Al Anoud Al Hashimi is the founder and CEO of The Futurist Company, a project management company working in renewable energy, fin-tech and agri-tech. While the UAE has a thriving technology ecosystem, the country needs greater domestic R&D capacity, and is exploring ways to invest in longer-term ‘deep-tech’ projects alongside academia, and the private sector.
Here one industry that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves, is agriculture. Food security has always been a priority for the United Arab Emirates; decades ago the UAE embarked on an ambitious food security diversification program, investing in farmland and food supply-chains across the planet. It’s a testament to the success of this program that the UAE managed to keep shelves stocked throughout COVID-19.
decades ago the UAE embarked on an ambitious food security diversification program, investing in farmland and food supply-chains across the planet
But what if a country in the desert could actually export food? It sounds miraculous, but theoretically it might be possible.
Tune in for a discussion with Al Anoud on Agri-Tech and how the ‘GAIA’ project is bringing NASA Space Technology to delivery-truck sized farming capsules.
Tune in for a discussion with Al Anoud on Agri-Tech and how the ‘GAIA’ project is bringing NASA Space Technology to delivery-truck sized farming capsules. Each capsule is environmentally controlled, and energy and water self-sufficient. The idea of a ‘circular economy’ is filtering out of the policy community into the tech industry. Can the UAE overcome its challenges in R&D, to develop and export solutions to the rest of the world? Al Anoud Al Hashimi, believes so.
