks out specific sectors which are ripe for change — education, healthcare, water & food security among them. This gives more shape to how the UAE intends to navigate the uncertainty of technology developments over the coming decade. But is it still a broad scope.

A revolution by doing not saying

The original 2016 announcement also said:

“The UAE will be the first country in the world to experiment with and implement the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, creating new markets for them. This builds on the steps the government has already implemented through initiatives and strategies promoting technologies such as blockchain, smart transportation, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence.”

Already the initiative is linked to what is happening on the ground. The approach in the UAE is to take opportunities to trial new technologies as they arise. This is about realising a vision for the future through concrete experiments: breaking down our uncertainty about what works and what doesn’t one step at a time. The approach to understanding a potential Fourth Industrial Revolution is pragmatic rather than abstract.

At the other end of the spectrum, the competition to own the abstract explanation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is between professional consultants and commentators usually located far away from the Gulf. The same kind of competition happened over automation & the job market, the internet of things, big data or even cloud computing.

Masterful commentary is how some win business, for others it is about political clout. But this approach has now reached an absurd conclusion: trying to define an entire industrial era before it exists. The UAE wants to lead the development of new technologies as a living laboratory rather than with a chattering class.

The UAE wants to lead the development of new technologies as a living laboratory rather than with a chattering class.

A hub for technology adoption

His Excellency Mohammad Al Gergawi used the launch of the Fourth Industrial strategy last week to call for intensified efforts to achieve the vision of the UAE as a leading hub for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He also wants to position the UAE as a global model for adopting leading-edge technologies to serve society and achieve happiness and sustainability.

He focused on the UAE as an incubator — a hub for adoption. The autonomous flying taxi might be built in Germany but could still make it to market in Dubai first. This approach to technology leadership echoes the UAE’s approach to human capital, making themselves a hub for skilled workers from other countries.

This approach to technology leadership echoes the UAE’s approach to human capital, making themselves a hub for skilled workers from other countries.

Regulators here benefit from a younger legal system with fewer legacy rules to navigate. They are keen to make the most of this to develop rules that make most sense for new technologies, whether that’s aerial vehicles or novel financial systems.

This changes the way that technology development plays out. The focus is on leading through trials and experiments rather than as a first-mover in scientific research.

Testing technologies in public earlier in their development could change the way they are designed and put to use. The public response can affect how helpful, risky or important a product is seen to be.

We practise by building — including the 3D printed office I am writing this from.

This is something we’re very keen on encouraging at the Dubai Future Foundation. We practise by building — including the 3D printed office I am writing this from. This is also part of the strategy behind the temporary exhibitions called the Museum of the Future, where we imagine futures where today’s cutting edge technologies have become part of daily life. It is the backbone of the strategy for our permanent venue opening in 2019.

Developing regional leadership

To understand how technology policy works in Dubai, I’ve found it helpful to focus on the individuals who work hard to develop the relationship between government and the technology sector. This is a small, young nation after all, where one person’s efforts can make a lot of difference. Like Singapore, there is also little existing institutional culture around how Government acts. It is also a place where decisions are made and opinions are formed through conversation: where who you know and how you use that network to connect people, ideas and influence — your “wasta” — is very important.

Part of encouraging a global movement behind the Fourth Industrial Revolution is about cultivating a generation of local leaders who see technology developments as opportunities rather than threats.

Part of encouraging a global movement behind the Fourth Industrial Revolution is about cultivating a generation of local leaders who see technology developments as opportunities rather than threats.Through this shared confidence, the Government’s ambition of large-scale change can be realised. And this is what we’re doing at the Dubai Future Academy: delivering short courses on technology trends and cutting edge tools for foresight, as well as how these support strategy, creativity and innovation.

In our background research for the Academy, we found that foresight skills were high on the list of training interests for companies and the government sector across the Gulf. This was unexpected. We’ve discussed how it might reflect the changing industrial make-up of local economies — moving away from oil — as well as increasing worries about long-term political instability in some parts of the region.

Regional factors will also no doubt affect the development of a Fourth Industrial Revolution as we see it from the UAE. Will we see an increasing focus on technology for humanitarian ends? Does it mean that alternative uses for oil-based products, like carbon fibre, will be among the first to be developed? I don’t know yet.

I have a feeling this could reshape the mooted Fourth Industrial Revolution, moving far away from the predictions of western commentators to a different kind of innovation altogether.

What interests me the most is seeing how today’s emerging leaders, only the third generation in this young country, boost technology-driven growth with their own hands-on style. I have a feeling this could reshape the mooted Fourth Industrial Revolution, moving far away from the predictions of western commentators to a different kind of innovation altogether.