The Expand North Star event is part of GITEX Global, the world's largest technology exhibition hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy

The event will feature the launch of AI Monday, spotlighting the fast-scaling AI startups; the India Central, which gathers over 200 Indian startups; and Asia Fast 100 and Africa Fast 100, with each including 100 leading startups from the continents.

It hosts several sub-events, including Fintech Surge, the Future Blockchain Summit, and Marketing Mania.

The four-day event will showcase the latest and best technologies, including the rising AI solutions, that could transform life in all communities, said Omar Sultan AlOlama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications.

“We've seen a huge increase in the number of participants at GITEX GLOBAL, and this growth is a testament to the UAE’s status as a global leader in technology,” Al-Olama, who also chairs Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, added.

He added that the event will serve as “a crucial” platform for the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy to attract companies.

It will showcase Dubai and the UAE’s competitive advantages and growth opportunities in a thriving digital economy, offering “an excellent” opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators to get in touch with potential venture capital (VC) investors worldwide.

“As the new name implies, Expand North Star will ramp up the start-up entrepreneurship, capitalists, unicorns, scale-ups, start-ups, and key stakeholders in the tech ecosystem, which will advance the continued expansion of GITEX GLOBAL and amplify its achievements," Al Olama said.

The new start-up show arrives as the UAE enters a new phase of economic development catalysed by new digital generational technologies and innovation.

The digital economy is expected to be a significant driver of the UAE’s sustainable economic growth, contributing nearly 20 percent to the country’s GDP over the next ten years.

GITEX Global will kick off on Monday in Dubai.

The event, which will run till Thursday, will bring together the world’s most innovative companies and innovators, outlining transformative AI solutions and their uses in changing lives and businesses around the globe.

The annual event will also bring the Middle East and African communities into focus amid the ongoing, very challenging time.

Future Blockchain Summit 2023

The Blockchain Summit 2023 kicked off on Sunday at Dubai Harbour.

The event highlighted the power of AI and how it can create limitless opportunities in the Web3 world.

Web3 stands for the next generation of the internet through which websites and applications handle data in a human-like manner using technologies like blockchain technology, Big Data, and machine learning, among others.

The four-day event will also gather global disrupters, change markers and innovators to showcase the significant progress made in Web3, blockchain and crypto technologies and drive transformative change for the future.

Fintech Surge 2023

Fintech Surge 2023 also kicked off on Sunday. The event primarily focuses on the impact of AI's rising technologies on all aspects of life.

Ahmed Alzarouni, vice president and head of IT at Investment Corporation of Dubai, said during a panel that humanity has just seen the tip of the iceberg of generative AI and that it is difficult to imagine what will come next.

“The latest updates on Gen AI can detect the tone of voice, text and feelings of humans, which we have never seen before. Gen AI will be a huge added value for the banking sector as it will detect many issues and improve the accuracy of advanced services to the clients,” he added.

According to Alzarouni, Gen AI can empower humans for good and bad reasons, and we must take risks to explore the benefits.

People mustn't input any confidential data into gen AI, he stressed.

In terms of impact on jobs, he said “My message to everyone is if you are not using generative AI, it will replace you with someone who is.”

Anand Krishnan, director and head of Technology at Emirates Investment Bank PJSC, said: “Gen AI is helping both banks and customers. In seconds, AI can provide investment strategies like never before.”

“Hyper customization is a big trend within the banking sector as customers seek a personalized, tailored service rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. New fintech investment organisations are bringing out micro-customized products,” Krishnan added.

These systems understand how customer demographics change over the years, a matter that will significantly impact the banking sector, according to Krishan.

Alex De Vries, data scientist at the Financial Economic Crime Unit, Dutch Central Bank, called for raising awareness of AI challenges, asserting that all new technologies are not flawless and have limitations.

“AI is energy-intensive technology, and we risk increasing total power demand, which is not good for the climate. We also see a danger from AI in terms of the creation of fake images and fake information, and we need to find solutions and policies to avoid using these,” De Vries said.