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Thakaa’s app to help Muslims memorise Quran and correct their postures

Naushad K. Cherrayil
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Thakaa’s app to help Muslims memorise Quran and correct their postures
  • Qatari start-up plans to introduce even more benefits to take it to the next level.
  • Quran verses available in English and Arabic, with more translations to come.

Qatar-based Thakaa Technologies, which launched the world’s first digital prayer mat – Sajdah, has launched it in an app format to help Muslims enhances their prayer experience, learn prayers, achieve correct posture and memorise the Holy Quran in the run-up to Ramadan.

Abdulrahman Saleh Khamis, along with co-founder and Chief Growth Officer Abdul Ali, set up the company with a mission to solve problems through technology.

Khamis said the prayer mat uses technology to monitor users’ movements and when to say the appropriate prayers and in which posture.

“Now, with the help of Sajdah, anyone can recite the whole Quran in Taraweeh, and access many other helpful features. As we enter the Holy month, we plan to introduce even more benefits to take it to the next level,” he said.

Moreover, he said that parents may find it difficult to teach kids the prayers in countries where Muslims are not a majority and the app will come useful and make it easier for the child to understand and learn Quran, and correct their postures.

Developers of the app have no intent to replace the traditional prayer rug but to help users pronounce the prayer correctly, especially those who are not fluent in Arabic.

Salient features:

  • Helps posture: Uses technology to monitor users movements and provides feedback on how to perform; ruku (bowing), sujood (prostration)m and qiyam (standing), without forgetting the Quranic verses and supplication.
  • Guided prayer: Features mandatory prayers and more than 25 types of prayers in an immersive step-by-step learning experience, including; Eid, Tarawih, Qiyam and Tahajjud (Night Prayer).
  • User-friendly: Enhanced reading experience with a clear LED screen that allows users to control verse transition, speed and font size.
  • Accessible remotely: Sajdah invites Muslims to partake in prayer wherever they are located – any time or day.
  • Observes data protection: As well as being free, Sajdah does not feature advertising and never sells user data.
  • Multi-language: Quran verses available in English and Arabic, with more translations to come.

What is driving the future of connected living in the GCC?

TCN Bureau
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What is driving the future of connected living in the GCC?
  • New opportunities are expected for Big Data platform providers and service providers with data science capabilities with the modernisation of government operations.
  • GCC region expected to have 83% mobile subscribers by 2030 up from 77% in 2018 and 5G will account for 16% of total connections by 2030.
  • By 2025, 75% of the companies will be at an advanced level of digitisation, which is more than double compared to 2020.
  • By 2025, nearly 90% of the doctors in the region will use digital platforms to deliver medical facilities.

Connected Living in the GCC is growing rapidly, as internet is expected to account for five per cent of the national GDP by 2030 up from 4.1 per cent in 2018.

Increasing mobile and internet penetration will bring in the digital revolution across sectors in the GCC.

Governments across GCC countries are ramping up their eGovernment services to meet the demands of constituents and improve city’s governance to match citizen’s lifestyle.

According to Frost & Sullivan, in the GCC region, UAE, Bahrain and Qatar have mobile subscriber penetration rates of 80 per cent or more, placing them among the highest penetrated markets globally.

We estimate that the GCC region would have 83 per cent mobile subscribers by 2030 up from 77 per cent in 2018. Further, by 2030, 5G will account for 16 per cent of total connections in these markets.

By 2025, 75 per cent of the companies will be at an advanced level of digitisation, which is more than double compared to 2020.

In UAE, the Government’s approach towards digital transformation through innovation can be seen through the launch of the latest tech hub like AI smart lab in the city of Dubai.

The city of Dubai aims to reduce 44 per cent of transportation costs and 12 per cent of carbon emissions and road accidents by making autonomous mobility 25 per cent of all mobility options.

Abu Dhabi will witness the world‘s first commercial Hyperloop, spanning a distance of 150 km,  which will be fully operational by 2022. Driven by the first-mover advantage in testing various vehicles and commencing work on the supporting infrastructure required, Dubai is expected to launch the first air taxi service in the world by 2022.

Where are the growth opportunities:

Healthcare: Technology is becoming increasingly mainstream with more than 50 per cent of hospitals in the UAE and KSA using various IoT-based solutions; approximately 80 per cent of doctors use smartphones and medical apps to provide healthcare. The adoption of connected care[1] is very high in the GCC region.

By 2025, nearly 90 per cent of the doctors in the region will use digital platforms to deliver medical facilities.

FinTech: UAE is leading the GCC’s fintech revolution, with more than 100 fintech start-ups. Dubai, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh are likely to be the leading centres for Blockchain and cryptocurrency.

Manufacturing: Dubai’s industrial sector is likely to expand to $16 billion by 2030, generating 27,000 specialised jobs. Digitisation of the manufacturing and industrial sectors in the GCC region is leading to the reinvention of business models (servitisation model and dark facilities) and the creation of newer revenue streams. 

The servitisation model is built around an IoT-based connected-field service solution. Sensors in installed equipment notify the manufacturer‘s service-center staff of problems before they occur, enabling predictive maintenance.

The evolving manufacturing customer preferences toward capability purchase against asset purchase to keep the cost of ownership low is leading to GCC manufacturers embracing this business model.

Dark Facilities: The rise of automation and the growth in online orders is leading to a number of dark facilities that are either entirely automated or have small teams to provide products to remote consumers. Dark facilities do not serve customers directly. They fulfil online orders or automate production with fewer human workers.

Telecom: The Middle East and the North Africa region will witness an addition of nearly $250 billion of economic activity to by mobile economy by 2025. Vision statements of all GCC states call for the higher intervention of technology in governance. This will lead to the following opportunities:

Accelerated shift to digital services: Services providers across industries are moving toward digital sales and services channels. Retail, education, media & entertainment, and the public sector are expected to be the early adopters. This would drive opportunities for platform providers, system integrators, and IT consulting services. New opportunities are expected for Big Data platform providers, and service providers with data science capabilities with the modernisation of government operations.

More 5G use cases across industries: More 5G use cases will support sustainability and continuity of critical national infrastructure and delivery of citizen services.

Mobile gaming continues to be the dominant platform; rising localisation and evolution of the local developer ecosystem is driving the growth. GCC‘s gaming market is forecasted to reach $4.53 billion by 2025.

  • The writer is a Senior Industry Analyst – Visionary Innovation Group at research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Institutional investors to give a boost to Bitcoin price

Naushad K. Cherrayil
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Institutional investors to give a boost to Bitcoin price
  • Retail investors are keener than ever to invest in digital currencies, deVere Group CEO says.
  • Institutional investors are waiting for prices to dip a little further and are poised to significantly increase their exposure to crypto when they do.

A temporary slowdown in Bitcoin price could trigger a surge in institutional investment, leading to prices going up permanently, an industry expert said.

“With them [institutional investors], they will bring their enormous capital, clout and expertise to the market, and this will then prove to be another considerable confidence shot for even more retail investors,” Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of deVere Group, said.

Bitcoin, which is up nearly 500 per cent since the rally started in October, has pulled back after hitting all-time price highs earlier this month of more than $61,000.

 “Bitcoin has been on an epic rally since last October. Almost week-on-week, the price has been smashing through barrier after barrier, reaching new highs. This momentum came as investors are looking for alternatives to traditional currencies as central banks and governments continue to helicopter new cash into economies,” Green said.

‘Buy the dip’ mantra

Moreover, Green said that as Wall Street giants increasingly pursue crypto activities, and as billionaire entrepreneurs such as Tesla’s Elon Musk and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey pile into the cryptocurrency, amongst other factors.

“This has all spiked the hype in the media and massive interest amongst retail investors, who are keener than ever to invest in digital currencies, dubbed ‘the future of money’,” he said.

However, the momentum in Bitcoin currently appears to be slowing down, with Bitcoin’s recent consolidation sitting around $55,000.

Green said that the current slowdown, together with greater ongoing regulatory scrutiny, can be expected to prompt the herd-like mentality of many inexperienced investors who will now cash-out their Bitcoin, forcing the price temporarily lower.

“And this is when institutional investors, many of whom are just beginning to dip their toe in the crypto water, will likely dive in.  They will employ the ‘buy the dip’ mantra.”

Increasing exposure

Last month a deVere Group global poll found that 70 per cent of those Baby Boomers and Gen X respondents are already invested in digital currencies or are planning to do so this year.

At that time, Nigel Green said: “Baby boomers and Gen X, who own most of the world’s wealth, are embracing the cryptocurrency revolution.  This will serve to further bolster prices in the market in the longer-term.”

He added that it’s likely that institutional investors are waiting for prices to dip a little further and are poised to significantly increase their exposure to crypto when they do.  

“Should this happen, as we expect it will, we know that this will drive prices upwards.”

85% of C-Suite executives in UAE plan hybrid cloud strategies in next 12 months

Ana Mary Joseph
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85% of C-Suite executives in UAE plan hybrid cloud strategies in next 12 months
  • 68% of respondents cited flexibility and significant cost savings they expect from implementing a hybrid cloud strategy while 56% view cloud as useful for conducting testing and development before moving their business-critical workloads to a production environment.

C-Suite executives in the UAE are prioritising the implementation of hybrid cloud strategies to help their organisations benefit from flexibility, cost savings, testing and development, as well as disaster recovery.

A new IBM study conducted by research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) revealed that 85 per cent of them are pursuing or planning to implement hybrid cloud strategies in the next 12 months.

However, while there is a growing shift towards the cloud, further adoption of hybrid cloud strategies are needed to help organizations transform their operations using technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

The new study polled over 500 C-Suite executives across 12 industry sectors, including highly regulated industries, such as government, telecommunication and banking, in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and South Africa.

The study revealed that even though only 32 per cent of the executives surveyed from the UAE are currently pursuing hybrid cloud strategies, over 50 per cent are in the planning phase.

Digital transformation

“68 per cent cited flexibility and significant cost savings they expect from implementing a hybrid cloud strategy while 56 per cent view cloud as useful for conducting testing and development before moving their business-critical workloads to a production environment,” it said.

“It is evident that hybrid cloud strategies are becoming core to digital transformation journeys and increasingly prioritised in the UAE to help revolutionise business models,” Hossam Seif El-Din, General Manager of IBM in the Middle East and Pakistan, said.

Moreover, he said that IBM is working with its customers in the UAE and across the globe to accelerate their hybrid cloud efforts and prepare them for transformational technologies like AI.

As organisations in the UAE transform their operations, he said that hybrid cloud will continue to be adopted to provide flexibility and efficiencies and improve the bottom line.

65 per cent of the  C-Suite executives polled cited the ease of application deployment in adopting hybrid cloud in their organisations, 58 per cent want to leverage the operational benefits, and 55 per cent believe the technology will aid resource allocation improvements.

Growing prominence

In the UAE, several companies from various industries have adapted their corporate structure to hybrid cloud.

The hybrid cloud model’s growing prominence stems from its agile architecture, which allows businesses to manage multiple clouds designated to meet current and incremental business requirements, data, and workloads in a secured and governed manner.

The study highlights the evolution of a hybrid cloud ecosystem in which organisations would choose a deployment option (private cloud, public cloud, or on-premise) depending upon the value of that deployment option. Vendors that offer flexibility to seamlessly operate across multiple clouds will have an edge over others, Harish Dunakhe, IDC’s Research Director for Software and Cloud in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, said.

 “It is clear that there is a strong awareness of the benefits that organisations can leverage from the hybrid cloud. As the awareness grows, we expect enterprises to encourage adoption across their organisations to fully benefit from hybrid cloud programs,” he said.

Digital onboarding and KYC checks to drive regtech spending

Naushad K. Cherrayil
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Digital onboarding and KYC checks to drive regtech spending
  • Businesses need to rebuild their KYC and onboarding processes from the ground up to take advantage of these new capabilities, or they will lose ground to digitally native competitors.
  • Regtech vendors must make AI a core part of their solutions, whilst still leveraging human intelligence to keep their decisions fully explainable, Juniper Research reports.
  • Almost 18% of banking digital onboarding in 2025 globally will use AI systems, compared to fewer than 4% in 2020.

Spending on regtech systems, which enable banks and other heavily regulated sectors to meet their compliance burdens, will exceed $130 billion in 2025 from $33 billion in 2020.

According to Juniper Research report, the 290 per cent growth is being fuelled by greater use of AI to automate highly manual tasks and the transition to digital onboarding, which have emerged as critical capabilities in the wake of the pandemic. 

Nick Maynard, Lead Analyst at Juniper Research, said that digital onboarding has been accelerated by lockdown measures, but ultimately, it is an acceleration of existing trends towards greater digital engagement. 

Nick Maynard, Lead Analyst at Juniper Research.

“Businesses should rebuild their KYC and onboarding processes from the ground up to take advantage of these new capabilities, or they will lose ground to digitally native competitors,” he said.

Over the past five years, the banking and financial services spaces have embarked on a long journey of digital transformation. This has seen the rise of digital-only services, such as neobanks, as well as any number of online financial services providers, financial apps and other regulated activities that require KYC (including gambling, cryptocurrency exchanges and some elements of eCommerce).

This transformation has had serious implications for the onboarding process. By moving to a digital-only proposition, the onboarding and KYC checks also have to be fully digital, which represents a change in how many of these processes were traditionally carried out. The impact of the pandemic has meant that many traditional banks now also have to offer digital onboarding as a key capability.

AI needs to be at the core

Maynard said that nearly 330 million new bank accounts will be opened via digital onboarding in 2025, from 184 million in 2020.

Ultimately, consumers will continue to use digital onboarding in ever-greater numbers and, as such, vendors must design long-term strategies that support this, he said.

“Regtech vendors must make AI a core part of their solutions, whilst still leveraging human intelligence to keep their decisions fully explainable. AI’s capabilities in automating manual tasks will allow businesses to begin to improve their levels of spending on regulatory compliance,” he said.

The report states that almost 18 per cent of banking digital onboarding in 2025 globally will use AI systems, compared to fewer than 4 per cent in 2020 and the introduction of AI in areas like identity document verification means that businesses can finally move from their still largely manual processes to a fully digital model of KYC.

Zoho in massive expansion drive across the Middle East

Naushad K. Cherrayil
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Zoho in massive expansion drive across the Middle East
  • To open offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Nigeria, Kenya and other countries in the region.
  • To open data centres in the region, including the UAE.
  • Aims to hire locally in each office for customer-facing teams, and increase the local partner network to ensure seamless experiences for customers.
  • Partner with local organisations and communities to ensure sustainable long-term impact across the region.

Zoho Corporation, one of the fastest-growing software companies in the world, is on a massive expansion drive across the Middle East in a bid to lower the access barriers to enterprise technology and serve customers of all sizes.

“Zoho follows a long-term approach, and therefore, our growth will be rooted in closely working with and serving the local communities, while staying connected through shared knowledge and culture,” Hyther Nizam, President for the Middle East and Africa at Zoho Corp, said.

2021 marks the 25th anniversary of Zoho.

Hyther Nizam, President for the Middle East and Africa at Zoho Corp.

The Austin-headquartered company will open offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Nigeria, Kenya and other countries in the region. It will adopt a hub-and-spoke office model in the region, with Dubai acting as the hub for offices in the GCC countries.

The company is also on the lookout for opening data centres in the region, including the UAE.

Zoho has international headquarters in Chennai, India, and additional offices are in the United States, India, Japan, China, Singapore, Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, and the UAE.

Strengthening its partner network

“We have already taken steps in this direction by increasing our local hirings and bolstering our partner network. A strong local presence will help us in effectively addressing the needs of local businesses and add a personal touch to our services. We are also actively partnering with organisations and local business networks to lower the access barriers to enterprise technology and serve customers of all sizes,” Nizam said.

Despite the pandemic, Zoho grew more than 30 per cent from the Middle East and Africa region last year and reported a 37 per cent growth in customers in the UAE.

“We want to continue being a catalyst for change, inspiring others and emerging as a top technology leader, all the while serving those whom we impact more broadly and deeply,” Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-Founder, Zoho, said.

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