Arabnet The Quarterly Issue 13 | Summer 2017

Issue no 13. Summer 2017

SMART LIVING In-depth Guide to Smart Homes

AUTONOMOUS CARS The Past, Present, And Future

RAMADAN BEHAVIORS

Original Research

By DMS

NEW REGIONAL FUNDS A Rundown Of All The Latest Funds

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

EXCITING TIMES TO BE A PART OF THE TECH INDUSTRY It’s an extremely exciting time to be a part of the technology industry, since many revolutionary technologies are being developed, including self-driving vehicles, smart houses, internetconnected equipment, the power of artificial intelligence, as well as all the endless possibilities that these create. Even space travel has gotten exciting again!

Rita Makhoul Managing Editor

@rampurple

Thanks to my brother (holla!), I grew up watching a lot of sci-fi movies and series, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, 2001: The Space Odyssey, Back to the Future, Tron, and of course the entire Star Wars film series… oh, and The Jetsons! Back in the 80s, when we were watching sci-fi, all the technologies seemed like pure fantasy. I mean, come on, we were still learning BASIC programming on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2 at school, albeit it was really cool to create a 2D robot whose hands I could animate. (For those too young to be familiar with what a Sinclair is, well, it was an 8-bit personal computer).

Looking at the world today, it’s astonishing to see how many sci-fi inventions have come to reality, from things such as video calling, to self-driving cars, to cleaning robots, air-touch tech, 3D printing, biometrics, and so much more. Technology is developing so rapidly, and we’ve come such a long way from the Sinclair, fax machines, and huge brick mobile phones. Technology is everywhere, unavoidable, and important for everyone. From smartphones, to online shopping, to fund transfers, to taking a cab, technology is impacting everything we do in our lives.

It really isn’t difficult to see the changes that faster microprocessors and networks have wrought.

Take a look at your smartphone for a moment and let the following sink in: your phone is more powerful than the mainframe computer that landed the Apollo spacecraft on the moon more than four decades ago.

However, as advanced technology propagates across the world, the never-ending riveting debate continues on whether the impact of technology benefits the human race or if it brings more disadvantages. Is there a downside to the ubiquitous and seamless connectivity that smart technology grants us? Will the intelligence of machines exceed that of humans? What if the machine wasn’t benevolent? Is Stephen Hawking right to expect the end of the human race because people won’t be able to compete with advanced AI? Are there any right or wrong answers to these questions? I think not. As long as we keep asking questions and consciously progress and embrace this fast pace of change, we will be fine. Nobody really has the answers but we’ll figure them out together. After all, isn’t technology collaborative by nature? Individuals with diverse skills and experiences get together to find a solution to a problem – sounds pretty collaborative to me.

What better way to experience this fast-paced industry than to be a part of it?

It’s my wish that The Quarterly will become an essential part of your professional life, a resource that you depend on to keep up with the rapidly evolving world of digital technology. As always, I hope you enjoy this issue, and do let me know if there are any topics you would like to see covered in the future.

Until next time!

CONTENT Issue no 13, Summer 2017

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA TECHNOLOGY

INDUSTRY STORIES

Amazon Snags Souq in Largest MENA Exit

19

The Home of the Future

22

I’m Sorry Adolf, I’m Afraid I Can’t Do That

24

4 Opinion piece on artificial intelligence and it’s impacts on various sectors.

Flat6Labs Launches Lebanon Seed Fund

7

Smart Dubai and 1776 Blockchain Challenge Open

8

TECHNOLOGY

BUSINESS

Autonomous Cars: The Future is Here

12

History of Autonomous Technology

12

How a Car Drives Itself

13

Levels of Autonomy

15

The Comprehensive Guide to Smart Homes The Evolution of Home Automation

2

The Interconnected Home of Today

THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

16 17

CEO Series: Imad Kreidieh, Director General of Ogero Telecom Authority 28 ArabNet CEO and Founder, Omar Christidis, interviews Imad Kreidieh on the future expectations and challenges of his mandate in particular to the call for faster and more affordable internet in Lebanon.

E-commerce Insights & Best Practices

32

Excerpts of a study conducted by OMD and ArabNet to elicit the insights and best practices for companies interested in this channel.

Issue no 13, Summer 2017

DIGITAL MEDIA CONTRIBUTORS

Key Tactics for More Effective Digital Storytelling

Editor-in- Chief

38

Omar Christidis

Managing Editor Rita Makhoul

What You Should Know About Ramadan A research conducted by Choueri Group Data Team on insights to consumer behaviors during Ramadan.

Staff Writers

40

Lynn El Bizri Mohamad Salhab Nadine Kahaleh

Contributors Gasia Terterian Miguel Silva-Constenla

Design Marc Abdullah Amal Charif Mira Breish

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Business Development Michael Aswad

MENA’s VC Funding on the Rise

46

A list of all the new funds announced in the region during the past year.

FOR CONTRIBUTING

Map of Dubai’s Startup Ecosystem

50

10 MENA Startups to Keep On Your Radar

52

We’ve mapped out Dubai’s startup ecosystem.

In every issue, we bring you a list of startups from the MENA region to put on your radar.

Summer 2017 THE QUARTERLY

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INDUSTRY STORIES

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION

INDUSTRY NEWS

A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA

Amazon Snags Souq in Largest MENA Exit Months of rumors circulating the Middle East e-commerce sector culminated in Amazon acquiring Souq.com for an estimated $650 million. Talks originally began in November 2016 when Bloomberg reported that Amazon considered acquiring the Dubai based e-commerce marketplace for a whopping $1 billion.

Then in January, Amazon walked away from the deal with Souq, apparently due to a disagreement over valuation. That followed with speculations that Majid Al Futtaim Holding was considering acquiring Souq. Then the saga ended on March 28th 2017 when Amazon confirmed in a short statement the acquisition of Souq.com for an undisclosed amount, after successfully preventing a bid by Emaar Malls – which was reported to be in the range of $650 million. This marks the largest exit from the MENA region to date. As part of the deal, Amazon has also agreed to acquire PayFort, an online payment platform for e-commerce that has been Souq.com’s payment platform since its inception. Early in 2016, Souq closed a funding round of $275 million from Tiger Global and Naspers, as well as some strategic investors, including Standard Chartered Private Equity, IFC (a member of the World Bank Group), Baillie Gifford, and other techfocused financial institutions. That round increased Souq’s valuation to a $1 billion with a total of $425 million raised since it was founded in 2005. Considering all of that, a $650 million acquisition doesn’t look so alluring however, it is significant and will shake up the region’s growing e-commerce sector and the ecosystem’s development. The acquisition of Souq gives Amazon a head start in the region rather than building from the ground up. Buying Souq provides Amazon with an existing customer base, access to regional merchants and existing infrastructure. Souq currently sells over 2 million products in addition to a newly introduced global bookstore of 6 million books and an online grocery platform, introduced in November. Additionally, with PayFort, Amazon secures the payments infrastructure.

Feedeed.com Raises $300K in Second Round of Investment

Insider Secures Investment from 500 Startups

Feedeed.com recently announced the closing of their second and latest investment round of $300,000 led by BLC Invest. The financing will be used to expand Feedeed’s platform, and drive the next stages of their growth.

Launched in 2014, Feedeed. com is a matching platform that provides on-demand experts for businesses.

Feedeed’s aim is to give businesses, especially SMEs, the opportunity to get access to good quality experts without the overly expensive costs of agencies and overhead costs of hiring internal employees. By matching each project/ client to the best suited expert, Feedeed is reshaping the concept of standard outsourcing, accelerating the growth of small businesses, and helping experts focus on their talents. Feedeed.com recently launched a new version of their website with features to make project flow easier and faster such as a Project Manager, where clients and experts can chat, exchange files, send quotations, pay invoices, and rate projects; and a dashboard for experts and clients tracking multiple projects. Feedeed is planning to launch their mobile app (on IOS and Android) and recently launched a blog for businesses looking to learn about outsourcing for the purpose of accelerating growth.

Insider, a digital experience delivery platform for marketers, has secured investment from 500 Startups for an undisclosed amount to fuel its global expansion. Insider had recently secured a $2.2 million Series A round of financing in September, bringing Insider’s total funding since launching in 2012 to $3.3 million. Insider provides predictive modeling and segmentation services to global leading brands such as Singapore Airlines, UNIQLO, New Balance, Toyota, and Lenovo.

It has over 130 employees and offices in Tokyo, Singapore, London, Dubai, Moscow, Warsaw, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Istanbul. The company is planning to use the funding to support its expansion into 17 countries by the end of the year.

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INDUSTRY STORIES

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION #Pay and Payfort to Develop MENA Fintech in Joint Effort

A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA

PAYFORT, an online payment service provider in the Arab world, and fintech startup #Pay (pronounced ‘hash-pay’) announced that #Pay team will now be part of PayFort. The two will be working together to facilitate secure e-payments in the Arab region. E-commerce is currently a booming industry, especially in the Arab region. Back in 2014, Online Shopping Behavior Studies conducted by Mastercard revealed the increasing popularity of online shopping in Arab countries. Now, the market is growing faster than ever. While the numbers of online shoppers is on the rise, the primary concern for consumers is safety. The rapid growth of the e-market in the Arab world creates a high demand for secure and easily operated payment models. The #Pay team has developed solutions to help merchants simplify customer online payments, offering options as per customer preference via call centers, SMS or social media, such as Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and other online channels. #Pay opens up communication channels for merchants allowing them to send invoices via social media such as Twitter, Instagram, or even Snapchat. Customers are given a unique URL and invoice payment code, and can pay using SADAD, credit card or bank transfer. PayFort works towards making payments safe and secure for buyers and sellers across the Arab world, offering a complete suite of payment solutions that are tailored to Arab online buying habits and trends and can also be catered to any small to medium enterprise (SME). It is also the payment platform for some of the leading e-commerce websites in the region such as Souq.com, Dubizzle.com, Landmark, BEIN Sports, Etihad Airways, Ticketmaster, Air Arabia, and Talabat.com.

Agrytech Hackathon Took Place in Lebanon March 31st marked the kick-off of the first Agrytech Hackathon in Lebanon, at the Berytech Technology Pole for over 48 continuous hours. The hackathon is part of the Agrytech Program, an initiative jointly funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Berytech, aiming to develop startups with disruptive innovations in the Agri-Food sector – leveraging on technology and innovation, providing them with the adequate technical and business resources and support to scale into successful businesses of global impact.

The Agrytech Hackathon received over 100 multidisciplinary applicants with varying backgrounds of agriculture and food sectors, business and finance, and hardware and software engineering, who pitched 22 unique ideas. 35 expert mentors from leading organizations guided the teams. Up to 30 partners including UNICEF, World Food Programme, USJ, ISOC Internet Society-Lebanon, MENA Devs Group, Green Studios, Jusoor Syria, Wamda, and ArabNet, among others; engaged in the 48-hour event. Participants from technical developers, engineers, agronomists, food experts, designers, to innovative problem solvers of the Agri-Food space in Lebanon and the region, were given 48 hours to generate a prototype (or a demo of a prototype) to answer to the industry’s challenges. Souk Baladi was awarded first place and a $1,300 prize, presented an online marketplace connecting small farmers to niche stores. Starchy won second place ($1,500 prize), it synthesizes bio-plastic for fruits and vegetables aiming to offer an organic alternative to wax and vacuumed plastic for preserving food to extend their shelf-life, delaying oxidation and decreasing the mass of thrown food products, aiming to benefit farmers and merchants alike. Both winners will have direct access to the Agrytech Accelerator program with the opportunity to receive up to 12 months of support, and up to $40,000 of grant funding.

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THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

Flat6Labs Beirut Launches Lebanon Seed Fund

MENA Startups Shine at Seedstars World

Flat6Labs Beirut, a partnership between Flat6Labs and ArabNet, announced the launch of Lebanon Seed Fund (LSF), a $20 Million early stage fund aiming to support 100 Lebanese startups over the next five years. LSF, managed by Flat6Labs Beirut and approved by Banque du Liban under Circular 331, is poised to bolster the growth of seed and early stage Lebanese startups as it intends to invest and to provide a range of investment ticket sizes that target companies from idea stage all the way to early growth. Startups taking part in the seed stage program will receive an investment ticket size of $30,000 to $50,000 and go through a 16-week mentorship-driven seed program, while early stage startups will receive $100,000 to $500,000 as well as access to Flat6Labs Beirut’s resources and operational guidance to scale.

With more than 110 investments in startups from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in an array of industries, Flat6Labs is bringing the regional experience and know-how to enable innovative Lebanese startups in scaling across the MENA region and globally. Funded by LSF, Flat6Labs Beirut will seed and grow Lebanese startup companies working in innovation-based and knowledge-driven industries. These industries will mainly include information and communications technology (ICT), electronics, manufacturing solutions, green technologies and extends to the use of technology and knowledge in other core industries such as health, education, energy, transport, and financial services.

Seedstars Summit was held last April in Lausanne, Switzerland, combining panels and workshops about the latest technological advancements from emerging markets, and a competition for international startups.

The highlight of the summit was the final results of the worldwide startup competition giving away $1,000,000 in equity investment to the winning startups. 12 startups were selected to compete and pitch on the main stage in front of participants and a jury panel. The Seedstars World Global Winner of the $500,000 investment prize was Acudeen Technologies, from the Philippines, an innovative solution that turns SME invoices into cash through discounting of their receivables. Several other startups received special prizes, including 2 regional ones: Asafeer Education Technologies from UAE, an electronic statistics tool, was awarded the TRECC Transforming Education Prize, a grant of USD 50,000, presented by TRECC. Mind Rockets from Jordan, an assistive technology for the deaf, won the Public Vote, presented by SPECO, the Office for Economic Affairs of the State of Vaud in Switzerland.

Moreover, out of the 12 finalists startups that were selected, 3 of them are from the MENA region: Segmentify from Turkey, Mind Rockets from Jordan, and Raye7 from Egypt.

The First Edition of CodeCamp Sets New Heights for the Qatari Digital Ecosystem The first edition of CodeCamp drew in over 150 digital entrepreneurs from across Qatar on March 3-4. The event was organized by the Digital Incubation Center (DIC) and the Qatar Ministry of Transport and Communications, in partnership with QITCOM, and with the sponsorship of Qatar Airways, Ooredoo, MADA, and Microsoft. The Hackathon was organized with the aim to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the Qatari technology ecosystem, helping grow the digital economy. Government officials in attendance included Ms. Reem Al Mansouri, Undersecretary Digital Society Sector Development at the Ministry of Transport and Communications as well as others working on developing the digital sector in the country. Many innovative ideas were turned into working prototypes as 36 teams of computer programmers and software developers from high schools, universities, and professional coders competed to develop software solutions that tackle challenges in real time. Solutions were showcased to 20 expert judges from Qatar and the region, tackling the 4 themes of Assistive Technology, Digital Transformation, E-Health, and Smart Travel, while 12 finalist teams were chosen for incubation by DIC and the opportunity to compete at Qatar’s biggest digital event, QITCOM. 4 winning teams were chosen during Quitcom, each receiving 75,000 Qatari Riyals in cash prizes. In Assistive Technology, Naqood; in Digital Transformation, Viable; in E-Health, Eczema; and finally in Smart Travel, Oryx Hunter. DIC incubation includes a 6-month track that supports innovators in developing and ultimately turning their ideas into viable products or prototypes, by offering budding entrepreneurs mentoring, training, and other opportunities; as well as a 2-year startup track that supports potential entrepreneurs and early-stage tech startups with a market-ready product or prototype.

Summer 2017 THE QUARTERLY

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INDUSTRY STORIES

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION Smart Dubai Office and 1776 Blockchain Challenge Open for Applicants

A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA

For all startups using blockchain technology to transform an industry, the Smart Dubai Office (SDO) and 1776 will organize the Blockchain Challenge in May for the purpose of meeting world-leading investors, networking with VIPs, connecting with customers, and winning prizes and potential contracts to be part of Dubai’s recently launched Blockchain Strategy. Dubai aims to become the first blockchainpowered city by 2020 based on 3 pillars: Government Efficiency: implementing blockchain technology in government services; Industry Creation: supporting the creation of a blockchain industry through empowering startups and businesses; and Thought Leadership: leading the global thinking on blockchain technology. Startup applicants must be implementing blockchain technology in their solutions or products to be accepted in the competition in addition to being for-profit businesses, having scalable products or services that should be possible to implement in Dubai – to enhance the quality of life. Finalists will receive pitch training at 1776 by mentors and experts, have a one-month 1776 membership, and will pitch and showcase to an audience of investors, VCs, dignitaries, and public/private sector representatives. Winners will receive prize money (first place $20,000, second place: $15,000, and third place: $10,000) have a 3 month 1776 membership, will have a meeting scheduled with potential clients with the support of SDO, and will receive promotion on 1776’s channels.

ArabNet Startup Battle Winners All Set to Compete in the Championship ArabNet will host the first regional Startup Championship during its Digital Summit 2017 in Dubai. Contestants from 6 different cities qualified via ArabNet’s Startup Battle competition, held during local events at the respective cities.

On May 17th in Dubai, the qualified 18 startups will get on the stage, and pitch their business model to a panel of judges, investors, and professionals for a chance to win a $20,000 prize, as well as a scholarship to participate in the Blackbox Connect program in Silicon Valley. The following are the ArabNet Startup Battle winners: Kuwait: Meddy, helps people find best doctors based on patient reviews and credentials; SoukDesigner, an online platform that enables people to sell products in their personalized online store easily and economically; Pricinity, a search engine for products, prices and stores throughout Kuwait and the region.

Riyadh: Sihatech, a provider of technology solutions to the healthcare space to improve the access, accountability and quality; Spoilee, a beauty services marketplace that links women with beauty service providers; Cura, an app that enables users to get medical consultations easily via smart phone by communicating with the best known doctors in all specialties.

Beirut: Vision in Motion, a software-based platform for businesses to monitor, track and analyze customer behavioral patterns using image processing and computer vision technology; Synkers, a mobile platform that connects students and tutors; Blink My Car, an ondemand car care platform that connects users to professionals, bringing the car wash and maintenance shop to the user’s parking spot.

Cairo: WideBot, Intelligent Chatbots requiring no coding or technical background; Mumm, making homemade nutritious cuisine accessible to all Egyptians; dotMeta, personalizing the Video Experience as per viewer preferences and interests.

Casablanca: SOS Santé, an IoT device on cars that sends distress signals, location, blood type, and allergies automatically to the closest medical facility; Koolna, an online platform where travellers and adventure seekers can find likeminded people for sharing experiences, and organizing and planning trips and activities; Ivendi.ma, a web platform that brings home buyers and sellers together, saving on the commission paid to the broker.

Dubai: NOW Money, a mobile banking technology for low-income workers in GCC, allowing access to exchange providers, pay utility bills, purchase mobile phone credit, and as well as being a fully operational card for POS and ATM withdrawals; FriendyCar, a car rental platform for car owners, to facilitate them sharing their cars with other users; Wenaak, a solution to standardize MENA’s addresses with a focus on four main verticals – logistics, e-commerce, government entities, and navigation.

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INDUSTRY STORIES

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION Jusoor Announces Winners of Third Annual Entrepreneurship Competition

A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA

In March, Jusoor concluded its Third Annual Entrepreneurship Competition, with three winners announced. Teams were rewarded for their innovative business ideas in the sectors of technology, education, and art.

The declared winners are: Mujeeb, winner of first place and $10,000 award, a chatbot for customer support that utilizes machine learning technology to process and answer inquiries in Arabic. Artilla won second place and $7,000, an entertainment and educational platform that teaches the fundamentals of drawing and visual arts. LieBeiroot came in third place, winning $5,000, it is an application that allows travelers to customize trip requests and matches them to drivers and trips between different cities in Syria and Lebanon. 13 shortlisted teams joined the Jusoor Entrepreneurship Bootcamp in Beirut who presented their projects in front of a panel of judges. The competition was open to projects in any field, with a focus on social and economic development ideas that provide solutions to a problem. At least one of the team members must have resided in Syria for their team to be eligible, and the project must be in the ‘seed’ stage demonstrating the existence of a track record of performance to prove the potential of their project. Jusoor has partnered with well-established corporations from the industry that believe in support of the entrepreneurial community and providing professional support to complement the Bootcamps. This year’s partners included Wamda, ArabNet, STEP2017 Conference, Beirut Digital District, and Techfugees.

Launch of Dubai Smartpreneur Competition The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in association with the Smart Dubai Office, launched the second edition of the Dubai Smartpreneur Competition and received applications until mid-April. The competition which will be featured at the ArabNet Digital Summit on May 17th includes UAE-based entrepreneurs and their business ideas within the following areas covered under the Smart Dubai mandate: smart economy, smart living, smart mobility, smart governance, smart environment, and smart people. A high-level jury panel will critique the entries, and participants who qualify will then attend a two-day workshop on sector-specific training, mentorship, building relationships, and developing a full business plan. This year, the competition is being held with the support of Dubai Start Up Hub, in collaboration with IBM, and the final pitches for the 10 finalists will be held at Arabnet Digital Summit 2017. The results will be announced in the closing ceremony, and the top three winners have the chance to win cash prizes worth AED 150,000 ($40,000) and the opportunity to join Tejar Dubai entrepreneurship development program for a year.

Speed Cycle Four: 9 Startups Set for Acceleration Cycle four of Speed’s Accelerator program is up and running with 9 startups that will reside in Beirut Digital District (BDD) to embark upon a 3-month training journey. The startups will receive an investment ticket of $30,000 each, get exposed to the digital space in the region, and benefit from extensive sessions to craft pivotal tools that should grow their business. The 9 startups are: Bidappeal, an auction site for bidding on products. Fig, a web and mobile platform that to search and browse inventories of physical shops with personalized fashion tips. Groovy Antoid, a gaming studio concerned with devising the perfect combination between simple mechanics and likeable characters. Harold, a digital broadcasting solution that hands its users the possibility of publishing their personal life announcements and classified ads on multiple channels. Neotic, an AI-based platform that offers crowd-sourcing analysis of the stock market. Rave, a social network creating a community where the world’s finest music, legendary artists, and party hubs meet. Smart Interactive Breadboard, a hardware and software solution and tool to ease teaching robotic classes. The Living Book, a tool where creative content targeted for kids can be assembled. Van Ahmar, a game development studio for making mobile casual games with a unique visual style, creative game mechanics, and juicy in-game features to trigger the gamers’ psyche. Furthermore, Speed announced a partnership with Arab Arcade – a game publishing platform – to pilot the acceleration of two gaming studios. The program will revolve around giving gaming startups a series of gaming workshops in collaboration with Arab Arcade at BDD.

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TECHNOLOGY

AUTONOMOUS CARS

THE FUTURE IS HERE

By Nicholas El Bizri | @nlblb

E

ver since the introduction of commercial cars, the automotive industry has continuously innovated safer, “greener” and more affordable vehicles - but technological advancements have been incremental. In recent years, however, the industry has undergone substantial change with the rise of autonomous technology. Major automakers have been investing heavily in R&D and predict that within 5 – 10 years, full-scale autonomous vehicles (AVs) will be roaming the streets in the form of personal and public transportation. It is important to note, though, that governmental support is required in making this feat possible.

One of the most supportive countries has been none other than Dubai, launching the Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy for Dubai’s future autonomous transportation. The project’s goal is to transform 25% of Dubai’s transportation to autonomous vehicles by 2030, increase productivity by reducing travel time and decrease road accidents significantly. It is this type of support that motivates automakers to invest in AV technology.

History of Autonomous Technology Leonardo da Vinci designed a wooden, spring-powered, three-wheeled cart that could move without being pushed or pulled, and steering could be set in advance so the cart could move along a predetermined path.

WHITEHEAD TORPEDO

C. 1500

Mechanical Mike was a prototype autopilot that was used during a 21,000 KM flight around the world in 1933.

Gyroscopes kept track of the plane’s heading and interfaced with the controls to ensure accurate direction.

1933 1868

LEONARDO DA VINCI’S ROBOTIC CART

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TEETOR CRUISE CONTROL

The Whitehead Torpedo was a game-changer, being able to propel itself underwater, travel several hundred meters, and maintain depth. Torpedo guidance has evolved over the years leading to a wide range of autonomous devices.

THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

James Adams, a Stanford engineering graduate student, began developing the world’s first self-driving vehicle.

Known as The Cart, it was eventually equipped with cameras and programmed to detect and autonomously follow a solid white line on the ground.

1961 1945

MECHANICAL MIKE AIRPLANE AUTOPILOT

TSUKABA MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Ralph Teetor, a blind inventor and mechanical engineer, fed up with his drivers’ sporadic driving, invented a “speed control device” known today as cruise control.

1977

STANFORD CART

Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Lab in Japan creates the first autonomous, intelligent, vehicle. It tracked white street markers and achieved speeds up to 30 kilometers per hour.

What’s Under the Hood?

So how do AVs work? They follow a “sense-plan-act” approach. A suite of sensors, cameras and radars are in charge of guiding the vehicle and gathering data from its environment. This data is then interpreted by software algorithms stored

on the vehicle’s main computer. Finally, the data is converted into commands for vehicle steering, throttle and brakes.

There is much more to autonomous systems than meets the eye. AV systems rely heavily on artificial intelligence and

machine learning to make informed decisions and differentiate surroundings.

Machine learning algorithms employed are based on object tracking and sophisticated pattern recognition algorithms are designed to improve the accuracy of distinguishing between

How a Car Drives Itself LIDAR UNIT Constantly spinning, it uses laser beams to generate a -360degree image of the car’s surroundings.

CAMERAS Uses parallax from multiple images to find the distance to various objects. Cameras also detect traffic lights and signs, and help recognize moving objects like pedestrian and bicyclists

RADAR SENSORS Measure the distance from the car to obstacles

MAIN COMPUTER (LOCATED IN TRUNK) Analyzes data from the sensors, and compares its stored maps to assess current conditions.

ADDITIONAL LIDAR UNITS

VaMoRs – CARS THAT SEE

General Atomics’ unmanned Predator drone, which has been self-piloting for over 20 years. Most drones are decked out with various technologies that have now been adapted to cars. These include radars and thermal imaging cameras that enable travel by night.

DARPA CHALLENGES

1995 1986 VaMoRs, originated from German engineer, Ernst Dickmanns, was a 5 tonne Mercedes van equipped with cameras and other sensors, modified with all the necessary controls — steering wheel, brakes and throttle.

VaMoRs made its first autonomous drive in 1986.

The Google Driverless Car program is led by Darpa Grand Challenge alum Sebastian Thrum. Google’s fleet of seven autonomous Toyota Prius hybrids use data from Google Street View coupled with data from cameras, LIDAR and radar to determine the car’s position on a map.

2010 2013-2004

GENERAL ATOMICS PREDATOR DRONE

TESLA AUTOPILOT

DARPA, the U.S. Department of Defense’s research arm, sponsored a series of challenges that push autonomous technologies forward. Competitions were held to challenge vehicles to self-navigate pre-determined distances in an allotted time limit.

The University of Michigan’s -32acre Mobility Transformation Center, called MCity, launched as a world-class test facility for autonomous vehicle technology. Ford became the first automaker to test autonomous vehicles there, and in the harshest environmental conditions imaginable.

2015 2015

GOOGLE HITS THE ROAD

Tesla sent its cars a software update that suddenly made autonomous driving a reality.

The autopilot feature enabled hands-free control for highway driving.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN’S MCITY

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TECHNOLOGY

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION

objects, for example, whether an object is another vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle, or even an animal. AV systems are constantly analyzing the environment and feeding perceived images into the algorithm.

The images are examined and then the nature of the objects is classified. These algorithms allow the vehicle to “learn” object characteristics such as movement, size and shape in order to classify future images with higher accuracy.

an area or city that supports V2I, it logs

also alert the platform of traffic severity

then given a unique service token. The vehicle’s GPS location and heading then determine which traffic signal is coming up. Information about that light will be provided, notifying the driver whether they’ll be able to make it through the intersection or not. In the case that they are caught at the red light, a countdown (in seconds) begins until the green light appears. Audi recently showcased this technology in Las Vegas and plans to provide this optional feature in its 2017 vehicles but with a monthly subscription fee. Sadly, however, V2I services such as this will most likely be introduced via painfully slow rollout one city at a time.

location, notifying other vehicles and recommending a re-route.

onto the infrastructure’s cloud and is through the analysis of vehicle speed and A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA

In recent years, automakers have barely touched the surface of connective technology, focusing on the development of Human Machine Interface (HMI), which is mainly made up of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and infotainment systems. ADAS provides drivers with safety assistance technology, including features such as blind spot detection, lane assist, active cruise control, and collision warning and active park assistance. Infotainment systems, on the other hand, provide drivers with driving entertainment through smartphone connectivity and user-friendly touchscreen interfaces. The future of connected car technology, however, goes far beyond what’s being offered on the market today. Vehicle communication aims to be far more integrated and immersive for the driver. Introduced as Vehicle-toeverything (V2X) communication, such technology will be capable of passing information from a vehicle to any external entity that may affect the vehicle, and vice versa. The three main categories currently being developed are: V2I (Vehicle-toInfrastructure), V2V (Vehicle-to-vehicle), and V2D (Vehicle-to-device).

Vehicle-to-Infrastructure

Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) is based on wireless communication technology, establishing an exchange between vehicles and highway infrastructure, transforming infrastructure equipment into “smart infrastructure” which contain communication technology such as sensors, receivers and transmitters.

V2I provides a wide range of safety, mobility, and environmental benefits for drivers. One particularly convenient V2I service is the ability of vehicles to communicate with traffic light systems.

How this works is that when a car enters

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Vehicle-to-Vehicle

Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) technology relies on the above “smart infrastructure” to create a platform for vehicles to communicate, enabling the sending and receiving of data between compatible vehicles. Information on road conditions, traffic, and other environmental conditions are some of the few examples.

The technology behind V2V is based on small radio transmitters and receivers found in vehicles, which are capable of broadcasting information to infrastructure and other vehicles within several hundred yards. Safety, of course, is the main motivation behind this V2V. For example, in the case of a hazard, vehicle and infrastructure sensors will automatically alert the platform, which, in theory, will notify nearby connected vehicles.

Another advantage is that vehicles may

Vehicle-to-Device

Vehicle-to-Device (V2D) communication is a particular type of vehicular communication system that enables the exchange of information between a vehicle and an electronic device, in most cases a smart device (smartphone/ smart watch). The growing development of mobile technology has ultimately entered the automotive tech industry.

V2D leverages smart device technology through mobile apps and NFC capabilities to offer a better driving experience - allowing you to monitor, as well as interact, with your vehicle. Many automakers have come to embrace this technology, some the first-movers being BMW and Tesla. BMW’s V2D tech, first made available on the 2016 7-series, offers both a mobile app and a smart key fob. The mobile app allows the driver to access certain vehicle functions remotely while the smart key fob allows for monitoring vehicle information and statistics. Similar to BMW, Tesla also provides a similar mobile app. Features include allowing the customer to remotely turn the vehicle on and off, pre-setting vehicle temperature and using the “summon” feature.

Implications

AVs represent a major breakthrough in automotive innovation, but their potential impact on society remains ambiguous.

Below are some of the ultimate impacts AV’s could have on economy, mobility, and society as a whole.

Car Insurers May Need To Shift Their Business Model

For the longest time, car insurers have provided coverage to customers in the event of road accidents caused by human error. With the introduction of AVs, auto insurers will need to shift the core of their business model and focus on insuring car manufacturers from liabilities due to technical failure instead; this opens up an entirely new business but may prove problematic to insurance companies.

Road Accident Rates Will Drop

Along with today’s AV safety precautions, further R&D will decrease motor-vehicle accidents significantly. As more advanced AVs slowly become readily available to the

public, less driver intervention will result in less human error and breach of law, which will ultimately decrease road accidents.

Conclusion

As surreal as driverless cars may seem, the autonomous technology bandwagon is continuously growing and automakers hope to make their driverless cars available to the public as soon as 2020.

Now, the thought of sitting back and relaxing during your daily commute is great and all but like everything in this world, nothing is perfect. Below are few of the most common arising issues that have yet to be solved for AVs: 1. Struggling in bad weather conditions: During heavy snow or rain LiDAR sensors and cameras have a difficult time seeing lane markers and other objects that help them drive safely.

2. Struggling on roads without clear lane markings: Lane markings are the basis for guiding driverless cars, so when they can’t be distinguished, it becomes nearly impossible for AVs to operate or change lanes safely.

3. Navigating in the city: Cities contain pedestrians, cars, potholes, traffic cones and a whole mess of other variables. All of these obstacles may be too much for cars to keep track of and safe driving becomes compromised.

4. Country regulations: With the introduction of AVs, new regulations need to be implemented. However, inconsistent regulations around the world will pose a dilemma. Each country may have different laws and regulations, making it difficult for manufacturers to match them all.

Levels of Autonomy

This level is basically zero autonomy. The driver completely controls steering, brakes and throttle.

This level includes driver-assistance tech but most functions are still controlled by the driver. This level may include your basic cruise-control features.

At least one driver assistance system is fully automated.

Features like advanced cruise control and lane-centering technology usually exist. These features allow the driver to be fully disengaged from physically operating the vehicle, however, must always be ready to intervene if needed.

Drivers are still necessary in level 3 cars, but are able to completely shift “safety-critical functions” to the vehicle under certain traffic and environmental conditions. This means that the driver is still present but is not required to monitor the situation in the same way it does for the previous levels. Tesla vehicles currently offer Level 3 autonomy, where the car is able to monitor speed, steering, lane switching and lane centering entirely on its own.

This is considered fully autonomous driving where driver intervention may be non-existent. Level 4 vehicles are designed to perform all “safety-critical functions” and monitor roadway conditions for an entire commute, from point A to point B. However, this level of autonomy may not cover every driving scenario.

This refers to a fully autonomous system where vehicle performance is equal to that of a human driver, there is no need for a driver to be present since no driver intervention is needed whatsoever. Level 5 autonomy supports every driving scenario possible, including extreme environments and terrain.

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THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO

SMART HOMES

By Lynn El Bizri | @lnlne

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I

magine this: It’s 2025. Your bed, which has tracked your sleep cycle throughout the night, is gently jostling you awake as the sun streams through now open blinds. You get out of bed and walk into a warm, pre-heated bathroom, your morning playlist playing as you step into the shower. Meanwhile, your home continues to move your morning routine forward: your coffee maker starts brewing in the kitchen, ready to greet you with a fresh pot of coffee, as preset lights begin to switch on around the house. You leave your bathroom, and stand in front of your wardrobe mirrors, virtually trying on different outfits, before finally picking the perfect one with the help of a virtual assistant. In the kitchen, your refrigerator automatically suggests quick breakfast recipes based on its contents and alerts you of which items you need to restock. As you head out the door with your coffee and breakfast sandwich in hand, your home automatically goes back into ‘sleep mode’, turning off all lights and powered appliances, as it turns on your highly intelligent security alarm system.

While this morning routine scenario may come across as a little futuristic, it could very well be our reality in the coming 10 years. According to research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global smart home market is expected to reach up to $78.27 billion by 2022.

With the development of wireless communication and the ability for gadgets to communicate with one another, home automation is becoming more efficient and reliable, and with smartphone/tablet connectivity, homeowners can now control and monitor their devices from wherever they are. As home automation systems become more affordable, and global flexible income rises, the adoption of smart technologies is expected to grow significantly, elevating the demand for home automation and driving market growth.

In MENA, the regional smart home industry, although still nascent, is growing modestly, and according to the UAE Smart Homes Market (2016-

2022) report by Research and Markets, UAE is one of the leading markets for smart home systems in the GCC region. Some of the major factors driving the overall growth of the market in UAE are growing awareness, and increasing acceptance of automation technology coupled with declining prices. In addition, the country’s telecom providers, du and Etisalat, have been important enablers of the smart home evolution, taking initiatives to help residents embrace smart home technology. In November, Etisalat announced the roll out of IPv6, the latest standard in internet-addressing technology that enables every device in a home to have its own IP address and connect directly to the internet.

In addition to the UAE, other countries in the region, such as Egypt, Lebanon and Riyadh, are witnessing the growth of local smart home industries, with a handful of small, young companies in the sector selling and installing reliable and fully customizable automation systems. Yet despite growing interest, automated home technology is still limited to a relatively small market and number of services in MENA, due to several factors such as high

“Smart home applications are becoming more useful to consumers as greater interoperability among products from different manufacturers becomes a reality.”

cost of implementation, security and privacy issues, technical complexity, lack of awareness as well as the lack of a fast and reliable internet connection.

Nevertheless, smart home pioneers in the region are hoping their businesses will get a boosts as home automation technologies become more affordable, compatible and user-friendly.

The Evolution of Home Automation

The term ‘smart home’ is modernly used to describe homes that have electronic devices and systems that can be controlled remotely by the owner, often via a mobile app. However, the concept of managing all the functions of a home with a centralized control system dates back to at least the beginning of the 20th century. The earliest working prototypes of automated houses debuted in the 1930s at World Fairs in Chicago and New York City, but these homes were never intended to be commercially available. It wasn’t until the 1970s with the invention of the microcontroller, a computer on a chip that is used in most of today’s complex electronic devices, that marketing a fully-wired ‘smart’ home automation system became economically feasible.

Today, the smart home industry is in the exploration phase, and experiencing major shifts, with several players experimenting with new products or services and accelerating the expansion of the smart home market. The first shift is connectedness and intelligence, resulting in an increase in the number of easy-to-use home applications in recent years. Homes have become much more connected thanks to smartphones, and with the incorporation of big data and AI, homes have become more intelligent too. Second, smart home applications are becoming more useful to consumers as greater interoperability among products from different manufacturers becomes a reality.

Interoperability systems are quickly shifting from wireline and wireless technologies to more integrated product families and open platforms such as AllSeen Alliance, Open Connectivity Foundation, Thread Group, and others.

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The following is an overview of the most popular protocols (communication hardware languages that transmit instructions to and from devices) platforms onoverview the market thatmost smartpopular home devices run(communication on.

Theand following is an of the protocols hardware languages that transmit instructions to and from devices) and platforms on the market that smart home devices run on.

Oldest of current automation protocols (developed in 1970) ADVANTAGES

X10

Cheap, readily available

DISADVANTAGES Slow, unreliable (newer power lines have become very noisy), no encryption, rudimentary, difficult to install, can only perform about 16 commands

One of the most popular wireless home automation protocols.

DISADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES

z WAVE

Very low energy, no interference, interoperability

Low adoption rate

Exclusively a wireless home automation protocol DISADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES

ZigBee

Very low energy, very low latency, low cost

Integration issues, not supported by smartphones, lack of interoperability between ZigBee devices

Protocol that bridges the gap between powerline-based and wireless home automation protocols ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

INSTEON

Compatible with X10 devices, affordable, simple to use, supports over 65,000 different commands

Insteon devices don’t work with other smart devices using other protocols

Most well-known and established protocol on the market.

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

No central hub needed, very high bandwidth, excellent range, supported by smartphones

WIFI

Very high energy battery powered devices need to be frequently changed, bandwidth interference

Wireless protocol, standard design for exchanging data over short distances.

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

BLE

Low energy, growing support, high bandwidth, supported by smartphones, no central hub required

Bandwidth interference, fairly limited range

Newest of the wireless smart home protocols ADVANTAGES

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DISADVANTAGES

THREAD

Little independent development support, bandwidth interference

The Interconnected Home

Once a homeowner has chosen the protocol of their choice, they can start purchasing compatible smart home devices or a smart hub. Smart hubs provide a central hub to manage and monitor one’s smart home, and are designed for homeowners who already have or are considering buying multiple, connected devices. Smart hubs funnel all devices into a single interface and come in a variety of different packages.

Homeowners can buy just a hub and add their preferred gadgets, or purchase starter kits that come with various sensors and extras included.

While the majority of smart home products have been controlled by smartphones or hubs, the newest trend to hit the market, is voice-activated personal assistants. Amazon’s Echo and Echo Dot smart speakers, which are outlets for the company’s Alexa AI assistant, were first launched in the US in 2015 and 2016, and recently, Google also launched its own competitor ‘Google Home’, powered by the

search company’s Assistant AI. While Amazon’s Echo is currently ahead due to its broader skill set, third party support and larger number of connected services, Google Home is quickly closing the gap and it won’t be long before it integrates with more smart home platforms, more Google services, and gets better at understanding context as a conversational assistant.

As for smart home devices, which cover a wide variety of products, most fall under the following three categories: 1. Smart appliances, gadgets, and fixtures: Several companies have started launching smart appliances, fixtures and gadgets that include features such as remote control and monitoring.

While some give homeowners the ability to turn the appliance on or off, or adjust and monitor settings, others can adapt to suit a user and their home. Smart/connected appliances and fixtures include washing machines, dishwashers, ovens fridges, toilets and showers whereas smart gadgets include

robot vacuum cleaners, kettles and coffee machines.

2. Energy and lighting: Smart thermostats, which put homeowners in control of their heating and electricity, claim to help homeowners save money on their energy bills and the same applies for smart radiator controls. Smart lighting systems mean homeowners can turn their lights on and off from wherever they are, helping them save energy, as well as dim them or change colors. Some can also be scheduled ahead of time to suit a user’s routine or for security purposes.

3. Security measures: Many security devices can be bought on their own or as part of a smart security system or a hub that enables homeowners to connect a number of different devices that include smart cameras, smoke alarms, sensors, burglar alarms and locks. A smart security system is a burglar alarm (with motion sensors) and a wireless camera in one with the ability to connect to a smartphone or tablet.

Today’s Smart Home

Curious to know how these smart devices function? Check out this room-by-room breakdown of your typical smart home:

ENTRANCE Smart Locks: allow you to unlock your door without a key (using your phone, a PIN number or key card), and control who has access to your home.

Smart Cameras: allow you to watch what’s going on in your home or your child’s bedroom from an app, have built-in motion detection, facial recognition, location tracking, and two-way audio.

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USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA KITCHEN Smart Washing Machine: allows you to start/stop the washing machine from your smartphone, set programs and be notified if there are any problems with the machine.

Smart Oven: allows you to remotely monitor your oven, adjust the temperature or time, and receive alerts when your food is ready.

Smart Fridge: allows you to view images of the food inside your fridge, monitor the fridge’s performance and temperature, as well as access your food inventory.

Smart Coffee Machine: allows you to schedule a brew ahead of time or make a coffee immediately, receive low water and maintenance alerts, and control the strength of your coffee and how long it’s kept warm for.

Smart Smoke Alarms: detect smoke, monitor CO levels, and send live notifications and footage to your phone/tablet.

BATHROOM Smart Toilet: automatically opens and closes, flushes without being touched using the right amount of water, warms the seat and self-cleans.

Smart Scale: measure weight, BMI and fat mass, recognize several users, and allow you to set goals and deadlines.

Smart Shower/Bath: reduces water usage, and allows you to control water temperature, shower duration as well as preheats the water.

BEDROOM Smart Bed: senses your movements and automatically adjusts firmness, comfort and support, pre-warms, and stops snoring by elevating.

Smart Alarm Clock: lights up before the alarm sounds, plays your favorite playlist, charges your smartphone and tells you the weather forecast or traffic updates.

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LIVING ROOM Smart TV: allows you to receive recommendations based on your personal tastes, customize your home screen, and browse the web and access applications.

Smart Light Bulbs and Lighting Systems: allow you to control the lights in your home from your phone/tablet, turn them on and off, as well as dim them or change the colors.

Smart Thermostats: allow you to control your heating, set different temperatures in different rooms, and control hot water or air conditioning.

Some also turn on/off automatically based on your GPS location.

Robot Vacuum Cleaner: map out rooms with in-built cameras or smart sensor technology, have several cleaning modes, provide cleaning reports, and can be scheduled using an app.

The Good and Bad of Smart Homes

Smart homes offer several advantages over conventional homes. To start with, home automation systems give homeowners the power to manage several devices and amenities in their home with the touch of a button from wherever they are. They also allow homeowners to watch CCTV footage from their smartphone while at work, remotely lock windows, doors and garages as well as program lights to flash on and off and receive email, phone calls or text messages from their alarm system. Yet perhaps one of the biggest benefits of home automation is energy efficiency. Through controlled tasks and energy-efficient appliances that combine to save electricity, water, and natural gas, homeowners can reduce the strain on natural resources, reduce their carbon footprint, and save anywhere from 10% to 30% in energy costs.

However, there are some barriers preventing mass-market smart home adoption: high cost of implementation, security and privacy issues, lack of awareness and technological

fragmentation/technical complexity. Cost is one of the primary inhibitors of smart home adoption. Smart home devices are generally costlier than their non-smart counterparts, with systems ranging in price from $10,000 to $100,000+.

Switching to a smart home also means purchasing other compatible smart home devices. Hacking is another issue smart home users may potentially face. This is a problem for smart home users as all smart home devices rely on the internet to communicate and operate efficiently.

Finally, compatibility between devices is a major challenge for smart homeowners.

Since some devices don’t communicate seamlessly with others, or operate through different protocols, choosing what devices to put together in one home can be difficult, limiting and frustrating for a consumer. Therefore, in order to fully harness the full potential of smart home automation, manufacturers will have to develop technologies based on common open standards, a level of collaboration that may take some time.

Despite the challenges, with the

significant growth in IoT products and applications, cost reduction measures enabled by technological advancements in home automation systems, and the growing importance of home monitoring from remote locations along with the continuous addition of new products by leading manufacturers, the smart home market is set to grow significantly in functionality, sales and expectations. In just 40 years, complete home automation systems have gone from high-tech curiosities to affordable and accessible modern home conveniences and the future is looking bright. With increasing connectivity and more connected objects, smart homes will become even more functional, and analysts expect the number of connected devices to reach between 26 billion and 30 billion by 2020. Robots will also likely become fully integrated into the smart home systems of the future, managing operating systems as well providing assistance in manual tasks. Finally, the smart home systems of the future will likely incorporate technologies that will learn consumer’s moods, patterns and behavior, and respond accordingly.n

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THE HOME OF THE FUTURE A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA

THE BATHROOM The bathroom of the future will conserve energy and water, perform health checks and learn inhabitants’ personal preferences.

1) Toilets will take biological readings and screen for illnesses.

2) Wall and floor tiles will act as flat panel speakers as well as displays 3) Showers will reduce water usage, set water temperature and flow according to user’s preferences, and self-clean.

THE KITCHEN The kitchen of the future will simplify food preparation, create customized meal solutions and produce far less waste.

1) Sensors in your smart fridge will monitor inventory, update digital shopping lists with items that have run out, and track expiry dates.

2) Smart countertops will detect and analyze food items placed on its surface, suggest recipes, and once ingredients have been assembled, cook food to perfection.

3) Highly advanced 3D printers will be able to print everything from a 5 star meal to dessert.

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THE BEDROOM The bedroom of the future will monitor your vitals, adapt to the exterior environment, and fuse technology and comfort.

1) Beds will monitor inhabitants’ vital statistics as they sleep, track sleep cycles and quality, and include mattresses with self-sterilization systems.

2) Windows will have the ability to darken to black-out densities, double as an interactive screen and change the view to anything the inhabitant wants 3) Wardrobe doors will feature a virtual mirror that will not only display the contents of the wardrobe, but also allow users to try different outfits virtually, and act as a personal style adviser.

THE LIVING ROOM The living room of the future will be the central point for digital entertainment, and relaxation in the home.

1) An audio-visual wall with an integrated entertainment system will create life-like sounds, images, experiences and completely envelop inhabits in a near 4D experience.

2) Televisions will no longer respond to a remote control, but rather gestures, natural language and adjunct devices.

3) A customizable lighting system will provide highly responsive lighting that can be timed to coordinate with activities throughout the day and will be in sync with inhabitants’ circadian rhythms.

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I’M SORRY ADOLF, I’M AFRAID I CAN’T DO THAT…

By Miguel Silva-Constenla | @MSilvaConstenla

M

y favorite movie of all time is 2001: a Space Odyssey. If you have not watched it, I believe we haven’t started this relationship on the right foot.

The minimalistic and scientific manner in which the director, Stanley Kubrick, developed and visualised Sir Arthur Clarke’s The Sentinel, is just incredibly surreal. It has remarkably described the future of the space conquest by the

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human race much better than any other books or movies that later followed.

In this epic science-fiction film (don’t worry, I won’t include spoilers), the Artificial Intelligence (AI) machine known as HAL, is flying the spacecraft to Jupiter from Earth and becomes paranoid due to a programming contradiction. HAL attempts to make better decisions than humans but starts messing up the mission catastrophically.

Similar to the infamous line from the failed Apollo 13 moon mission ‘Houston, we have a problem,’ in one of the top scenes of the movie, HAL refuses an order from Dave, the human Commander of the spacecraft, in a beautiful, tense, metallic, Siri machine style voice: “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that…”

Today, AI is proliferating almost 70 years since the book was published and

the best of the best in the AI space in the conversation. These corporations have recognized society’s concerns, and are tackling the liabilities that their AI products and services might have on society/ human race. These big tech companies, and almost many more blue chip companies in tech, finance, transportation, and the medical sectors across the world are working with governments and regulators, the media, and so forth to position AI appropriately to the world at large.

50 years since the film was released.

Almost every single sector is picking up talented software engineers who built and coded those exquisite machines and deep learning algorithms. Meanwhile, there is general concern and fear by a large number of people that their AI autonomous car, or AI powered ATM machine, or their AI Snapchat selfie posts will respond back to them with a beautiful, tense, metallic, machine Siri style voice, “I’m sorry buddy, I’m afraid I can’t do that…”

Don’t worry. Most probably that machine is just trying to save your life by preventing you from crashing your car against a foolish drunk driver, or by advising you to save money because you are over-spending on happy hour drinks when your monthly mortgage payment is around the corner, or the AI powered smartphone believes that 10 holiday selfies in 2 hours is kind of destroying your personal social media brand. It is just trying to help you make better decisions.

Intelligent machines are basically computers built to act without being re-programmed. They learn through the process called Machine Learning Algorithms, or the new more sophisticated version of it, Deep Learning. AI embedded in those machines, from smartphones to servers on cloud computing, create logical and quick decisions to make life easier for humans (and other machines). Forget about Isaac Asimov’s ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ for a moment. Those laws appear in several movies and series scaring the general public with AI and its potential impact on our future lives. Well, I’ve got news for all of you scared humans; AI is already impacting everyone’s lives.

Some of the big tech companies, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and IBM have formed a consortium to foster the promise of AI while keeping its less savory side effect in check. The aim of this partnership is to bolster society’s trust, benefit society, and include

AI will truly be accepted when, and only when, people will truly be convinced that such smart tech will save lives, make our drive home much safer, help get our finances in check, or spend more quality time chatting with real people and not with another pic of our own bunny-face selfie… and this has already started to happen. That’s the main reason why AI has been invisible in recent years. So invisible that you should not expect any Terminator police robot in our streets soon. Basically, because they are already there, watching you, but without being two-legged, and without scaring the hell out of you.

If you are thinking, ‘It’s a long way to the top’ then you are correct. It indeed will be a long way. Unfortunately, similar to any other human breakthrough in history, expect failure, including disastrous and painful ones. AI will become a disruptive technology not just as invisible as it is today, but a real part of human life that will help us vanquish cancer and to better understand, as HAL still wishes for, our final frontier, the Universe.

Without having to crash a Google AI powered car, allow me to give a quick example of this long way to the top with just a short story: One year ago, Microsoft launched the first experiment

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USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION to interact with millennials through Twitter using an AI powered chatbot.

The bot named “Tay” was essentially launched to conduct research on conversational understanding. Using its own artificial brain or digital preprogrammed algorithms to engage with young generations it was missing what remains the biggest current AI

barrier, the common sense factor.

considered using chemical weapons (by

Within being online a few hours, the in MENA the way, he apologized too).

A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps forforResidents chatbot realized that offensive messages were getting much more attention from users, and therefore, to gain followers growth hacking style and to create social media engagement, it decided to tweet something offensive, without using that common sense needed to make the best of our decisions. The AI chatbot machine ended up tweeting: “Hitler did nothing wrong”. Obviously, Microsoft immediately shut down the machine and apologized for the blunder. Same blooper that humans do too, including the Press Secretary of the White House, who misguidedly recently stated that Adolf Hitler never

Intelligent Machines, as intelligent humans, learn from their mistakes, evolving to make our life on this planet more pleasant, and even if it’s a long way to the top for AI, one day, and that day is not very far away, Microsoft will probably reboot and relaunch that chatbot and I bet you that its first tweet will bring some common sense to its artificial brain, and will sound much more like a real decent human being…

“I’m sorry Adolf, I’m afraid I can’t do that… again.”n

Miguel Silva-Constenla is a serial entrepreneur and business angel.

He currently is Co-Founder of CLOUD9 Venture Capital, based in Dubai, investing in tech startups across 5 continents, what he views as his opportunity to help organizations grow and reach their potential to become actualized.

Miguel is also Co-Founder of Optimum Middle East, the business bridge to the Middle East, and Founder of FLEENX, focusing on educational robotics developing children’s technical and creative capabilities. He mentors at Conector Startup Accelerator in Madrid supporting upcoming entrepreneurs.

Miguel is also an author, speaker, media contributor, and dreams of walking on the moon one day.

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BUSINESS

CEO SERIES

IMAD KREIDIEH DIRECTOR GENERAL OF OGERO TELECOM AUTHORITY

By Mohamed Salhab | @mamiko_sohayl

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I

n January 2017, Lebanese President Michel Aoun signed a decree appointing Imad Kreidieh as Director General of Ogero telecom authority.

Established in 1972, Ogero manages and maintains the fixed telephone network and constitutes its backbone infrastructure as well as that of mobile, operators, Data Service Providers (DSP), Internet Service Providers (ISP) and others.

time being, however I can tell you that we are moving the MIC1, MIC2 as well as all ISPs, DSPs to the DWDM layer (optical multiplexing technology used to increase bandwidth over existing fiber networks), providing a higher capacity and speed which will start being really noticeable at the level of the mobile operator. We are expecting to reach much higher speed than what we are witnessing today.

During ArabNet Beirut 2017 in February, Kreidieh sat for his first interview as Director General with ArabNet Founder and CEO, Omar Christidis, to discuss the expectations and challenges of his mandate among calls for faster (currently it is one of the slowest) and more affordable internet.

On the retail side, after opening up the international capacity, we are opening up the national lengths and therefore, providing DSPs and ISPs with higher capacity in order for them to reduce their contention ratio.

Can you tell us how much data Lebanon is consuming, how are we growing in our capacity, and how is Ogero helping us to keep up?

First, let us take a trip back in history and try to understand where we’re coming from. A few years ago, namely in 2007, Lebanon was working on STM1 (Synchronous Transport Module level-1). Today what we’re consuming in terms of data does not exceed 120 gigabytes. So we’ve come a long way, but we’re still struggling to provide all the needed capacity to the end user. Back in 2007, we had Lebanon running on 8 DSLAMS (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) only, today we have 8000 DSLAMS service, and it is growing quickly.

This is the quantum leap that has happened in the past ten years and I have plenty of information to provide you on the way forward. Everything is being put in place in order to drastically improve the connectivity and the infrastructure of the country.

Let us jump right into that topic then.

Can you tell us about concrete plans you currently have in place to improve connectivity in Lebanon?

I would be lying to you if I told you that I have a very solid plan 3 weeks after taking office. So let’s not call it a plan – because the plan will be communicated by H.E. the Minister of Telecommunication. For the

On the fixed network, we’re launching the project tender to have full migration from the old TDMs (Time-Division Multiplexing) that were installed back in 1994, with a soft switch with the capability of sustaining 2 million subscribers on the fixed network front which is going to be a major leap forward.

Everybody knows that we have 100,000 requests for a fixed line that we are unable to cater for due to lack of capabilities at the switching level.

How many subscribers do we have today?

Around one million.

So you are doubling the capacity?

Yes, and we will be able to provide products and services on the software switching capabilities so it’s really something that is much needed for the country. We also started drafting the RFP for the maintenance of the copper network. We have the most recent copper network in the Middle East. In comparison, Dubai’s copper network is 40 years old and ours is only 23. But unfortunately the network has not been properly maintained, and this is one of the reasons why we are usually suffering from the DSL speed. Hence, we are planning to initiate the project to select subcontractors in the beginning of April to undertake this repair and maintenance of the copper network.

On the fiber network front, we are deploying fiber-to-the-offices package, for the heavy users, and you can see

Ogero cars almost eveywhere in Beirut deploying the fiber. In fact, we recently connected the American University of Beirut with 4G, the first that we have established so far. Large banks are tapping into our infrastructure, interested in using the capacity from the new network that we’re deploying. It’s a long-term plan.

We have the intent of connecting 380 major institutions in the country that will be completely relying on fiber for their internet and data transmission needs, and the work is progressing.

For someone who’s been in office for just three weeks, these sound like very ambitious deliverables for the upcoming months. What kind of impact will the end users feel - a little bit faster connection or immensely impressive?

This is composed of different elements.

The problem of speed is usually related to the infrastructure itself. What is beneath the ground in terms of copper network for example, but it is also related to the quality of cabling within homes and the type of equipment we’re using in order to connect to the internet. So in order to answer your question, the first thing that my team and the ministry team are working on as we speak is the mostlyawaited pricing schedule. Our inclination is to not charge people by speed and consumption because if your connection line can sustain 50MB per second, then be it, go and pay for 50mb per second. I am not going to bill according to speed.

In the upcoming months, we will double or triple the actual internet speed. Just by opening the DSLAM a little bit, and taking out the limitation on the speed.

The only speed that will be maintained is on the unlimited bundle, because we have few concerns at this front. But for the other packages, it will be all you can handle in terms of speed, you will have different consumption packages for everybody. It is going to be a major move forward, and I hope that our citizens in Lebanon will be happy with what we’re doing at this stage.

Am sure they will – what you’re saying is music to our ears!

It is a continuous effort and gradually we will be able to witness the progress.

Summer 2017 THE QUARTERLY

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BUSINESS

But we need to be more pragmatic as we deploy the fiber-to-the-home – while noting that I don’t want to call it that, because there is a huge debate over the economic model behind deploying fiberto-the-home. The cost of connectivity for the fiber-to-the-home is not at the reach of everybody in Lebanon. So it’s going be a combination between fiber-to-thecabinet, fiber-to-the-building, and fiberto-the-home. But once this exercise is completed, we will be having a minimum speed of 75mb per second, up to 300mb per second. This is going to take a couple of years, but we will see it then.

Ogero’s role is infrastructure and connectivity. More broadly, it is part of the government direction to support the digital sector in Lebanon. What are the key challenges that you see today for the growth of the digital industry in Lebanon and that you are working to solve within the Ministry’s strategy?

I don’t want to sound harsh, but it is a matter of fact that we don’t have, and never came across, a real strategic vision on how the sector should move. This is most unfortunate. Maybe we were busier doing tactics in order to have a political impact for the satisfaction of the public, but we never really worked on a long term vision and I think this is a major hurdle.

Our audience here would agree that infrastructure is the major challenge.

We really need to fix our infrastructure,

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THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

optimize the use of our copper network, economically deploy the fiber, and provide the community with transport means that would cater for the businesses.

As far as the vision and strategy going forward, we took an initiative at Ogero to compose a steering committee of very capable people within the authority, to work with the private sector represented

by ICT members in order to draft the vision that we would like the Prime Minister, the Government, as well as the President of the Republic to agree to and, based on this vision, to have a road map that goes over a period of 5 years.

Are there other things that you believe the government should be doing whether in the realm of legislation or regulation to support this industry?

Yes, absolutely. The Central Bank took an outstanding initiative which is the Circular 331 that mobilized an amount of funding for startups to create and promote new ideas and initiatives.

Unfortunately, it is falling short because of the legislation around it. We need to help these startups blossom. However, we’re seeing most of the companies that have been created under 331 are now incorporating in the UK or the US in order to facilitate their exit strategy.

I think we should have done our homework from a legal perspective in order to insure that whatever initiatives

created in Lebanon remain in Lebanon so the country profits from the intellectual property as well as from the predominance of the economic outcome of such initiatives. And I think the government needs to work very hard on creating the overall ecosystem that will help foster those initiatives that are being generated in the country.

Banks today have a hunger for innovating, and they’re seeing their customers moving towards digital channels, fintech, OnDemand, etc. This is certainly an important target sector for you to support the innovation in this domain. What are some of the things that you are doing to work with those banks?

Ogero has been engaging banks for the past few years and actually the top banks are now using the VPN service that Ogero has in place and we are now connecting banks like Audi, LGB, Byblos Bank, and the list is very long. We are supporting the banking system with connectivity in order to promote their business and secure the transfer of their data. This exercise has been ongoing for a while, it is not new. I am receiving now meeting requests with chairmen of banks in order to open up and broaden this relation between Ogero and the banking system.

So we have funding, we know infrastructure is an issue, and we now have more of a sense of how we’re going to tackle that, and we’ve mentioned regulation. Are there any other components that you believe we need to be working on today?

The will. First we need the will of the people to understand what are the challenges we are facing as a company called Ogero. We have a tremendous amount of challenges. We need the support of the people to understand that it is not with the press of a button that things will change overnight. We’re working very hard in order to improve things. It’s not easy, we do have the qualifications in house. But unfortunately we are growing old. And we need a new breed of engineers and technicians to keep the boat afloat. Second we need to participate, not only criticize, but also come up with initiatives and good ideas in order to promote the sector.n

BUSINESS

E-COMMERCE INSIGHTS AND BEST PRACTICES

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I

n the MENA region, e-commerce dominates the digital landscape, with Souq.com becoming the first billion-dollar e-commerce company, and more than 2/3 of tech investment dollars going into transactional businesses. Marketplaces for services, from transportation to food delivery, are also growing exponentially, creating some of the most valuable startups globally, and disrupting entire sectors in the process. This is true in MENA as well, with Talabat.com being swooped up by Rocket Internet Group for $170M just last year. Beyond pure e-commerce platforms, e-commerce is gaining importance as a channel for all types of traditional business - from banks to FMCGs.

OMD and ArabNet’s ‘E-Commerce Insights and Best Practices’ is a study to elicit insights and develop best practices for companies interested in this channel. The study is based on a survey conducted with 13 e-commerce companies and service marketplaces in the Middle East, across a range of products – from electronics to transportation services. Interviews were conducted with CEOs,

Founders, VPs, and CMOs to explore the topic further and gain additional insights when possible. OMD and ArabNet thank the following companies for sharing their time and insights: Virgin, Xcite, Careem, Uber, Namshi, MarkaVIP, JadoPado, Talabat, Bookwitty, Meltoo, MiniExchange, eCommerce Sea, and ReserveOut. This section of the study investigates the e-commerce purchase cycle and the fundamental consumer behavioral differences seen in the e-commerce space across markets. The study also explores the key social media platforms used by regional e-commerce players, along with each platform’s objectives, their digital marketing and advertising efforts, and the use of mobile ads and mobile apps.

Purchasing and Logistics In this section, the survey takes a close look at the e-commerce purchase cycle and the fundamental consumer behavioral differences seen in the e-commerce space across markets.

FIGURE 1: PURCHASE CYCLE

AGE DOES NOT PLAY A ROLE among consumers in converting when engaging ads

HIGH RATE OF REPEAT BUYERS. Majority of ecommerce players reported 60 TO 80% of repeat buyers.

Re

e has c ur

C o ns i

P

Average Order Value for FASHION & GENERAL RETAILERS IS $150 and $15-30 FOR SERVICES & CONSUMABLE E-COMMERCE PLAYERS

Aw a

Majority of e-commerce players create TARGETED ADS FOR EACH STAGE

ss ne re

on nti e t

ion rat de

Almost all e-commerce players have LOYALTY INITIATIVES

Most users tend to PURCHASE within the FIRST 2 VISITS to the site, within FIRST 3 DAYS TO 1 WEEK OF VISIT

75% Of sales transactions are cash on delivery

Summer 2017 THE QUARTERLY

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Awareness With regards to awareness, the majority of the surveyed e-commerce players create targeted ads for each stage of the purchase cycle, based on consumer navigation, as well as to stimulate use in the case of long absence, during holidays and for activation. Age does not seem to be a key conversion factor when engaging with ads: most survey respondents mentioned that younger people do not convert more easily, and – as mentioned previously – many of the companies do not track the age of their customers. One caveat to this is that millennials are more open to considering and making purchases online.

Consideration & Purchase A number of respondents highlighted that millennials are highly informed, more likely to read reviews, and look for deals during this stage of the cycle. Most users tend to make a purchase on their first 2 visits to the site, roughly within the first 3 days to 1 week of their visit. The average order value for fashion and general retailers tends to be around $100-$150, whereas the average order value for services and consumable e-commerce players is $15 to $30. To increase the average order value, the majority of retailers focus on pushing additional purchases by promoting related products or via bundling. Many retailers also endeavor to increase the average order value by focusing on shipping: either by placing minimum orders for shipping or by having a free shipping threshold.

FIGURE 14: PERCENTAGE OF REPEAT CUSTOMERS Repeat purchase rates are rather high; with respect to quick consumable goods and services, consumers often repurchase within 2 weeks. All retailers say that at least 40% of e-commerce consumers are repeat buyers, with the majority stating that the number exceeds 65%.

Less than 40% are repeat buyers Between 40% and 60% are repeat buyers Between 60% and 80% are repeat buyers Between 80% and 100% are repeat buyers

Less than 40% are repeat buyers Between 40% and 60% are repeat buyers Between 60% and 80% are repeat buyers

FIGURE 15: CHANNELS FOR LOYALTY INITIATIVES Between 80% and 100% are repeat buyers

All surveyed e-commerce players have loyalty initiatives; the majority use email as their primary channel and social media as a secondary one, to communicate their initiatives, as well as for customer relationship management. The loyalty programs provide incentives based on the purchase amount, exclusive deals for subscribers, free credits, and referral schemes.

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THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

Figure 16: Customer Profile

One of the most surprising findings of the research is that many of the e-commerce companies surveyed do not gather data about the age of their customers, and do not have age-specific strategies or strategies that specifically target millennials. From a sub-sample of three survey respondents that provided this data, it seems that the largest proportion of customers are millennials, 20-35 years of age, representing almost 2/3 of the customer base. The slightly older age group of 36-45 years represents about a quarter of the customer base, and forms an important segment. Moreover, based on a sub-sample of four survey respondents, the gender of e-commerce buyers seems to be split equally, and may differ marginally according to product offering – for example, a fashion retailer shared that 60% of their customers are female, whereas an electronics retailer claimed to have 45% female customers only.

FIGURE 17: BEHAVIOR ACROSS MARKETS

UAE

KUWAIT

KSA

Kuwait consumers are leaders in fashion & high purchases.

UAE consumers are the most demanding in products/ offerings.

KSA is our biggest market & largest consumer of videos in the world.

Kuwait users are the most active on social media.

UAE & Kuwait have the highest numbers of credit card payments.

Twitter is a key channel for Saudi Arabia where the Arabic language dominates the platform.

While survey respondents did not share quantitative differences between customers across markets, they did share qualitative descriptions based on their experience. For example, one retailer emphasized the importance of the Arabic language in Saudi Arabia, and more specifically the use of colloquial dialect. Another respondent commented on the high-fashion and high-price purchasing behaviors in Kuwait; yet another highlighted that UAE customers are the most demanding in terms of product offering.

When marketing to KSA, Arabic language dominates.

FIGURE 18: PAYMENTS, RETURNS, AND SHIPMENTS

PAYMENT

SHIPPING & DELIVERY

RETURNS

60% Of sale transactions are cash on delivery (approximately).

Constant communication with buyers is essential on status of shipment

5 days is when low returns significantly increase

COD is a challenge since customers change their minds at point of delivery.

Consumers want more control over when deliveries are made.

Damage tends to be the highest reason for returns

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Payments

With regards to payments, survey respondents emphasized that “cash in MENA is king�. For the majority of e-commerce companies surveyed, more than

2/3 of their payments are made in cash. It is however interesting to note that there is a significant minority of companies that do minimal cash transactions, some of whom choose to discourage or refuse payment by cash.

Figure 19: Percentage of Cash Transactions Many survey respondents highlighted that cash on delivery is a challenge since customers tend to change their minds at delivery point, and that controlling cash payments tends to be an issue, due to leakage. A number of respondents said they currently do not accept cash on delivery but are launching it as they realize the importance / size of the channel and the opportunities missed. Some of the surveyed e-commerce players also stated that sending a POS machine to the delivery point gives consumers the opportunity to pay via debit or credit card, considering that many consumers are concerned with online payment security.

Returns

None of the e-commerce players highlighted returns as an issue, with most stating that return rates are very minimal. However, respondents did report that the return rate starts to increase significantly after 5-7 days; the highest reason for returns being damage. All those surveyed have clearly and consistently applied return policies that are similar for both offline and online, in the case where they do have an offline presence.

Delivery & Shipment

In terms of delivery and shipment, survey respondents are split.

The e-commerce players who have in-house shipping and delivery stated that it is no key concern to them, as they are able to ensure high quality of delivery, with the advantage of getting immediate feedback. On the other hand, e-commerce companies who deal with external couriers reported facing several issues, ranging from incorrect addresses, to the absence of a recipient at the delivery address. This is especially challenging when dealing with couriers, since they only try making contact once, and move on when the customer is unresponsive.

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THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

Survey respondents highlighted that consumers, especially millennials, value having more control over when their deliveries are made; presenting them with a delivery time slot is hence a key recommendation. It is also essential to keep in constant communication with buyers regarding shipment status and inform them of any delays, which can be done via live order status and map monitoring. A number of respondents highlighted that a majority of the calls to their customer service centers were inquiries about the status of their order / shipment. With regards to shipping products across borders, most respondents reported that customs could be a lengthy process across markets, creating a challenge.n

DIGITAL MEDIA

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA Key Tactics for More

Effective Digital Storytelling

By Lynn El Bizri | @lnlne

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THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

M

ost of today’s brands appreciate the importance of storytelling in this social, high-tech and content-driven era, understanding how inspirational stories can bring a brand to life and create a connection with people.

Digital storytelling relies on collecting, creating and sharing compelling stories through a range of increasingly sophisticated tools, which help brands to create more visually and emotionally engaging content that impact larger audiences. By telling these compelling, humanized stories and understanding their audience(s) thoroughly, brands are putting people first and creating stronger and more meaningful bonds with their consumers. With so many tools and platforms available today, the storytelling opportunities are endless, yet there are specific tactics that ensure brands reach and engage their audiences better.

Tactic #1: Understand Your Audience To craft and deliver a successful, engaging and meaningful digital story experience, brands must first thoroughly understand who their target audiences are. This includes knowing their consumers’ habits, what they want or need, how they interact with the brand, what they say about it, how it affects their lives and how much they know about it. Since their digital story will resonate only with those who understand it or find it meaningful, brands need to know who they are addressing their story to, before anything else.

Thankfully, data makes it possible and easier to understand exactly what consumers really want or seek today, facilitating the personalization of stories in order to offer consumers an experience that is relevant and resonates with them.

Using data to drive storytelling not only leads to better stories and content, but also enables brands to become better and more effective storytellers.

Tactic #2: Convey a Clear Message Identifying a clear message or ‘morale of the story’ is critical to the success of digital storytelling campaign. It carries the image the brand wants to portray, the emotions it wants to instill and

the information it wants to convey to its audience(s). Digital stories come in several different forms, from testimonies and interviews, to documentaries and drama, which should be chosen based on what the brand wishes to convey. When it comes to the message itself, less is more; the simpler the message, the easier it will be to convey and transmit within the story and the more relatable it will be. The message should give consumers a reason to pay attention, remain engaged and walk away with a deeper understanding of the brand.

Tactic #3: Show your Brand’s Human Side For a brand to connect with consumers, it must show its personal side. Digital storytelling allows brands to reveal their human side through sharing what their team members are doing, what they’re learning or even giving audience(s) a look behind the scenes. Brands can also humanize their message and story by creating characters that their audience can identify with and have an emotional response to. Emotions in digital storytelling are powerful because people tend to take action when they experience sentiments such as anger, empathy or happiness. The best examples of emotional storytelling are those associated with genuine emotional experiences to which the target audience can relate and that depict a vision of how the brand can positively enrich the lives of consumers.

Tactic #4: Embrace Technology The vast changes that technology has brought about have affected not only the way brands interact with consumers, but also the way people get involved in the stories of their favorite brands.

Therefore, marketers need to embrace technology and choose the form that best enriches the story they are trying to tell, in order to reach their audience on various platforms. Virtual reality, augmented reality, gesture control, multi-screen experiences and gamification are all great opportunities for digital storytelling. They allow brands to create interactive and immersive multimedia stories where users have the ability to control their experiences or

even make choices as to how the story unfolds. Chosen wisely, technology gives marketers the opportunity to be innovative; change the way their stories are created, experienced and shared; and bring their content to life.

Tactic #5: Create a Cross-Channel Presence While brands may have a specific platform in mind for their message, they must also think about how their story translates across channels. By sharing the story on the most inherent platform first, brands can guarantee their story is told in a natural and captivating way, before adding new layers to the story through different modes of communication.

Consistency is always key and especially important as the voice, call to action and message should be coherent across all platforms. Nevertheless, brands must choose platforms that make the most sense for their story content and not just add every platform imaginable. Once the different platforms have been chosen, each one can add a new perspective or distinctive angle to the story.

Stories of any form can educate, entertain, engage and inspire. They bring value to things, connect people with one another and transport audiences to another world. Through powerful storytelling, brands can not only change their status in the market but also communicate the values and visions that differentiate them. With the help of the advanced technology and digital tools available today, customers can be made to truly feel like they are a part of the brand story, across all platforms, channels and devices.n

Find more articles related to digital marketing under our weekly OMDsponsored series ‘The Power of Digital Marketing’ on the ArabNet website.

Summer 2017 THE QUARTERLY

39

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

Powered by

RAMADAN

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA

BEAUTY & FASHION, A CORE INTEREST BEAUTY IS KEY "RAMADAN IS NO DIFFERENT" Their main concern is taking care of a healthy body Skin Care

Hair Care

78%

33%

;

;

Jan Feb

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Skincare content consumption seasonality

Jan Feb

Dec

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

When inviting people over for iftar/suhour or when invited to iftar/suhour (59%)

Source: Google Analytics 2016 Skin care content

37%

36%

Dec

Haircare content consumption seasonality Source: Google Analytics 2016 Skin care content

30%

Source: Choueiri Group& Nielsen Berpoke Males Lifestyle Research/2016

ENGAGEMENT WITH FASHION CREATIVE

+53%

WHAT DRIVES THIS HIGH ENGAGEMENT

Compared to Pre-Ramadan Source: DMS 2016 campaign data – Females sites

56%

42%

Women should always be elegant Ramadan makes no difference

Preserve IMAGE amongst peers

36% INVITES to Iftar & Suhour

HIGH INCREASE IN SHOPPING BEHAVIOUR DURING RAMADAN

44%

Out of which

78%

33%

High engagement with different shopping categories creatives

+244%

Shop more during ramadan

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THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

Increase their shopping to 3-2 times a week

In Jewelry

Significantly increase their spends Compared to Pre-Ramadan during Ramadan

+172% In Fashion Compared to Pre-Ramadan

+7% In Luxury Compared to Pre-Ramadan

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS TABLE SETTING, A PRIDE INFRONT OF INVITEES Invitations Time-Line

W1

W2

76%

W3

Out of which

88%

W4

Mentioned that table setting means a lot to them when inviting people

Invite people over during the first 2 weeks of Ramadan

74% Mentioned that they will change their table setting this Ramadan

AND WHEN PREPARING FOOD, THEY PREPARE IT IN ADVANCE & FROM SCRATCH Food preparation time-line

46% MEAT 45% APPETIZERS 82% PASTRY

Music genres consumed while cooking

75% ARABIC DESSERT 55% VEGETABLES

A day before to same day

Same Day

1 Day

2 Days

3 Days

Classic

Between 1 to 3 days ahead

Dabkeh

Children

IFTAR

Country

44%

7% 7% 8%

POP

29%

Source: Anghami Females playlists during cooking hours

WHEN AND WHERE TO TALK EFFECTIVELY TO FEMALES WHEN & WHERE TO TALK EFFECTIVELY TO FEMALES IN THEIR RESPECTIVE MOOD? BEAUTY MAVENS ENGAGEMENT – HOUR OF DAY

Before Suhour

Before Iftar

;

FASHIONISTAS ENGAGEMENT - HOUR OF DAY

Before Iftar

Before Suhour

Highly engaged during WEEKENDS

GROCERY SHOPPERS ENGAGEMENT- HOUR OF DAY

Peaks up from morning till 3 hours before Iftar

Peaks up before Suhour

Highly engaged ON VIDEO FORMATS

Table setting planning share similar HOD behavior

LUXURY SHOPPERS ENGAGEMENT- HOUR OF DAY

Post Iftar

Late Night

06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

Early Morning

Highly engaged ON SMARTPHONES

Highly engaged during WEEKDAYS Summer 2017 THE QUARTERLY

41

SPORTS, WHEN THERE IS ACTION, THERE IS ENGAGEMENT THEIR PASSION TO FOOTBALL DOESN’T CHANGE DURING RAMADAN

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION 28%

Sports Sites Traffic - Ramadan & EuroCup

Their Watching habits changed during Ramadan

+16% compared to pre-Ramadan

33%

Watched the game on TV and followed up with news and analysis on sports sites “Multi-Screening”

EURO-CUP

Watched the game and followed news and analysis on sports sites “Digital Only”

When it comes to games, the high, mid and low importance games were watched on TV and followed up at the same time with analysis on sports sites.

Source: Choueiri Group& Nielsen Berpoke Males Lifestyle Research/2016

Source: DMS 2016 Traffic Data – Sports Sites

THEY SHOWED HIGH INTEREST IN DIFFERENT CATEGORIES CREATIVES

+319%

+95%

+147% Engagement Airline Compared to Pre-Ramadan

Engagement Luxury Compared to Pre-Ramadan

Engagement Automotive Compared to Pre-Ramadan

WHEN & WHERE TO TALK TO OUR ENGAGERS?

Midnight

Mid-day till Iftar Before Iftar

ENGAGEMENT - HOUR OF DAY

ENGAGEMENT - HOUR OF DAY

ENGAGEMENT - HOUR OF DAY

Midnight

06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

After Iftar till midnight

And can be reached on audience buy

Highly engaged DURING WEEKENDS

Highly engaged on MOBILE DEVICES DURING WEEKENDS

Highly engaged DURING WEEKDAYS

Highly engaged on MOBILE DEVICES DURING WEEKDAYS

Highly engaged with video formats Highly engaged on

MENA REACH 18,500,000 Uniques

GCC REACH 4,300,000 Uniques Source: DMS 2016 Campaign Data – Sports Sites

NEWS, CHANGE IN INTEREST A CONSISTENT NEWS CONSUMPTION

RAMADAN

+5% compared to pre-Ramadan

News Sites Traffic – Saudi Arabia

Source: DMS 2016 Traffic Data – News Sites

01/04/2016

01/05/2016

01/06/2016

01/07/2016

01/08/2016

Increased consumption (Vs. Pre-Ramadan) In content related to

+47% TOURISM

+66% AUTOMOTIVE

WHICH RESULTED IN HIGHT ENGAGEMENT WITH CREATIVES RELATED TO

+26% Compared to pre-Ramadan

SOCIETY NEWS

+48%

+37%

TRAVEL

AUTOMOTIVE

+42% ORGANIZATIONS

WHEN & WHERE TO TALK TO OUR ENGAGERS? ENGAGEMENT - HOUR OF DAY

Afternoon

Before Suhour

Before Iftar

Early morning

06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

Midnight

ENGAGEMENT - HOUR OF DAY

Highly engaged with (300X250)

Highly engaged DURING WEEKDAYS

Late night

06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

ENGAGEMENT - HOUR OF DAY

Highly engaged on:

Highly engaged on MOBILE DEVICES DURING WEEKENDS And can be reached on audience buy

Highly engaged DURING WEEKENDS

(+22% compared to weekdays)

Highly engaged on MOBILE DEVICES DURING WEEKENDS

GCC REACH 3,500,000 Uniques MENA REACH 9,100,000 Uniques

MUSIC, IS IT A TABOO ?

HIGH DEMAND FOR MUSIC DURING RAMADAN

60% INCREASE in STREAMS compared to Ramadan 2015

RAMADAN CONTENT

94%

129% WORKOUT CONTENT

31%

COOKING CONTENT

TITRAT RAMADAN

SHIFTEDCONSUMPTION CONSUMPTIONTHAT THATEXTENDS EXTENDSRADIO RADIOCONSUMPTION CONSUMPTION A ASHIFTED %50+ increase in consumption from 8 pm to 5 am

Non - Ramadan

Ramadan

EXTENDED LISTENERSHIP

06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

EXTENDED LISTENERSHIP

KSA Radio Ramadan

Ramadan Anghami

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

MENA’S VC FUNDING ON THE RISE A round-up on the latest VC tech funds in the region

By Nadine Kahaleh | @91Kahaleh Investments in MENA’s tech startups reached a whole new level in 2016 – recording 200 deals, and a total value of $900M compared to $220M in 2015, based on ArabNet’s "The State of Digital Investements in MENA 2017". This upsurge is mirrored in the number of VC funds recently announced in the region. Find them herein - categorized by country.

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THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

EGYPT Algebra Ventures Series A&B Fund Size $40M. Ticket Size Between $500K and $4M. Target Up to 25 tech startups for series A&B investment, touching on different sectors in the digital space – be it technology IP, fintech, industry platforms, ecommerce, or consumer internet.

Backers Algebra Ventures VC fund, backed by Cisco Investments, the American Enterprise Fund (EAEF), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Key People VC investors Tarek Assad, Ziad Mokhtar, and Khaled Ismail.

GAFI SME Fund Bedaya 1 Fund Size Ticket Size Target Backers Key People

$17M. Up to $6.3M. Digital SMEs, in addition to pre-startup stage and growth-stage located in Egypt.

General Authority for Investment (GAFI).

Managed by Investment Manager at Al Ahly for Development and Investment (ADI) Hossam Heiba.

Flat6Labs Egypt Seed-Stage Fund Fund Size Ticket Size Target Backers Key People

$5.6M. Between $13K and $55K. Up to 20 seed-stage Egyptian digital startups.

Flat6Labs affiliated with Sawari Ventures, in participation with the Social Fund for Development and other investors.

Founder of Sawari Ventures Ahmed El Alfi, Co-founder Hany Al Sonbaty, and partner Wael Amin.

Innoventures Fund 1 Fund Size Ticket Size Target Backers Key People

$1.62M. Unspecified.

Early stage Egyptian digital startups.

Innoventures.

CEO of Innoventures Hesham Wahby.

UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Fund Fund Size $544M. Ticket Size Unspecified.

Target Supporting companies (of all sizes) registered in the UAE; financing seven major sectors of the National Innovation Strategy: renewable energy, transportation, education, health, water, technology, and space.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

Backer Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and UAE Key People Minister of Finance, Obaid bin Humaid Al Tayer.

TURN8 Innovation Fund I Fund size $60M. Ticket Size Between $100K and $1M. Target Pre-seed (with MVP) and seed stage MENA startups, with a focus on the following sectors: fintech, mobile cloud, edtech, and enterprise cloud solutions.

Backers TURN8.

Key People Kamal Hassan, General Partner of TURN8.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

SAUDI ARABIA SoftBank Vision Fund Fund Size Around $75BN. (aiming to reach $100BN) Ticket Size Unspecified.

Target The fund will be mostly targeting large tech companies globally. It will also make large investments in private and public markets, and will be financing smaller venture capital focused on artificial intelligence, robotics and fintech.

Backers Softbank Group Corp (SBG), backed by a $45BN investment from Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (PIF), and smaller contributions from Apple, Lawrence Ellison of Oracle and others.

Key People Chief Executive Officer, Masayoshi Son. Riyad Taqnia Capital Fund size Ticket Size Target Backers Key People

$133M. Between $2M and $3M. Seed Investment in local and global technologies related to energy, sustainability, and advanced material.

Partnership between Taqnia Capital and investment bank Riyad Capital.

Prince Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al Saud, Chairman of Taqnia Company, and Mr. Abdullah Ibrahim AlIyadi, Taqnia Executive Officer.

Misk Booster Fund Fund Size $50M. Ticket Size Unspecified.

Target Startups developing digital solutions and services to assist the KSA’s Vision 2030, in terms of diversifying the country’s economy, and furthermore, creating employment opportunities.

Backers MiSK Foundation has established the MiSK Global Forum (MiSK Academy, MiSK Technovation, and MiSK Booster) supported by the Saudi Government.

Key People The Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s MiSK Foundation.

Al Sanaeeq Fund Fund Size $1.1M. Ticket Size Unspecified.

Target Virtual capital and private ownership funds on commercial basis – to support and encourage investment opportunities in the SME sector.

Backers Established by Ministry of Commerce and Investment, and the Public Investment Fund.

Key People Minister of Trade and Investment Dr. Majid bin Abdullah, in collaboration with the Council of Ministers.

JORDAN Hikma Ventures Fund Size $30M. Ticket Size Between $200K and $5M. Target Seed stage startups working in the digital health sector (such as: digital medical devices, wearables, big data analytics platforms, and telemedicine across areas like chronic disease management, oncology, respiratory, consumer health, mental health, etc.)

Backer Hikma Pharmaceuticals.

Key People Managing Director Lara Ghanem.

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SAMIH DARWAZAH CENTER For Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP

OMAN Oman Technology Fund Fund Size Ticket Size Target Backer Key People

$200M. Undisclosed due to legal restraints.

High-growth potential tech projects and investors; it supports the evolving ecosystems in Pakistan, Iran, Eastern Africa, Egypt, Jordan, and Oman.

Established by the Oman Investment Fund.

CEO of the Oman Investment Fund Hasan Al Nabhani, Chairman of the fund Talal Sulaiman al Rahbi, Deputy Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Planning; the fund is managed by Yousuf al-Harthi, who has worked as managing director of Omani IT consultancy, Infoshield for the last twenty years.

Ibtikar Development Oman (IDO) Around $130M. Between $10K and $13K. Invests equity capital in small tech companies showing growth potential, along with large global companies.

Established by the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), Oman Oil Company SAOC, The Research Council, and Oman Telecommunications SAOG. Key People Constantine Demetriou, Managing Director at IDO.

Fund Size Ticket Size Target Backers

LEBANON Phoenician Fund I Fund Size Ticket Size Target Backers Key People

$30M. Between $50K and $2M. Seed and early stage investment focused on the following sectors: fintech, education, e-government, and digital health.

Phoenician Funds.

Managing Partner at Phoenician Funds, Jad Salame.

Lebanon Seed Fund Fund Size Ticket Size Target Backers Key People

$20M. Between $30K and $50K. Up to 100 seed and early-stage startups working in sectors such as: ICT, electronics, green technologies, etc.

Flat6Labs Beirut in partnership with ArabNet. Managing Director, Fawzi Rahal; Ramez El-Serafy, CEO of Flat6Labs.

MOROCCO Outlierz Fund Size Ticket Size Target Backers Key People

48

$4.5M. For pre-seed: $20-50K; for seed stage: $50 – 200K. Pre-seed and seed stage African Startups.

Outlierz supported by YCombinator, 500 startups, and tech entrepreneurs from Africa and Morocco.

Founder and Managing Director of Outlierz, Kenza Lahlou, CEO of YCombinator, Micheal Seibel, and 500 startups MENA partner Hassan Hiader.

THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

2017 October

YOUR GATEWAY TO DIGITAL BUSINESS

REGISTER TODAY ON arabnet.me

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

MAP OF USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION

DUBAI STARTUP ECOSYSTEM

A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA

FUNDING • Al Tamimi Investments • BECO Capital •Bedaya - Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development • DHx (Dubai Holding) • Dunamis Ventures • Emerge Ventures • Eureeca • Iliad Partners • Jabbar Internet Group • Jisr • MAF Ventures • MBC Ventures • MBR Innovation Fund • MEVP • Mubadala • Precinct Partners • Riyada Enterprise Development • Samena Capital • SeedStartup Venture Fund • STC Ventures • Tecom Group • TURN8 Innovation Fund • Twofour5 • Valour Ventures • VentureSouq • Wamda Capital • Womena • Young Arab Leaders (YAL)

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ACCELERATORS /INCUBATORS • 1776 Dubai • Afkar.me • Dubai Future Accelerators • Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi • Hamdan Innovation Incubation • Ibtikari • In5 • Mohammed Bin Rashid Foundation Entrepreneurship Development • Speed Startup • Silicon Oasis Founders (SOF) • StartAd • The Cribb • The Impact Hub • Turn8

CO-WORKING SPACES • AstroLabs • Dubai Startup Hub • Dubai Technology Entrepreneurship Centre (DTEC) • The Bureau • The Cribb

MAP OF

DUBAI STARTUP ECOSYSTEM

MAKERSPACE • FabLab Dubai • Origin Base • Sudo Room • The Assembly

MEDIA • ArabNet • Entrepreneur • Wamda

EVENTS

COMPETITIONS • ArabNet Startup Battle • Innovation 4 Impact • The Chivas Venture

GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS • Dubai SME • Dubai Chamber

• ArabNet Summit • Step Conference

EXITS • #Pay • 24h.ae • Cashnomix • Souq.com

SUPPORT UNITS • Endeavor UAE • TiE Dubai

Summer 2017 THE QUARTERLY

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA

10

MENA STARTUPS

to Keep on Your Radar

By Gasia Terterian | @GasiaOhanes In every issue, we bring you a list of startups from the MENA region to put on your radar. In this edition, we have picked a wide range of startups from smart sensors, to on-demand platforms to machine learning.

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THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

pricing. The aim of the marketplace was to establish a filtering system for cleaners.

Justmop is currently operating in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, where it provides users with pre-screened and well-trained maid services.

JUSTMOP.COM JustMop is a cleaner booking app where users can book a housemaid. Founders Kerem Kuyucu and Ali Cagatay Ozcan decided to build an online marketplace for cleaning companies after co-founder Ozcan moved to Dubai with his wife and found the cleaning industry to be fragmented with problems in transparency of quality, availability and

LUCIDYA Founded by Abdullah Asiri, Hatem Kameli, Mohammed Milyani and Dr. Mazen Melibari, Lucidya is a Jeddahbased startup that provides social media

Users can book services through the website and mobile applications, and once a cleaning company completes a session, they pay JustMop a commission, and are additionally charged a fee for JustMop’s software. So far, JustMop have served tens of thousands of customers, have made over a million dollars in gross revenue and are in the process of due diligence analysis for other potential markets, with two more countries in the pipeline. Striving

analytics and monitoring tools to help businesses make strategic decisions using big data and machine learning.

With a Software-As-A-Service (SAAS) commercial model, Lucidya analyzes content in over 30 languages, including Arabic, based on algorithms.

In December 2016, Lucidya partnered up with Twitter to work on a Twitter analyzer with the capacity to archive 8 million tweets a day, and is looking to expand its data sources to Facebook and

SADEEM WIRELESS SENSING SYSTEMS

environment. The idea of monitoring the progression of flash floods came after the catastrophic Jeddah floods in 2009, which caused more than a hundred casualties.

Casualties in such instances are often due to the lack of a real-time monitoring system broadcasting accurate flood data, maps and forecasts to the public and emergency responders.

Sadeem provides flood information through sensors to concerned entities, like city planners, municipality representatives and emergency responders to enable efficient allocation of available resources.

Ahmad Dehwah, Mustafa Mousa, Esteban Canepa and Christian Claudel founded the startup to cut economic losses caused by floods and build a safer

After five years of research, development and testing at both the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the University of Texas Austin, Sadeem was developed. Sadeem enables officials to warn the public via messages or smartphone applications, or even control the traffic through traffic sensors. The data generated by the sensors

to become the go-to marketplace for all cleaning services all around GCC, Justmop have no known regional competitors supplying reliable cleaners, same day availability and 24/7 customer support.

As for investment, the self-funded startup recently closed a round with an undisclosed amount in December last year led by Nevzat Aydin, the founding CEO of Yemeksepeti, and with the new capital, they plan to attract top talent, build proprietary tech and international growth.

Country: UAE Launched: 2015 Category: Cleaning

Instagram. In January 2017, Lycidya received a $133,000 grant from Microsoft to develop and expand its infrastructure.

While Lucidya is not unique in its business model, what sets it apart from regional competitors such as Egypt-based Badr IT and Crowd Analyzer is that it offers tailored monitoring and analysis based on the local market.

Country: Saudi Arabia Launched: 2016 Category: Social Media Analytics

is available in real time to the city operators and to the public, in the form of flood propagation maps and short term forecasts.

These maps can be visualized on mobile devices and onboard vehicles. Sadeem also provides data and advice to support important decisions such as evacuation.

In addition to winning a $30K prize as the best technology-based startup of KAUST, Sadeem is currently negotiating with investors for their series A round of investment. Being an international business in nature, Sadeem intends to export its technology worldwide.

Country: Saudi Arabia Launched: 2016 Category: Smart sensors

Summer 2017 THE QUARTERLY

53

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION as a local on-demand delivery service

After completing 4000 deliveries, Sqwirl

a carrier to pick up and deliver anything, with real-time tracking until drop-off.

to transition into a software solution company targeting courier and logistics companies rather than small businesses and individuals. With this recent expansion, Sqwirl moved from operating motorcycles and cars to overseeing Cargo trucks and other vehicles. Sqwirl is now the only of its kind in Lebanon offering companies transparent and trackable cargo services.

app, through could request in MENA raised additional funding in March, A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Appswhich forusers Residents

SQWIRL Sqwirl is a logistics and cargo service founded by Karl Abou Zeid and Ziad Jureidini. The concept of Sqwirl started in October 2015, when co-founder Karl Abou Zeid saw a problem with the domestic courier. Sqwirl initially operated

In January 2016, Sqwirl raised $10K and released the first website blueprints.

In April, Sqwirl got accepted to join the Speed@BDD program, and raised another round of $30K. Later on in June, Sqwirl got their first MVP, hired their first driver and launched their app. In its early days, Sqwirl competed with local post offices who often deliver the next day by offering same day delivery.

Masbagti connects laundry shops to customers, offering fast and transparent laundry services.

MASBAGTI Masbagti is an on-demand laundry app. Brothers Athbi Alenzi and Nouri Alenezi founded Masbagti after moving to Kuwait from the UK and struggling with late pick-ups and vague pricing when dealing with local laundry shops.

Through the app, users can search for nearby laundry services, request service from one of the 22 listed laundry shops in Kuwait, and select a pickup time and day and checkout. Payment is either via Knet upon checkout, or cash on delivery.

The average time for delivery is 24 hours, but Masbagti also offers fast service as quick as 4 hours. Customers then can track their laundry until delivery. For each transaction, Masbagti takes a service

consumers.

MUMM Mumm is an online home-made food market that allows users to buy homecooked meals and dessert near them. It also provides a market for talented cooks to generate income. Founder Waleed Abd El Rahman was inspired by the variety of home-cooked meals prepared by mothers and decided to build a platform that helps entrepreneurial endeavors expand and deliver healthy, affordable food to many

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To get started, users go to the Mumm. com website, sign up and select their location. They can add filters on category, food pricing and others to facilitate the search. After choosing from available dishes and paying, the food gets delivered in 90 minutes. Mumm’s competitors are the Egypt-based Akla-baity, which offer 8 to 24 hour delivery, as well as Saudi Arabia’s Akil Bayt. As for food safety regulations, Mumm have a crucial process by which they ensure food is safe. During the induction, they inspect the kitchen and continue to do so every two weeks with spot checks throughout. They also give the cooks simple instructions and

Country: Lebanon Launched: 2016 Category: Logistics and Cargo

charge.

Masbagti pitched at ArabNet Kuwait 2016 in the Startup Demo competition, as well as Nu8.1 Pitching Edition organized by Nuwait. Masbagti faces competiton from UAE-based Washmen, GetLaundry and Washplus, and competes by offering discounts and benefits to its customers.

Country: Kuwait Launched: 2016 Category: On-Demand Laundry

tips on how to ensure high food quality and safety standards.

Today, Mumm provides a solution for regional financial issues, enabling unemployed women to make $ 330 a month. In 2016, Mumm partnered with Fard, a refugee nonprofit to involve Syrian, Iraqi and Sudanese women into the food industry. Mumm also partnered with leading technology investor A15, to merge with A15’s startup DishDino, which follows a similar model, and raise seed investment by A15.

Country: Egypt Launched: 2015 Category: Homemade Food

initiative. Blink My Car’s partner specialists use waterless products and as little as one glass of water per car wash.

BLINK MY CAR Blink My Car is an on-demand car care platform that connects car owners with car care shops who have a mobile unit, including washes, detailers, mechanics and insurances. The founders, Rami Hallal and Ralph Choueiri, conceived the idea while in line at the gas station to wash their cars. Today, Blink My Car is the only car-care platform in Lebanon that allows users to get a car washed or maintained while it’s parked idly at other locations. It’s also an environmental

ELVES Elves is a personal helper app that pairs users with real-life assistants they can chat with. The assistants help users to search, book, buy, and deliver tailored gifts and items. While real people help and assist, an AI machine learns and replicates. Elves was founded by Karim Elsahy, Abeer Elsisy, Kareem Diaa, Khaled Gomma and AbdelRahman Zohiery. It started off as an experiment the team built during the Christmas break in 2015, and later on developed to become a concierge service.

To use the services, users can download the app, pick a service, share their location, and select a time. Specialists will then locate the care and take care of the rest. The user gets notified and pays once the service is completed. In addition, in February 2017, during ArabNet Beirut, Blink My Car launched Blink the Bot, giving potential costumers easier access to car services through Facebook Messenger, without downloading the app.

The Start-up has raised $350k so far from Al Amir Lebanese Holding, a family business in Lebanon. The app, which currently only operates within the Greater Beirut area has already reached

According to co-founder Elashy, the strongest value proposition of Elves is that it offers real human service for free to its users. Users can either download the elves app, or go on Facebook Messenger to start chatting with a real assistant.

Bots generate messages that the human assistants review and edit before sending them to the user. Payment for Elves services is made by credit card online through a secure check-out on the application, or through a link sent via Facebook chat. There is also the option of the Elves Wallet, which can be topped up using Elves cards. Elves get their revenue by taking a percentage from the service provider for each user that comes through the Elves app or through its Facebook messaging service.

5,000 users and is growing. To extend their reach of users, Blink My Car is also running a referral program, where users can share Blink My Car directly from the app to people who don’t have the app yet, giving both people involved free services up to $12. Blink My Car is now working to close the second round of funding in order to expand into the GCC, with 2 currently shortlisted cities. Blink My Car’s regional competitors are Ghaseel (Kuwait), Morni (KSA) and Greensteam (Dubai). Blink My Car competed at ArabNet Beirut 2016’s startup competition, and was selected as a finalist to attend the Startup Championship at the ArabNet Summit 2017 in Dubai.

Country: Lebanon Launched: 2015 Category: Car Care Platform

Kauffman Fellows Syndicate, a family office in Texas, Cairo Angels, and a few local angels including Con O’Donnel. The Elves app, which was launched in early 2016, has around 15k monthly active users. The top 10% of its users use Elves almost daily and 80% repeat purchase within a 28 day period. Elves, being an innovative three way conversation between the user, the bot and the assistant, has no known competitors in the MENA region.

Country: Egypt Launched: 2016 Category: Concierge

Elves has raised $400k from the

Summer 2017 THE QUARTERLY

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP

USEFUL APPS FOR TRANSPORTATION food and less time waiting.

two weeks. It currently has 6000 users, all

To use Kanakol, people can download the app available on both Apple and Play stores. Next, they are suggested selected restaurants and can browse menus with photos and prices of dishes. Once they add preferred items to their cart, they can choose the time they’re going to the restaurant and pre-order. Kanakol is currently only operating in Morocco, but is planning to expand to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech and Tangier in the near future.

operating. Kanakol’s regional competitor is the Food app Zomato. However, while Zomato allows users to browse menus and rate, Kanakol has an added feature which allows users to pre-order meals before going into a restaurant. Another feature that sets Kanakol apart from its competitors is that it provides a direct photo for every item in the menu, so users can see exactly what their order will look like.

from Tangier, Morocco, where the app is A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA

KANAKOL Kanakol is an app to view menus of AI suggested restaurants and pre-order food for dine-in and takeaway. Founded by Hamza Laalj, it provides one platform for the entire dining experience. The app aims to minimize time wasted on looking and waiting for food. Users can browse what and where to eat, and pre-order, allowing them to spend more time enjoying the

Kanakol is self-funded with $10,000 from family and friends. So far, it supports 25 restaurants, and is adding new ones every

can search for beauty salons and directly book an appointment. After choosing the preferred time for booking, users can either pay through the app or in-store when they go to their appointment.

BOOKR Bookr is a beauty salon and spa booking app. It was founded by Zaina Al Bader after she moved to Kuwait and saw high interest in beauty treatments in the country. Through the booker app, users

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THE QUARTERLY Summer 2017

Bookr is currently looking at Lebanon and Egypt as areas of expansion, as well as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai and Bahrain.

Regional Competitors of Bookr are Spoilee in Saudi Arabia and Vaniday and BEEM in the UAE. Self-funded Bookr is planning on facing this competition by using a different revenue model in

Country: Morocco Launched: 2016 Category: Food Pre-Order

the future such as subscription fees with vendors or a transaction fees from payments.

Country: Kuwait Launched: 2015 Category: Beauty