Visa's innovation centre to drive cashless economies

Dubai - Tecom deal to support local startup, entrepreneur community

Visa, a global payments technology company, opened its innovation centre in Dubai Internet City, or DIC, the region's largest information and communications technology community. This centre will serve the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, or CEMEA, regions and is part of a network of new innovation centres that Visa is opening around the world over the course of 2016 and 2017.
The new 4,000 square foot facility in the heart of Dubai Internet City supports Visa's commitment to drive cashless economies throughout the region. The Dubai facility is designed to replicate the success of Visa's flagship innovation centre, One Market in San Francisco and the Asia Pacific innovation centre that recently opened in Singapore.
"The UAE has been among the leaders in the region in adopting and promoting the acceptance of innovative technologies. Fostering a knowledge economy is one of the four pillars outlined in the UAE Vision 2021, highlighting the country's commitment to technological innovation," said Kamran Siddiqi, group executive, CEMEA, Visa.
"The country's strategic location, which in itself is a diverse and exciting part of the world, makes it an ideal place for us to build this facility where Visa will work alongside clients and partners to imagine and build creative, cutting-edge digital commerce and payment experiences."
As the payments industry shifts from plastic to digital and new entrants bring innovative payment options to market, Visa's mission is to ensure that every Internet-connected device, appliance and wearable, can become a secure place for commerce. The innovation centre in Dubai, along with Visa's other global network of innovation facilities, is a key part of the company's focus on fostering innovation and promoting "open commerce" by enabling clients to: engage, experience and collaborate.
Visa and Tecom Group also signed a Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, attended by Dr Amina Al Rustamani, Group CEO, Tecom Group and senior management members of Tecom and Visa, at the launch. In line with Visa's collaboration model and Tecom's vision to encourage and foster innovation, entrepreneurship and digital advancements, the MOU between the two organisations will include a number of collaborative elements including an agreement to support the local startup and entrepreneur community through mentorship and guidance programmes; Leveraging each other's networks for the promotion of digitally advanced and innovation related solutions; Collaborating on pilot programmes, tests and trials within the Tecom Group and Co-launching Design Thinking workshops and supporting local hackathons and developer workshops.
Malek Al Malek, CEO, Tecom Business Parks, said: "We are very proud to partner with Visa to further foster and support innovation in the region. This is a major strategic pillar for Tecom Group, which has played a vital role in Dubai's diversification and is now supporting efforts to transform the Emirate into an innovation-led economy and Smart City.

"As part of Tecom Group's innovation strategy, we have led major innovation initiatives including a strategic partnership with Smart Dubai, launch of the in5 Incubation arm in 2013 to support the growth of entrepreneurs and startups across our different verticals thus enforcing a solid entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region, as well as the launch of the Innovation Hub which will see over 15,000 business professionals prosper to stimulate innovation and excellence across technology, new media, education and life sciences. Visa's decision to launch its innovation centre in DIC is a testament to our partnership as well as the sector development across the UAE." - business@khaleejtimes.com