In an effort to maintain the vitality of the events sector, INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions- a member of INDEX Holding, which organizes some of the most prominent events in the region, such as DUPHAT, Dubai DERMA, Aqdar World Summit, Asia Derma, and AEEDC Dubai; the Largest International Annual Scientific Conference & Exhibition in the world, has developed a cutting-edge events platform ‘E-VENT’ and has launched it in 2020 to cater to the demands for virtual and hybrid events, and the need for innovative solutions in the field.
As Dubai continues to be a major hub for trade, innovation, and technology in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, serving a population of over 2.3 billion people, the UAE’s leading national events company, INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions, has developed this cutting-edge events platform to complement its efforts in hosting world-class events under the slogan “Thinking Beyond the Booth” aiming to utilize innovation as an approach to develop its business and services which are provided to its clients from all over the world.
Over the past years, the United Arab Emirates has led the way in innovation and technology, and continues to hold its number 1 ranking on the Global Innovation Index in the region, while improving its ranking globally by jumping 2 positions on the global index to be ranked 34th globally. This confirms the status of the UAE to be among the world’s most innovative countries while achieving its goals towards the vision for 2021, where innovation is a vital pillar for economic growth away from the oil sector.
Commenting on this occasion, Eng. Anas Al Madani, Vice Chairman and Group CEO of INDEX Holding said: “Innovation has always been an essential element for development, and that is something continuously emphasized by our wise leadership, we are very proud to announce the success of ‘E-VENT’, an online events platform and market place for hosting virtual and hybrid events. Since the pandemic hit the world, it was no surprise that the demand for virtual events has increased to connect people and businesses. Our team at the ‘INDEX Smart and Innovation Center’ has accelerated the development of activities to cater to this increasing demand. We are proud to announce that our platforms have hosted over 250,000 participants with an average satisfaction rate of 90% across 20 industries.”
He added: “While we firmly believe that physical events will not be replaced by virtual events, we have taken every step to ensure that Dubai maintains its position as a leader in the events industry by delivering quality educational content through the ‘E-VENT’ platform to our participants and ensure the continuity of business and networking for our exhibitors. With things gradually going back to normal, we wanted to make sure that we have state-of-the-art technology to complement our physical events that will begin this month. This will create the added value that we want to give our customers while they participate physically in our events with new services and yearlong activities and features that will boost their business.”
He added: “His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, announced 2020 to be the year of preparation for the next 50 years. As a leading UAE private company, it is our duty to contribute to achieving this vision and complementing the efforts of the government, and participate in creating a knowledge-based economy for the UAE while delivering innovative solutions for the future.”
He concluded: “With offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, South Korea, and Singapore, and Cairo, INDEX organizes more than 35 events in eight countries across 20 industries every year, and serves over 4 Billion people.”
On this occasion, Sophie Dudicourt, Director of INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions Organization, a member of INDEX Holding said, “As our mission is to excel in facilitating education and commerce through conferences and exhibitions, we took every effort to ensure that we are catering to our client needs in this dynamic and challenging economy. With the launch of ‘E-VENT’, we have managed to help our clients tap beyond their traditional markets and develop new opportunities internationally. Since we had to organize some of our events in virtual format over the past eight months due to the pandemic, we wanted to make sure that we deliver a unique digital experience and quality B2B meetings.”
She added: “By using smart and innovative features, we have now created further solutions to help our clients expand their reach across the year and during their physical participation in our upcoming events in different parts of the world. In addition to its events, INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions supports societies and international organizations to produce their events in the UAE and other parts of the world.”
Rakesh Chetri, Director of INDEX PCO said: “The pandemic has created many restrictions on travel and mass gatherings, however, we wanted to make sure that we are catering to our participants during this difficult time. Medical conferences play an important role in the development of the education of doctors through continuous medical education. Doctors and medical practitioners need to continuously update their knowledge through conferences and courses to be able to serve the community better.”
He concluded: “We were keen to support our partners, associates, and delegates by continuing to deliver high-quality virtual and hybrid events that help them achieve their goals.”
With the UAE keeping innovation as one of its main pillars in achieving its goals for vision 2021, INDEX holding has established INDEX Smart and Innovation Center in 2017 to build in-house competencies that will help it be ahead of the curve.
Commenting on this occasion, Mustansar Cheema, ‘INDEX Smart and Innovation Center’ manager said: “I’m delighted to say that we have successfully developed ‘E-VENT’ to complement our existing events’ business with local and in-house competencies. Our knowledge of the industry and the needs of our customers helped us create a comprehensive solution that adds value to their business. We have started developing the platform two years ago and have accelerated the work since the pandemic, to ensure our capability to contribute to the economy and our customers’ needs in this difficult time. I’m very proud of my team who have worked day and night to deliver such world-class solutions.”
Mohammed Asim, Applications Manager at ‘INDEX Smart and Innovation Center’ added: “We are continuing to develop the ‘E-VENT’ Platform to add further online and hybrid services and solutions for our customers. We have also ensured that these services are readily available, therefore we have developed a dedicated mobile app for each event. We have also incorporated many Artificial Intelligence features to support networking and business matching and to create unique experiences for our customers.”
Some of the significant events that utilized the innovative technology of the ‘E-VENT’ platform were: Innovation Arabia, E-Ramadan Content Market- DICM On-line edition, E-Dubai Otology Conference, and E-Asia Derma Conference. Further innovative events functionalities will be launched this September to create a 365-day marketplace to serve customers across 20 industries and cement Dubai’s position as a leading city for events and innovations.
