The second day of Expand North Star 2024, the world’s largest startup and investment event, witnessed a surge of attendees at Dubai Harbour. Visitors were treated to an inspiring array of exhibitions featuring cutting-edge AI technologies and emerging solutions, along with discussions about strategic collaborations that drive transformative innovations.
Part of the expansive GITEX GLOBAL, Expand North Star runs until October 16, showcasing an extensive agenda and immersive exhibitions with over 1,800 startups and more than 1,200 investors, collectively managing assets exceeding $1 trillion.
Spotlight on Asia’s Future Tech Giants
Among the notable exhibitors were several impactful startups from Taiwan, including AISpeakin, an AI Deep Tech firm powered by Ubestream. The company offers a real-time translation service that supports over 16 languages, drawing significant interest with its advanced AI and speech/voice recognition features.
As the space industry flourishes, Japan’s DigitalBlast Inc. showcased its innovations aimed at boosting its global presence. The company is in the process of developing a small life science experiment device equipped with an artificial gravity mechanism for the International Space Station (ISS). This initiative marks a significant step towards the launch of the station’s first module by 2030.
Fostering Emirati Business Growth
In a bid to accelerate the development of Emirati companies in the ICT sector, the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (KFED) announced its support for four outstanding UAE startups, aiming to enhance the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Visitors engaged in meaningful discussions away from the exhibitions, with the ‘UAE Hubs Panel – Building Impactful Ecosystems’ session focusing on the importance of creating integrated ecosystems for startups following their establishment. Dr. Asma Ibrahim Al Mannaei, Executive Director of the Research and Innovation Centre at the Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH), UAE, stated, “We cannot and should not reinvent the wheel. Over the past few years, we have invested heavily in creating a thriving data informatics system. That is the starting point for many startups, especially in the digital domain. On top of that, we have built an additional set of data with the Emirati genome programs and have the phenotypic and genotypic data together. Are we stopping? No, we are building on top of that. Now, we need to partner with the brightest minds globally.”
Utilising AI for Social Good
During Monday’s afternoon session, titled “AI by the People, AI for the People: Democratising AI and Solving Grassroot Innovation,” Manu Chopra, Founder & CEO of Karya, USA, shared inspiring insights into how Karya, in collaboration with Microsoft, developed a generative large language model that reflects India’s 125 languages. For this initiative, Karya employed regional language speakers, who were compensated 20 times the minimum wage by Microsoft. During his recent visit to India, Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, met personally with one of these speakers.
As Expand North Star continues through its four-day duration, it casts a spotlight on the future of finance, blockchain, creativity, and environmental sustainability through industry-defining events, including GITEX Impact, Fintech Surge, Future Blockchain Summit, and Marketing Mania.
