A paper presented in the Digital Economy Conference (Seamless E-Commerce 2017) Organized by the Council of Arab Economic Unity, Arab League in Dubai.

1. Digital Economy
The 1st Annual Digital Economy Conference | 1-2 May 2017 | Dubai, UAE.
Current challenges and the role of technology
in economical transformation
(How we will be in 30 years?)

2. Global
Challenges
Technology
role
Digital
economy

3. 9.7
billion
In2050
Globalpopulationestimates

4. Developed Countries
Developing Countries
Exacerbate the challenges of poverty and unemployment

5. Arabcountrieswillfacegreatchallenges

6. Overviewofkeychallenges

7. Welfare, security and quality of life are important
elements for growth and productivity

8. Need to address performance of education, health, housing,
transportation, etc.

9. More than a billion people live in poverty and malnutrition

10. 50% of the world's population will suffer water
shortage in 2025

11. 56% increase in global energy
demand in 2040

12. Need to develop agricultural, industrial and service industries
– by 40% globally and 50% in the Arab world

13. Depleting natural and economic resources
and higher environmental pollution
Promote recycling and protection of natural
resources

14. Damages to green spaces threatens to change
the oxygen ratio
Environment protection and reduce
expansion at the expense of nature reserves

15. Global warming, melting Arctic ice
and floods are associated with
high carbon dioxide.

16. Need for housing projects and modern cities
Vertical growth of cities..

17. Infrastructure in new urban and rural areas
Investing in technical structures to provide
necessary supply of goods and services in
order to enable, improve and sustain the
conditions of community life.

18. Increasing urban congestion and road
traffic threaten growth and investment
Develop comprehensive plans for road
networks and transportation systems

19. National Research Center: Egypt loses EGP 175
billion annually due to traffic congestion
84 billion for citizens time and 47 billion for state
losses in Cairo alone!

20. Howtechnologywilladdressfuturechallenges?

21. Advanced higher computing projects:
Super intelligent machines

22. Artificial intelligence will exceed humans!

23. Technological advancements will
introduce social changes; that for
some will sound illogical now!

24. Highest measure of human intelligence scored 200 points
Projects worth $100 billion aimed at reaching artificial
intelligence to 10 thousand points !

25. Every person will have some
robotics by 2036!

26. Smartcities

27. Smart Cities: Sustainable economies, improved quality of
life and efficient resource management
88 smart cities around the world by 2025

28. Traffic Control
Energy Efficiency
Buss Locations
Waste Management
Water Management
Temperature and
Noise Urban Maps
Water Quality
Air Pollution
Citizens Apps /
Human sensors
Augmented Reality Control Place Parking Free Public WiFi Smart Parking Parks Management QR Code and NFC
Infrastructure control through
smart devices

29. Smart energy solutions are expected to
contribute to more than $1.2 trillion in savings

30. Resource efficiency in Arab countries is an
economic and environmental necessity

31. Smarttransportation

32. Movement of people and goods is expected
to depend on digital technologies and reach
unprecedented levels

33. More than 10 million smart cars in 2020

34. Smart transportation systems are
expected to save more than 800
billion dollars annually in smart cities

35. Agricultureproduction

36. Yearly food production surplus is 1.3 billion tones (UN 2013)
Need to link production rates with consumption needs

37. Information and communication
technology will improve agriculture
efficiency and capabilities and
electronic connection with global markets!

38. Enable farmers to choose the
type of agriculture according
to the season and consumption
expectations and contribute to
control the waste as well as
plants and pest control ..

39. Agricultural environments will be technology dependent;
drones, robotics, mobile and other Internet connected devices
such as soil sensors and agricultural and pest control systems.

40. The machine supplies food based on needs and preferences all
year round; saving 99% water, with 100 times healthier food!
AutoFarm: a technology for fresh food production and supply

41. 3dprintingtechnology
andconstruction

42. 3D printing technology.. economical and sustainable
environment returns
Contribute to reduce construction costs and time savings
by 50 to 80% and reduce construction waste by 30 to 60%

43. 3D technology enables construction with a click of a button!
Geometric flexibility in construction shapes using plastic,
concrete, metal and even salt!

44. Made of recycled construction waste
10 houses in 24 hours in China!

45. The first five-story earthquake-resistant building
in 3D technology in China.

46. The European Space Agency and NASA are studying
potentials of building structures on the Moon or even Mars.

47. Can the global housing and environmental crises be
solved with 3D technology?
3D Villa with an area of (1,100) square meters

48. digitaltechnologies

49. Enable a quantum leap in online experience and
attempt to simulate the human mind!
3 Generation Internet (Web 3): Virtual World
and Artificial Intelligence

50. Marketing companies began to reserve advertising space in
such virtual places
Virtual markets

51. Virtual and augmented reality
technology markets are estimated to
reach more than $160 billion in 2020

52. Bitcoin: An electronic currency traded on the Internet
without a financial center
Sales and purchases cannot be tracked
and even who owns them!

53. 300,000 daily operations, and the number of users
exceeds 11 million
1 Bitcoin = $ 1250 .. size of the market exceeds $20 billion

54. Need to study and examine the implications of
such financial systems and regulations around
digital transactions

56. A unified and encrypted electronic record log that
ensures data integrity and authenticity and does not
require a centralized system such as traditional systems.

57. $7 million annual losses for companies
$400 billion is the annual cost of cybercrime

58. Middle East organizations suffer from cybercrime
by 18% compared to 9% worldwide

59. Its applications are expected to expand in the protection
of smart cities, and other electronic environments
Many banks have started adopting Blockchain to
simplify financial operations

60. Whatthen?

61. We are still in the early stages of transformation!
Digital technologies are transforming our
societies into digital societies

62. The size of the digital economy represents almost
a quarter of the global economy today ..

63. Need to invest in research and development in science,
technology and innovation
Economic development and social progress

64. A real opportunity to support social, economic &
security stability and sustainable development
Digital Economy

65. Email: alkhouriali@gmail.com
Slide Share: www.slideshare.net/alkhouri
Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/DrAliAlKhouri @DrAliAlKhouri
Professor Dr. Ali M. Al-Khouri
1st vice chairman – Arab Federation for E-Commerce
Council of Arab Economic Unity – Arab League
arab-ecom.org