International professional services firm Accenture has opened its first innovation hub within the Middle East and North Africa region in the form of the Dubai Tourism Hub in the United Arab Emirates.
The hub is situated in Dubai Media City and is an immersive environment showcasing the company’s innovative technology capabilities, including artificial intelligence, extended reality, the Internet of Things and much more.
The Dubai Innovation Hub uses industry-focused demonstrations, prototyping, a start-up showcase and co-creation sessions to give clients and partners a platform by which they can tap into the firm’s international knowledge of the industry.
This allows for the creation and development of scalable and smart innovations that can help partners and clients with the transformation of their tourism sector businesses.
The hub is part of an extensive network that operates all over the world – it is connected to over 100 other Accenture locations to seamlessly bring out the best of the firm’s international insights and investments to clients.
With the GCC region making a priority of tourism development, it is exciting to launch the first Accenture hub in Dubai, says Accenture Group industry group lead and managing director for the region Norberto Cibien.
The Middle East attracts over 60 million visitors per year, making it an important market for the tourism industry, according to Cibien.
Millions will be attending Expo 2020 Dubai, 70% of whom are likely to be international visitors, making it important for the travel experience to be seamless.
This necessitates bridging previously disconnected players in the ecosystem and catering to changing and unique customer needs.
Accenture Digital’s lead and managing director for the region Xavier Anglada says that the firm is delighted to see the broad portfolio of Accenture offerings and services in the Middle East expanding.
The company is proud to be able to harness innovative technology to support both stakeholders in the private sector and the government to bring new and tailored concepts to the region.
The Dubai Innovation Hub will result in the creation of opportunities for the transformation of businesses in the tourism sector of the UAE and elsewhere in the region that will be both valuable and sustainable.
The hub is also at the centre of the company’s regional Innovation Architecture offerings.
These offerings include Accenture Studios, which is focused on the rapid development of applications and subsequent prototyping as well as designing and creating digital services.
Accenture Innovation Centres help to test innovation with the construction and showcasing of solutions across different industries and technologies.
Accenture Research is able to combine advanced research technologies with industry knowledge in order to expose crucial business insights and trends.
Another of these offerings is Accenture Ventures, which is a bridge to the international innovation ecosystem by helping to bring clients together via enterprise-relevant start-ups to accelerate digital transformation and unlock growth potential.
Anyone who is planning to head to Dubai or elsewhere in the UAE should take out travel insurance to ensure that unexpected events such as cancelled flights or stolen luggage do not leave them financially devastated.
