Business & Money | Monday 21 November, 2016 4:56 pm |

Emirates NBD Group, a leading banking Group in the region, marked the 2016 UAE Innovation Week (20 - 26 November) with the ‘Emirates NBD Group Innovation Olympics’. The initiative, part of the official support activities of the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation, brought together innovators from within Emirates NBD as well as external innovation partners and participants. 

The day-long Emirates NBD Group Innovation Olympics included a competition where finalists presented working prototypes of innovative solutions in banking and financial technology based on the four main themes: ‘Enhancing customer experience’, ‘Powering business objectives’, ‘Business optimisation’ and ‘Improving staff engagement’. The influencing technology trends presented at the event revolved around Blockchain, Artificial intelligence and IoT (Internet of Things).

The event also included an expo-style exhibition showcasing prototypes of various other ideas by UAE-based universities and schools including Middlesex University Dubai, University of Sharjah and GEMS as well as vendors and fintech start-up, as part of the bank’s aim to create and nurture a wider partner ecosystem of innovation in the UAE.

Speaking at the event, Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD said, “Innovation is at the heart of everything we do. Each day, our team comes up with creative solutions to enhance and simplify the banking experience for our customers. Our annual Innovation Olympics reflects this philosophy and brings together great ideas so can we chose from the best to usher in tomorrow’s innovations, today. The immense creative potential of this year’s event will be harnessed by the Emirates NBD Future Lab™ to be transformed into real products and service offerings that will soon be available to all our customers for a hassle-free and convenient financial lifestyle.”

This year, the Emirates NBD Group Innovation Olympics was designed to engage the regional innovation ecosystem through the involvement of innovation partners, fintech companies, universities and industry thought leaders. Attendees also included members of Emirates NBD Group’s board of directors and executive management as well as senior bank officials and staff members.

Emirates NBD, the largest bank in the UAE and a front-runner in digital banking innovation, has undertaken several initiatives as part of its long-term commitment to foster an innovation culture. The bank recently launched the Emirates NBD Future Lab™ to collaborate with existing partners and clients in the private and public sector as well as identify fintech innovators to create pioneering concepts for prototyping. Several of the bank’s most successful banking solutions can be attributed to its deep-rooted culture of innovation.