BrazilRoland Berger to host Italian-Middle Eastern innovation event in Dubai
Global management consultancy Roland Berger will host an event this week in Dubai to promote Middle Eastern and Italian business opportunities.
To be held on the 8th of November at the headquarters of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Roland Berger’s Tech Day Mix event will focus on the role of technology and mobility innovation in the circular economy and has been arranged with the intention of fostering potential partnerships between local Middle Eastern and Italian enterprises in the lead-up to Expo 2020.
With support from Italian banking group Intesa SanPaolo, the invitation-only event will bring together more than 100 business leaders from the technology, consulting, mobility and investment sectors, including delegates from tech and mobility industry leaders Careem and HyperloopTT among others – the latter of which is set to start construction of rapid transit Abu Dhabi to Dubai hyperloop by the end of next year.
Also in attendance and set to speak at the event will be Al Ghurair Group CEO and Dubai Chamber chairman HE Majid Saif Al Ghurair, the Italian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Liborio Stellino, and Roland Berger Middle East Managing Director Rene Seyger – a specialist in the automotive and transportation sector with nearly three decades of strategy consulting experience.
"This event is set to be the most comprehensive gathering of its kind with the top flight of tech innovation ecosystem experts under one roof, a testament to our commitment to accelerate tech and mobility innovation development here in the UAE,” said Seyger, who helped launch the global consulting firm’s Amsterdam office in 2002 before taking on the Middle East managing partner role this year.
As part of the Tech Day Mix, the event will also feature a startup pitching contest, with budding regional and international enterprises given the opportunity to pitch for investment. “Cross border investment not only produce new ideas but is the ideal platform to foster and support the tech innovation ecosystem for a sustainable future,” said Seyger. “The digital startup scene in the UAE is booming and we are excited at the prospect of connecting regional and international talent.”
Kushal Shah, Roland Berger Head of Digital for Middle East and Asia, added: “With Dubai at the center of time and technology, it offers a true bridge to the future and an ideal playground to test innovation. Our responsibilities as leaders and innovators are to manage risk, financing, regulation and operations, whilst breaking boundaries and driving towards a sustainable circular economy. We look forward to fostering this dialogue and spur on innovation at the event.”
With offices in Bahrain, Beirut and Dubai, the German-origin firm has been a keen supporter of innovation in the region, earlier this year joining fintech hub Bahrain Fintech Bay as a founding partner, as well as being among the partners for the hub’s recent launch of an Islamic fintech innovation centre. Also this year, Roland Berger hosted a start-up competition for young entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia in collaboration with the German-Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs.
