Dubai Future Foundation launched a series of global roundtables under the theme “Value of AI and Robotics” in partnership with the Knowledge Centre for Data & Society in Brussels, GovLab in New York, and Project Syndicate. The roundtables take place in the UAE, Belgium, and the US.

The first roundtable of the series was held at Area 2071 in Dubai, and hosted local and global experts from the public and private sectors, in addition to representatives of international institutions and technology solutions providers.

The conversation aimed to engage top minds in a discussion on how societies, organizations, and individuals create and capture value in the age of intelligent automation. The experts also analyzed how social institutions – especially those tasked with the common good, such as governments and public sector entities – create, capture, and distribute the value generated by AI and intelligent machines.

Abdulaziz Al Jaziri, Deputy CEO and Chief Operations Officer at Dubai Future Foundation, stressed the importance of adopting modern technology tools to find innovative solutions to the challenges humanity faces. “Hosting the first gathering focused on the value of AI and robotics in Dubai underlines its leading global leadership in adopting advanced technologies to achieve rapid leaps in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Through our partnership with international institutions and stakeholders from Belgium and the US, we seek to exchange experience and establish a global platform to enhance the role of AI and robotics at present and in the future.” Al Jaziri added.

Khalifa Al Qama, Head of Future Labs at Dubai Future Foundation said that the launch of this series marks the beginning of a new global partnership that contributes to educating government agencies and private companies about the vital role of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in creating new business opportunities and economic sectors that are abreast with the rapid changes in many areas.

The participants discussed the impact of big data, AI, and robotics on future functions and environments, how the ecosystem and infrastructure impact regulatory frameworks, and assessed ways to leverage the tools of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to deliver significant benefits in vital sectors. Furthermore, they evaluated current and future challenges, and proposed solutions to cope with emerging market needs.

Main Themes

The roundtables focused on three main themes during key sessions and panel discussions with industry experts. Participants evaluated current and future challenges, and proposed several solutions to cope with changes and meet new market needs.

The first theme, ‘The Emerging Enabling Ecosystem and Infrastructure,’ examined the state of the emerging technology ecosystem and infrastructure that enable AI, big data, and robotics business models, products, and services to flourish, as well as their impact on regulatory frameworks.

The second theme, ‘New Products, Processes, and Services at Traditional Business Model Firms’, explored how existing institutions have integrated AI, big data, and robotics into business models, as well as the effect of these new value creation channels on the entities.

The third theme, ‘Emerging Forms of Value Creation and Capture in New Business Model Firms’, discussed how new business model firms leverage AI and robotics to create and capture value. In addition, it examined how these new forms of value creation have resulted in further investment opportunities, products, and services.