ShareKUWAIT: Zain, the leading digital service provider in Kuwait, hosted a virtual discussion series titled "A New Digital Generation" in collaboration with NEST, the national company for educational services and training and a subsidiary of the National Technology Enterprises Company (NTEC), and EON XR, a multinational virtual and augmented reality software developer. The talks featured exciting discussions on some of the latest and most disruptive tech concepts, including the Metaverse, future of digital education, and digital assets.
Zain hosted a number of local and international experts at its Zain Innovation Center (ZINC), located at the company's main headquarters in Shuwaikh. The speakers took part in three panel discussions that centered around the Metaverse and the disruptions it is expected to have on industries and markets, and how such disruptions would change the digital future. Nearly 700 participants signed up to attend the three discussions virtually.
The first talk discussed the Metaverse, a fusion between the real and virtual worlds. It is characterized as a virtual-reality space in which people can connect through various technologies including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and extended reality (XR) experiences such as 3D avatars, digital assets, businesses, games, virtual economy, and much more. The discussion featured Rikard Stieber, a visionary Silicon Valley tech leader who founded many tech ventures and held many leadership roles at some of the world's biggest tech companies, including HTC and Google.
The second talk discussed Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which are unique digital assets that are stored on the blockchain. Often associated with digital files such as art, music, games, and videos, these assets are used to create and build upon new forms of ownership. This new digital phenomenon has gained a lot of attention recently, raising many questions about what NFTs are, how they work, and their potential to disrupt various industries. The discussion featured William Selviz, a multidisciplinary designerwho specializes in immersive media technologies such as 3D animation, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), 360 video, and more.
Zain's third talk discussed the future of digital education and the effects of COVID on learning. The pandemic forced most schools to shut down and teach classes online. Today, research is proving that students who learn through AR/VR experiences are at least three times more likely to retain and understand information than traditional methods of teaching. The talk discussed the innovative ways in which education is being delivered to the future generation of learners. The discussion featured Mikael Jacobsson, co-founder of EON Reality, a multinational virtual and augmented reality software developer, who shared his 20+ years of experience in this industry.
Zain is one of the leading organizations that actively adopt young entrepreneurs, as it believes in the capabilities and potential of the youth, and in the ideas and innovations they have to offer. Because Zain relies - as part of its strategy - on addressing the youth's issues by investing in the future, the company has launched the Zain Innovation Center (ZINC), a leading incubator for entrepreneurs and innovations in Kuwait. The center aims at supporting and empowering the youth and their capabilities, as well as opening new horizons for tech startups.
ZINC represents an incubator for the youth's innovations, and currently encourages exceptional minds to think in an interactive environment, offers a modern and innovative workplace, presents a proper work environment for those who have aspiring ideas and visions, as well as develops and progresses ideas into real projects that can be executed and implemented.
For Zain, ZINC represents the prominent face of the digital transformation stage. Ideas are always affected by the care they receive, and if global markets look for smart ideas, then private sector organizations in Kuwait are insistently heading towards these areas as well. For this, Zain believes that launching incubators will help discover new ideas and raise new innovations. The training programs, interactive talks, and panel discussions offered by Zain in the fields of technology, along with the various training grant programs, e-learning portals, and other initiatives, all embody this strategic direction of the company's plans to enhance its areas of innovation and sustainability.
