Gitex 2020: Technology meets humanity

By Jonathan Vikram Pradhan, Content Contributor

Dubai pulled off the 40^th edition of Gitex Technology Week 2020 with resounding success as the event came to a close on December 10 at the city’s World Trade Center premises. The efficient collaboration between the organizers and the Dubai government in putting up such an event given the current COVID-19 pandemic situation deserves immense appreciation and respect. The overall event management and precautions undertaken, including the sanitization and health safety measures were of truly high standards.

Most importantly, what this world’s only face-to-face tech event in 2020 did was it provided the much-needed enthusiasm and platform for businesses to interact and create new business opportunities. It empowered key stakeholders looking for growth to remain optimistic by educating them on solutions and technologies needed to succeed in a fast-advancing global market.

The UAE is among the most progressive and ambitious economies in the world with the fastest digital transformation adoption. Little surprise that there were first-time product launches from more than 60 countries including Japan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Italy, France, Egypt and India among others.

GITEX 2020 offered attendees invaluable insight into the transformative power of automation & AI, 5G, cloud & edge platforms, deep learning and big data initiatives across industry verticals through conferences from GITEX 2020, GITEX Future Stars, GISEC, Future Blockchain Summit and Marketing Mania conclaves.

However, amidst all things technology, an underlying theme was apparent from most discussions – Is so much technology good for humans?

There is a prevalent notion these days of how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will replace jobs done by humans. Well, it’s not wrong to say that such change is inevitable in the future, but technology experts advise us to see these changes from a positive lens rather than a dystopian one.

If we look at history, technological innovations have only made life easier. And one thing is certain. The advancement in technology is not going to stop and neither will the need for us to stay human. For example, as humans, we still prefer a breath of fresh air to an hour-long virtual gaming session to make us feel better, right?

To put things in perspective, the VISO Classroom Management solution presented by Israel’s Radix technologies allows teachers to easily manage their class learning on school or BYOD devices such as tablets, iPads or laptops. Teachers can monitor student activities and evaluate performance in real-time, share any screen, provide individual or group assistance and implement collaborative learning methodologies. It also integrates interactive touchscreens and VR devices in the classroom to assimilate immersive learning experiences into the curriculum.

This is a much better way to bridge the difficulties that students and teachers alike have experienced during remote learning sessions in the past several months. After all, working and studying remotely seems to be the way forward in the near future.

This notion of human first when it comes to technology designs was also reinforced at the event when a Brazilian company with an app to aid children with autism won the 2020 Gitex Future stars’ Supernova Challenge award. Jade Autism, a startup app develops gamified therapeutic solutions for children and adolescents with cognitive disabilities. A point to be noted here is that the judges’ verdict is indicative of the importance of humanizing technology. Similarly, the other 3 innovations that won the runners up title — OneMoto from the UAE which specializes in electric vehicle solutions, Israel’s Radix technologies with classroom management solutions, and BeeFree Agro from Israel, a drone-based autonomous herding system – are all designed to make our lives easier.   

All in all, what we can gather from the Gitex conference is that the need to fulfill human needs will always remain at the core of technological advancement. In hindsight, without technology, we could not have survived the COVID-19 pandemic. To be honest, virtual conferences and e-commerce saved our day and kept the economy engine chugging.

From decongesting vehicular traffic to efficient hospital management and cybercrime protection, technology will always be favourable for humans and that was positively evident from the Gitex 2020 event.