Manar Al Hinai: Innovation Week is a great opportunity

Be inspired and use UAE Innovation Week to your advantage.

As an entrepreneur, this week is an important one. Starting today, the UAE will be celebrating Innovation Week through different exhibitions, national initiative launches, competitions, talks and workshops across the country. Many of the activities are open to the public, while others are on an invitation-only basis.

The great thing about this week is that it provides an opportunity to discover more about the latest innovative products in the Emirates, meet Emirati and non-Emirati innovators and learn about the government’s innovative approach to providing its services. For a potential entrepreneur, this is a week I would definitely encourage participating in. You can learn more about the country’s direction, what the market needs and what the nation’s innovators are focusing on.

Through the talks and workshops taking place, you may be inspired to find a solution to a particular problem or discover how your product/service can help to improve an existing solution. Perhaps the development of an app would make the availability of the current service you provide much easier. Consider the launch of UberEats, a food delivery platform in Dubai. The service satisfies your cravings by delivering from hundreds of restaurants across the emirate in an average 35 minutes – that’s from the moment you order to when you receive it. What’s innovative about that? Many of the restaurants that have signed up were not necessarily available on other food delivery platforms. In addition, the platform’s competitive advantage is speed. It realised how cranky customers get waiting for their food to arrive, so they worked on providing the fastest way to deliver – thus instantly competing with other food delivery platforms.

As you engage with the different activities this Innovation Week, here is how to expedite the brainstorming process and take advantage of the inspirational ideas shared:

• Take notes

Whether you are old school like me and prefer to carry a notebook around, or if you like to punch in thoughts to your mobile phone or record some voice memos, always be ready to note down anything that inspires you. This will serve as a starting point.

• Be creative

Another great way of generating ideas is to doodle. Yes, that’s correct. Get a piece of paper and start drawing your ideas. You can also scribble while you let your mind wander and brainstorm. I like jotting down ideas and dividing them into different bubbles and boxes, then connecting related items with a line.

• Be inspired

Innovation Week is also a good time to be around inspirational people. Attend workshops and talks and engage in conversations with a multitude of different people. Listening to voices you don’t normally listen to, especially those who have come up with an innovative product or service, can inspire a starting point in your mind. Carry your business card everywhere you go and jot down anything interesting from the conversations you have.

• Take time out

After recording any ideas from the talks you attended and engaging with different people, dedicate some time to yourself, away from your computer, and phone if possible. Look at the notes you have made and see if you can add anything to them. Avoiding distractions will allow you to be more focused, and generate even more ideas.

• Stay positive

Attending talks, signing up to workshops and meeting people who have accomplished great things can be an overwhelming experience. You may feel you are under-accomplished and can never match the innovators you encounter. This is normal, so do not be deterred. Ideas take time, so keep the process going and eventually something will click into place.

• Don't stop

Once you have your eureka moment, do not stop there. Think that idea through and see how you can bring it to life. We can all stumble upon innovative ideas from time to time, but the difference between those who succeed and those who do not is what they do with them.

Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer and communications consultant based in Abu Dhabi. Twitter: @manar_alhinai

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