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Advanced Tech Adoption & Innovation Are UAE’s Top Priority

The United Arab Emirates is actively seeking to overcome technological challenges and will explore futuristic approaches to improve the digital economy.

Published

4 years ago

December 30, 2022

Nour Nasir

advanced tech adoption and innovation are uae's top priority

Emirates News Agency

Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, has explained that the adoption of advanced technologies is a top priority for the region, as the Emirates continues to push forward with its vision of an advanced digital economy through innovation. Although there are many challenges to overcome, the UAE is making incredible progress across multiple scientific and technological sectors, and has embraced a future-centric approach to developing and overhauling its economy.

Omar Sultan Al Olama recently visited the Industrial Innovation Group (IIG), a leading security printing, biometric and global systems innovator, headquartered in Sharjah. The Minister’s mission was to explore the group’s scientific research lab, uncover new trends in advanced technology, and discuss potential collaboration opportunities.

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The Minister of State for all things digital noted that when it comes to technology, the most innovative and forward-thinking tools must be deployed to ensure safety, quality, and reliability. Omar Sultan Al Olama praised the Industrial Innovation Group for its success in building a sizable operational base, with 263 centers for passports around the globe and 367 centers for licenses. In addition, the IIG group’s 400 intellectual property assets will help the UAE to lead in security documents and technology solutions worldwide.

The Industrial Innovation Group is the first group in the MENA region to establish real industrial production and implement system integration. IIG is the only company in the field of production of identification documents and security printing worldwide that does not depend on third-party technologies in its activities.

News

Trip.com Is Betting An AI Agent Will Book Your Next Vacation

Abu Dhabi, Jazeera Airways and a run of hotel deals give the company more inventory. Its Mastercard demo says the most about where booking technology is headed.

Published

6 days ago

September 16, 2026

Nour Nasir

trip.com is betting an ai agent will book your next vacation

Most of what Trip.com Group announced at Arabian Travel Market 2026 this week reads like the standard expansion playbook of an online travel agency: a new agreement with a tourism board, a run of hotel partnerships, an airline deal. However, one item was considerably more interesting: a demonstration built with Mastercard of an AI agent that doesn’t just suggest trips but also pays for them.

trip.com tripgenie ai agent

The showcase put TripGenie, the company’s AI travel assistant, to work searching, selecting and completing purchases inside a single booking flow, with Mastercard’s Agent Suite for Merchants handling the payment step and Network International processing the transactions on the merchant side. It’s limited for now to attractions and ancillary services, but the partners plan a phased commercial rollout from early 2027.

“As traveller expectations change, technology and AI will play an increasingly important role in how people plan their journeys,” says Schubert Lou, CEO of Trip.com.

Meanwhile, in more conventional news, CEO Lou and Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry (Director General for Tourism at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi), signed an agreement building on the two organizations’ existing partnership, with joint marketing and Abu Dhabi destination content to be pushed across Trip.com Group’s platforms.

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On accommodation, the group expanded its partnerships with JA Hotels & Resorts, Ishraq Hospitality and Aleph Hospitality and deepened its work with Silkhaus, which brings vacation homes into a portfolio that has so far leaned on hotels. Jazeera Airways signed a strategic partnership intended to widen the Kuwaiti carrier’s reach and encourage earlier bookings, tied to Kuwait’s own tourism ambitions.

The company moved into a larger Dubai office earlier this year and describes its long-term aim as a two-way ecosystem: sending Middle East travelers abroad while drawing international visitors in.