Category Archives: News

EZDubai, the fully dedicated e-commerce zone in Dubai South, has launched the fourth edition of its ‘E-Commerce Report in the MENA Region 2023’ in collaboration with Euromonitor International, the world’s leading provider for global business intelligence, market analysis and consumer insights. The report revealed that the UAE’s total e-commerce market size reached AED 27.5 billion in 2023, and is expected to surpass AED 48.8 billion in 2028.

The rapid surge in e-commerce adoption in the UAE is fueled by the tech-savvy Gen Z and millennial population, empowered by strong government support in regulations and backed by substantial investments in digital infrastructure. The top three verticals by value in 2023 were apparel and footwear, consumer electronics and media products.

In the UAE, consumers prefer mobile-based shopping, prioritising convenience and cost-effectiveness. Credit and debit cards are the dominant payment methods for online purchases, as reported by 93.2% of respondents in Euromonitor International’s 2023 survey, showing strong confidence in traditional banking. Smartphones are a widely preferred medium for online shopping, indicating a growing reliance on seamless, mobile-centric shopping experiences, and emphasising the importance of social media.

Meanwhile, E-commerce in the MENA region continued its rise in 2023, with a year-on-year growth of 11.8% to reach nearly AED 106.5 billion after reflecting strong online adoption over the historic period, with a CAGR growth of 25% since 2018.  The e-commerce market size in the MENA is expected to reach AED 183.6 billion in 2028.

Key trends shaping MENA e-commerce include increased omnichannel adaptation, as consumers demand seamless shopping experiences, alongside a rise in digital payments and a shift towards payment apps. The popularity of membership programs and the expansion of online grocery shopping also mark significant changes. Furthermore, mobile commerce in the UAE and Saudi Arabia has seen a substantial surge, with its value nearly quadrupling from 2018 to 2023, reaching approximately AED 14.3 billion and AED 16.1 billion, respectively.

In his comments, Mohsen Ahmad, CEO of Logistics District, Dubai South said: “We are pleased to launch the fourth e-commerce report in partnership with Euromonitor and share the latest insights on the sector with our stakeholders. The region’s e-commerce industry has been witnessing impressive growth, and is primed for further robustness in the future, due to the widespread high-speed internet connectivity, and favorable policies mainly focused on development of digital payments and logistics infrastructure. The UAE has also introduced a new e-commerce law in 2023 to enhance its digital economy by encouraging investment, protecting consumer rights, and fostering innovation. At EZDubai, our mandate is to contribute to the government’s vision and cement the emirate’s position as a hub for regional e-commerce.”

EZDubaiwas designed to attract leading e-commerce companies and create a benchmark with its infrastructure. The e-commerce zone, launched in January 2019 by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is strategically located in the heart of the Logistics District of Dubai South.

The World Economic Forum in collaboration with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI)hosted the Food Innovation Conference 2024 in Dubai, under the theme ‘Reimagining Future Food Systems’. This high-level event convened global experts from across business, academia, government and civil society to deepen cooperation and scale technology solutions to transform food systems globally.

The closing session featured keynote speeches by H.E. Dr. Amna Al Dahak, UAE Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises and Special Envoy for Business and Philanthropy.

Other prominent speakers at the conference included Dr. Abdulkareem Al Olama, Chief Executive Officer, Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, H.EKhadim Al Derai, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Al Dahra Holding, Ibrahim Al Zu’bi, Group Chief Sustainability Officer at ADNOC Group, and Jane Nelson, Director of Corporate Responsibility at Harvard Kennedy School.

The event stressed the fundamental shift that must take place in the way food is produced and consumed to address interrelated challenges such as food insecurity, biodiversity loss and carbon emissions.

During his keynote speech, Badr Jafar, who also chaired the COP28 Business & Philanthropy Climate Forum, emphasized the importance of harnessing the combined power of business and philanthropy, stating, “If we are to truly transform our food systems, we need to supercharge our commitment to collaboration across borders and across disciplines and sectors. As a businessperson who also believes in the power of strategic philanthropy, I am optimistic that we are entering a new era of multi-stakeholder cooperation where artificial walls between government, business and philanthropy are coming down.”

With widespread malnutrition of 2 billion people globally, food systems today also contribute heavily to environmental challenges. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), current food production methods are responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, 80% of deforestation, and consume over 70% of the world’s freshwater. Additionally, global food consumption is projected to rise by at least 50% by 2050.

BadrJafar’s address highlighted that technology and innovation are powerful enablers and catalysts of change, commenting: “With $25 trillion in private markets, we know that business is uniquely equipped to channel vast amounts of private capital and expertise, global networks, and cutting edge technology. For example, the impact that robotics and AI will have on our food systems is immense. From smarter farming, better food processing and safety, smoother supply chain management the private sector will be on the leading edge of this transformation.”

At COP28, the World Economic Forum announced the First Movers Coalition for Food, where the UAE and 20 leading food companies joined forces to create a combined procurement commitment for sustainably produced food, worth up to $20 billion by 2030. During the same UN climate conference, the World Economic Forum and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Initiatives launched the Food Innovation Hubs initiative to leverage the exponential potential of technology in responding to the food systems and climate needs in the country and globally.

Badr Jafar concluded, “In the UAE, this ‘whole of society approach’ is authentically being championed. In the same way that complex challenges such as food security, water scarcity, climate change and public health cannot be viewed in isolation, we genuinely believe that the solutions to these challenges will not be spawned in isolation either. We need to work together, while continuing to play to our individual strengths, in order to work at the speed and scale necessary to deliver a better world for generations to come.” The two-day conference encouraged knowledge exchange and capacity building, facilitated partnership opportunities, showcased country-led innovation ecosystem models and explored the latest global frontiers in food systems innovations.

Dubai, UAE – 2 November 2020: ONLY webinars will be hosting a webinar titled, ‘Attracting & Retaining Talent in the #newnormal’ on Tuesday, 3 November 2020 at 11 am UAE Time. The webinar will be presented by Headhunting & Recruitment Consultants, Line Hjorth, and Christina Hansson, and moderated by Sharad Agarwal, Founder of ONLY webinars.

In this dynamic 60-minute free-to-attend webinar, Line Hjorth and Christina Hansson will share their valued tips and insights on how to attract and maintain the very best talent post-Covid-19.

Employees are the greatest assets of any company. A strong and talented workforce enables an organisation to innovate, compete, and succeed. In response to the global pandemic, talent acquisition is more important than ever and is being shaped and changed to the #newnormal.

Talent is crucial for any company’s performance and for overcoming the challenges we are all facing right now:

• Do you know that 75% of all employers struggle to find the right candidates?
• Do you know that hiring the wrong candidate can cost you more than 30% of that individual’s annual earnings?
• How do you rebuild and restart your employees post Covid-19?
• How do you build trust during remote interviews with new candidates?

In the wake of coronavirus, recruiting leaders and their teams are grappling with a host of new issues. In the short term, talent acquisition teams are figuring out ways to make what has historically been a very high-touch human process – a virtual one. They are trying to find out how to effectively work from home, conduct video interviews, make successful offers, and remotely onboard new hires.

Professional headhunters can help business owners and entrepreneurs to grow their business by finding the right talent in quick time and in a cost effective way.

Sharad Agarwal, Founder of ONLY webinars, opined “COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work – and hire. In today’s post COVID economy, organisations must hire the right talent for the right position. There is zero margin for error. Budgets, goals, and headcount are all getting serious reconsideration. Whether your business is booming or grinding to a halt, maintaining a strong employee experience during this time will impact your brand long after the pandemic passes. Clearly, the companies prioritizing employee experience today will be in the best position to attract candidates when it’s time to hire en masse again.”

Those interested in attending this webinar can register online at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jH1H5_BQS52lfQ4RbGf7NA

About ONLY webinars

ONLY webinars is a venture launched by Cyber Gear to assist organisations in the region to design, host, and promote webinars online.

Webinars are ideal for boosting brand awareness and legitimacy, turning prospects into customers, and increasing revenue. Most businesses have turned to online platforms to communicate effectively with their stakeholders. All touchpoints of communication are becoming contactless and webinars offer a great way to promote products and services online.

For more information, contact:
Sharad Agarwal
Founder
ONLY webinars
04 3312627
0506449103
info@onlywebinars.com
https://www.onlywebinars.com

Each time Google updates its algorithm, it is moving a step forward in making the search experience easy and more relevant to the users. It is imperative to stay up-to-date with the latest features and updates by Google.

As a part of the Search On 2020 event, Google made several announcements related to its search engine which provide varying levels of functionality. These new features aim at explaining how AI is now increasingly influencing the algorithms of its search engine and helping people find the information they need.

• Spelling recommendation improvements -The BERT algorithm being used currently, processes almost all the request in English. With the new algorithm, it will understand the misspelled queries using 680 million parameters which will help in terms of the quality of the search. In other words, Google has improved its spelling predictions to help find better matches for users.

• Identifying passages of the text – The second new feature is the ability of the algorithm to better understand a passage within a page by indexing individual passages of text within web pages in order to find relevant information hidden in the page relative to a user’s query. This helps with very specific and precise requests. This feature will arrive in November and will improve 7% of search results in all languages from the start.

• Key moments in videos -The videos also fall under the new innovations with a better understanding of the content to bring the visitor to the search engine directly to that part in the video where the answer to the question can be found. Using the AI approach Google has been able to align with YouTube chapters where creators are able to add descriptions relative to each segment of the video via timestamps, which can help Google by providing more context as to the content in each part.

• Hum to search – Something on the lines of Shazam, Google with its audio algorithms is now able to identify popular songs based on humming or whistling to the search app. It is very simple, hum a tune using google assistant and the algorithm will work to identify the potential song matches.

• Subtopics in search queries – Google is adding subtopics to its search queries. It means Google will show the users subtopics as options within the search results which will deliver greater diversity of content when something broad is searched. For example, if you search for home exercise equipment, Google will now be able to give results based on relevant subtopics like budget, small space ideas and show a wider range of content on the search results page.

• PinPoint for Journalist – Google has announced PinPoint which aims to help the journalists. It will be a free tool that will be available in 7 languages allowing them to search for information related to entities like names of people, places, companies, etc.

Additional features that Google will unveil in the coming weeks will be new visual search possibilities in Google Lens, the Knowledge Graph, Google shopping, Google Maps, and Google View. Keep a lookout for more updates from Google to stay ahead and informed.

ONLY webinars will be hosting a webinar titled, ‘How to Win High-Value Business Using LinkedIn’ on Tuesday 25 August 2020 at 11 am UAE Time. The webinar is presented by Neeraj Shah – Founder & CEO, Titan Mastermindz LLP.

In this dynamic 60-minute free-to-attend webinar, participants will discover:

● The key principles to rapidly become influential on LinkedIn.
● 5 most important parts of a killer LinkedIn profile.
● The smartest way to engage prospects so they quickly like, know, and trust you.
● How to turn connections into a lucrative pipeline of dream clients.

Neeraj Shah is a LinkedIn expert & a social selling strategist. For the last 16 years, he has been working with entrepreneurs to use business networks to multiply their influence, income, and impact in their chosen niche. He grew BNI India, a business networking group from zero to 10,000 entrepreneurs across 28 cities in India. He helped these entrepreneurs use business networking to generate over US$450 million in revenue. He is the co-author of the BNI Handy Guide to Networking and a contributing author to the #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller – Masters of Success.

Neeraj runs Masterminds to power successful entrepreneurs to digitally pivot, amplifying the performance of their business while tearing down the barriers holding them from going to the next level.

According to Neeraj, “During this webinar, I will empower entrepreneurs to unlock the power of LinkedIn and show them 3 simple steps to create a lucrative pipeline of high-value clients right now.”.

The webinar will be hosted and moderated by Sharad Agarwal, Founder of ONLY webinars. Sharad Agarwal, added – “Some of the world’s most successful business leaders are also incredible at building relationships. In today’s post COVID economy, webinars and virtual summits are instrumental in connecting people across geographies in a more empathetic way. This webinar will enable entrepreneurs to grow their business network by leveraging new contacts to open cross border opportunities.”

Those interested in attending this webinar can register online at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J-7aDVIDT6m0IemY5yW3eQ

About ONLY webinars

ONLY webinars is the new WaaS venture launched by Cyber Gear to assist organisations in the region to design, host, and promote webinars online.

Webinars are ideal for boosting brand awareness and legitimacy, turning prospects into customers, and increasing revenue. Most businesses have turned to online platforms to communicate effectively with their stakeholders. All touchpoints of communication are becoming contactless and webinars offer a great way to promote products and services online.

For more information, contact:
Sharad Agarwal
Founder
ONLY webinars
04 3312627
0506449103
info@onlywebinars.com
https://www.onlywebinars.com

Dubai, UAE – 26 July 2020: On this Wednesday 29 July at 11 am (UAE time), ONLY webinars will be hosting a webinar titled, ‘CrisisPreneurship of Time’. The webinar is presented by Brig Sushil Bhasin based in Mumbai, India. Brigadier Sushil Bhasin is a time investment strategist and a TEDx speaker. He served the Indian Army for 34 years.
For the past 15 years, he has served the corporate community with over 600 Leadership and Team Building Outbound Camps and Indoor workshops. He is known for his passion, energy, and result-focused sessions. As a virtual presenter, he is conducting his 73rd webinar in the COVID19 environment. Brig Bhasin is an author of five books including ‘Million Dollar Second’ published by CNBC.
According to Brig Sushil Bhasin, “I am super excited to present this webinar for the first time to the Gulf audience. I will be sharing my life experiences with the participants to help them put a premium on their time. I will be highlighting five time investment strategies that can accelerate the growth of individuals and organisations alike.”
The webinar will be moderated by entrepreneur & author, Gautam Ganglani of Right Selection who is no stranger to Dubai. For over 20 years, Gautam closely worked with world renowned authors and global thought leaders like Marshall Goldsmith, Ron Kaufman & Jack Canfield to name a few, and has expanded the business operations from Dubai to Mumbai in 2019.
Sharad Agarwal, the Founder of ONLY webinars added, “Time is free and at the same time priceless. How we invest our time will define our future. Clearly, Brig Sushil Bhasin is on a mission to create a world conscious of time as a vital resource. We welcome him to our shores and are confident that he will shape the mindsets of participants in achieving their goals with an abundance of optimism and passion.”
Those interested in attending this webinar can register online at https://www.onlywebinars.com
About ONLY webinars
ONLY webinars is the new venture launched by Cyber Gear to assist organisations in the region to design, host, and promote webinars online.
Webinars are ideal for boosting brand awareness and legitimacy, turning prospects into customers, and increasing revenue. In the post COVID economy, most businesses have turned to online platforms to communicate effectively with their stakeholders. All touchpoints of communication are becoming contactless and webinars offer a great way to promote products and services online.
For more information, contact:
Sharad Agarwal
Founder
ONLY webinars
04 3312627
0506449103
info@onlywebinars.com
https://www.onlywebinars.com

AI is slowly becoming part of everyday life. We are becoming ever more reliant on it from transport, healthcare, the internet, are more. As we know, AI is the ability of a computer to learn and absorb new information to develop its intelligence and think for itself. The potential of AI is huge and when it reaches its full capacity. It will change the world forever, alter the workforce, and much more. If we remove the Sci-fi and all the myths surrounding AI, it will prove to have great benefits for all mankind – but what are they?

Reducing Harm to Humans

AI would be the perfect tool for keeping humans out of harm’s way. For example, using an AI robot to do harmful or dangerous jobs that cause great risk to humans.  This could include things like space travel, construction, bomb disposal, underwater research, and mining deep under the ground where it could be difficult for humans to breathe or, they could be facing high temperatures. AI could also be used in radioactive power plants – this could reduce exposure to radiation for those who work there.

Better Working Hours

With the introduction of AI into the workforce, this would mean workers who never get tired. Employers would be able to open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Employers would not have to worry about breaks, holidays, and sickness – an uninterrupted workforce. Although, many would argue that this would make humans in the workforce redundant. Many businesses would see Artificial Intelligence as an irresistible proposition.

Powerful Computers

AI will bring better computers which will be even more powerful and easier to use. They will provide the user with new and improved interfaces, provide users with a system that is excellent at problem- solving, and be able to store and retrieve information quickly and accurately. AI computers will be able to process information into greater knowledge. They will able to process information better so that they do not become overloaded.

Quick Thinking

AI is very good at making decisions on its feet. It can make decisions quickly and carry out actions faster than humans. A machine that is programmed to focus on the task at hand it doesn’t make decisions based on emotion and practicality – removing these factors delivers results faster, offering better results and efficiency

Reducing Human Error

Human error is a constant factor, it is found in everyday life and is taken into consideration. In the case of a computer, it is rare that a mistake will be made when programmed properly. AI uses algorithms to perform actions or commands – thus, cutting down the margin for error. For instance, random number generators are important in slot games, especially at Aspers.com, the RNG is important as it ensures a fair play among the users and cannot be altered.

So, there you have it… Forget about killer robots and the collapse of society. As you see, Artificial intelligence offers an abundance of possibilities and benefits for all of mankind to enjoy.

Dubai, UAE – 11 July 2020: Just 6 weeks in business, ONLY webinars has had a busy opening. The ‘Webinars As A Service’ (WAAS) platform is hosting and promoting a bunch of webinars this week.

– The Video Content Creation Formula by Reim El Houni on Saturday, 11 July at 4 pm UAE time

– Making that giant leap for humankind: The imminent Hope Probe Mission to Mars on Saturday, 11 July at 7.30 pm UAE time

– Dialogues on the Art of Fashion: How Fashion’s New Focus Will Reignite The Runway on Tuesday,14 July at 6 pm UAE time

– Green Recovery, Energy Transition, and Gender Diversity: Improving gender equality and diversity across the energy sector on Wednesday, 15 July at 5 pm UAE time

– How to Drive Returns in a Volatile Market by Reuters Events on Wednesday, 15 July at 8 pm UAE time

– Meltwater Digital Summit – PR meets Marketing on Thursday, 16 July at 1 pm UAE time

– How to build a New Client Engine for Your Business on Thursday, 16 July at 6 pm UAE time

According to Sharad Agarwal, Founder of ONLY webinars, “We have been fortunate to have received an overwhelming response from UAE based organisations for the ‘Webinars As A Service (WAAS)’ concept coined by us. Last week we hosted a successful Q&A webinar for Adam Vital Hospital where the audience got to ask their questions in real time to an illustrious panel of doctors. The event was moderated by James Piecowye, a well known media personality based in Dubai. This week we are promoting 7 webinars that cover a range of interesting and engaging topics.”

All the webinars are free to attend and participants can register online at www.onlywebinars.com

About ONLY webinars

ONLY webinars is the new venture launched by Cyber Gear to assist organisations in the region to design, host, and promote webinars online.

Webinars are ideal for boosting brand awareness and legitimacy, turning prospects into customers, and increasing revenue. In the post COVID economy, most businesses have turned to online platforms to communicate effectively with their stakeholders. All touchpoints of communication are becoming contactless and webinars offer a great way to promote products and services online.

ONLY webinars is presently offering the following specific services:

• Select a topic of interest
• Provide speakers, hosts, and moderators
• Invite the target audience
• Promote on social media
• Prepare the presentations
• Host the webinars
• Create ‘evergreen content’
• Post webinar follow-ups

For more information, contact:

Sharad Agarwal

Founder

ONLY webinars

0506449103

info@onlywebinars.com

https://www.onlywebinars.com

Dubai, UAE – 22 June 2020: Cyber Gear has launched a new portal to showcase the technologies shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

According to Sharad Agarwal – CEO of Cyber Gear, “We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything we have experienced before.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is characterized by the fusion of the digital, biological, and physical worlds, as well as the growing utilization of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, blockchain, robotics, 5G, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, face recognition and biometrics. These advanced technologies have ushered in a new era of economic disruption. This web portal we believe will accelerate the speed of adoption of new technologies in our region.”

In today’s omnichannel world, it is imperative for business owners to stay abreast with new technologies that offer a competitive advantage over other players in the industry.

When compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country. And the breadth and depth of these changes herald the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance.

The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, are unlimited.

The 4.0 Revolution website can be accessed at https://www.cybergear2.com

For more information, contact:

Sharad Agarwal

Cyber Gear

Dubai, UAE

Tel: 04 3312627, 0506449103

Email: info@cyber-gear.com

https://www.middleeastdirectory.com/blog

Blizzard’s ban hammer is in full swing at the moment as they ban players exploiting the in-game layering mechanic. Layering is when ‘mini-servers’ or layers, are created within a server. For example, if you’re playing on the Faerlina server, you may actually be playing on Faerlina layer 1, layer 2, and so on. As a player, it isn’t immediately obvious what layer you are playing on, but you may notice that you’re in the same area as a friend, but you can’t see them. That’s because they are on a different layer.

Why Layering Was Introduced
During Vanilla wow, players experienced huge wait times trying to log into the game. When a player finally got into the game, they were then faced with significant amounts of lag as the thousands of other players surrounding them pushed the hardware and software limits to the max. Blizzard wanted to avoid this with the launch of Classic WoW, so they announced their solution, layering. The idea is that one layer would fill-up with players until it hit a predefined limit, and then a new layer would be generated. Any players logging in after this point will be placed on the new layer.

What Players Thought of Layering
Layering was controversial from the outset. Many avid Vanilla fans felt that layering would degrade the original Vanilla experience. Some players argued that it would detract from the feeling of a full and immersive community that Classic WoW is all about. A major discussion point was also the potential for this mechanic to exploited.

The Exploit
The exploit works like this:
● Player 1 farms a mob, boss, or mat on Layer 1.
● Then, Player 1 will ask someone on another layer, let’s say Layer 2, to invite them into a group. This will transfer Player 1 over to Player 2’s layer, in this case, Layer 2.
● Now Player 1 can farm the exact same item or mob all over again without having to wait for respawns or resets.
● Rinse and repeat. Player 1 can now hop to a different layer again, or back to their previous layer, and farm indefinitely.

Some players have been sinking vast amounts of energy into this exploit, farming for the best gear, or farming for items to sell on the Auction House. This exploit has been shifting huge amounts of Classic WoW Gold into the hands of the exploiters and massively disrupting the budding Classic WoW economy which was growing and developing in much healthier way in comparison to mainstream WoW, where value of WoW Gold is steadily declining and inflation is on the rise. The effect has been that some players have managed to get way ahead of other players, both in terms of the amount of WoWC Gold they have, and it terms of their gear progression and experience.

In response, Blizzard has come down hard on these players, issuing a range of bans. It looks as though some players have been handed one-month bans, some got 6-month bans, and the serious exploiters have been handed permanent bans.