The Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance officially began at 3:30 p.m. with a 15-minute opening ceremony hosted by Victor Sedov, Moscow 2013 Summit Chair and President of the Center for Entrepreneurship. This was immediately followed by an official welcome from various G20 representatives.

At 4:30 p.m., Jonathan Ortmans, President of Global Entrepreneurship Week, delivered the Summit’s opening keynote address, titled “Entrepreneurs Changing the World.” In his speech, Ortmans covered two pressing issues: the policies and programs that nations are implementing to support young entrepreneurs and the need to better measure their effects.

According to Ortmans, while countries around the world are striving to welcome immigrants, the United States does not support entrepreneurship initiatives by immigrants. Chile, on the other hand, has provided $40,000 grants, free mentorship, and free office space in Santiago to American entrepreneurs who want to work in Chile for at least 6 months and set up new ventures. So, some countries are on the right track by taking steps like protecting newborn firms and offering them tax incentives in order to allow innovation to flow into different sectors. While many of these start-ups do challenge big, comfortable companies, it is possible to support newer companies in a diplomatic way that does not completely upset existing industries. Countries are also focusing on supporting the formation of new ideas in university settings. This plan has especially good potential in Moscow, given the roughly 250 academic institutions in the area in and around the city, combined with Russia’s extraordinary record of scientific innovation. The fact that even countries praised for entrepreneurial success, like the United States, have been having trouble promoting entrepreneurship in the marketplace means there’s an opportunity for governments to improve their efforts.

The biggest obstacle to helping start-ups, according to Ortmans, is that governments and entrepreneurship programs have not been collecting the type of data they really need to help start-ups. While there has been an explosion of entrepreneurship programs all over the world, the number of start-ups globally has been going down. Now that entrepreneurship programs have been established, “phase two” is for these programs, along with the nations that support them, to better measure their performance. As part of this new phase, more attention will be paid to scaling up rather than starting up. Another trend will be mapping the existing entrepreneurial ecosystems in different cities around the world in order to better understand what it really means to have an entrepreneurial environment. The goal is to perform a gap analysis for different communities and cities, gathering data on entrepreneurship, finding out what is doing well, and learning what can be improved. Fortunately, the global community of “start-up junkies” offers a lot of suggestions on how to identify these gaps. This endeavor requires both the enthusiasm and increased discipline to make sure that the focus remains on creating new firms, scaling these firms, bringing innovation to existing industries, and building entrepreneurial economies.

Before closing, Ortmans invited G20 attendees back to Moscow for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, set to place on March 16 of 2014. He closed by stressing to the audience that they should never underestimate the importance of their work. Entrepreneurs don’t just create jobs, unleash innovation, and act as positive and optimistic community leaders and role models, but also signify the potential of human endeavor for the benefit of all.

At 5:00 p.m., conference-goers enjoyed a half-hour long coffee networking break, before being welcomed by G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit Partners from around the world, including U.K.-based Maria Pinelli, Global Vice Chair for Strategic Growth Markets at Ernst & Young, a professional services provider. Pinelli discussed the steps that Ernst & Young has taken to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

Pinelli stressed that, although Ernst & Young is a big organization with more than 167,000 employees, the company has been recognizing, advising, and guiding entrepreneurs for over 3 decades. Ernst & Young began working with Google when they had 5 employees and Facebook when they had 6. Today, the organization is still working with young companies globally, and investing over 100 million dollars every year to support entrepreneurship. Ernst & Young has grown the company’s own Entrepreneur Of The Year program over the last two years, spreading in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, with the company now planning to get more involved in South America. Pinelli then thanked Ernst & Young employees at the G20 Summit, especially the company’s Russian team. According to Pinelli, Ernst & Young began its relationship with G20 in 2011 in France, and also went on to be part of the 2012 Summit in Mexico, where the organization handled a study on funding the future of entrepreneurship and overcoming financing obstacles. Since then, the organization’s work on entrepreneurship has continued, with Ernst & Young utilizing more than 200 leading best practices in this area, and taking part in over 165 meetings around the world with different governments and entrepreneurs.

Pinelli said she was especially excited about the proactive initiative that Ernst & Young is planning to take in August, although it will get the company in a “lot of trouble”: ranking the G20 countries on how they are doing in terms of entrepreneurship. In addition, Ernst & Young’s report will shed light on youth unemployment as well as youth leadership in entrepreneurship. Pinelli thanked the G20 attendees for participating in the company’s surveys, answering phone calls, and providing case studies. For the first time, Ernst & Young can share the responses from 1,000 young entrepreneurs around the world in one report. This report is being endorsed by Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, who is also concerned about youth unemployment. It includes quotes from both G20 entrepreneurs and Annan. She stressed how critical this report is in a world where about 75 million youth were unemployed in 2012 and around 290 million were not employed, in education, or in training (NEET). Unemployment is expected to rise over the next 5 years, but young entrepreneurs are making a difference and improving the situation.

In closing, Pinelli said that G20 attendees have a chance to make their voices heard, and thanked the G20 team for inviting her to take part in the summit.

The next speaker participating as a G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit Partner was France-based Bruno Berthon, Managing Director of Accenture Strategy and Sustainability. Berthon pointed out that since Accenture is a global organization with 270,000 employees, the actions taken by the company affect all of the countries represented at the G20 Summit, and said that he had been consulting many entrepreneurs and thinking of how to contribute to their efforts. He then covered two main points: the digital revolution and its role in turning entrepreneurs into free agents, and Accenture’s role in the changing business environment.

Berthon emphasized that the Digital Revolution is transforming the world, with new technologies allowing for innovation and entrepreneurship to develop in emerging markets. For example, in Africa, using mobile networks is considered the only real way to grow a business. This is how African businesses collect payment, spread information, communicate with suppliers, and communicate with customers. The technology of the digital revolution is also turning entrepreneurs into free agents. A free agent has the opportunity to earn more money by moving from one position to the next as benefits them, but also takes the risks that come with not having a contract. As free agents, entrepreneurs have the ability to get away from the main constraint that Accenture and other established businesses have, which is the problem of legacy assets. Entrepreneurs don’t have legacy assets, and without this constraint, they have the power to be more innovative. Accenture’s new consultants are also displaying this kind of behavior, for example, through their use of social media. These free agents are supposedly less loyal to companies, or just have different types of relationships with them, and are already helping millions of businesses around the world.

In terms of changes in the entrepreneurial world, Berthon said that everyone in the world is co-competing, both collaborating and challenging one another. The role of Accenture in this environment is to help entrepreneurs gain the knowledge that they need. After thanking the Accenture team for their hard work, Berthon pointed out Accenture’s role in collaborating with entrepreneurs through questionnaires and focus groups around the world, and the company’s desire to add a proportionate amount of women to their team, since about 40% of entrepreneurs are female.

Berthon closed by saying that he would focus on the relationships and collaboration between start-ups and entrepreneurs on the following day of the conference, including the fact that large corporations are interested in pursuing new relationships with governments and businesses. Finally, he thanked all of the G20 attendees for participating.

Next, at 6:00 p.m., Jeff Hoffman, Serial Entrepreneur and CEO of uBid.com, Priceline.com, and ColorJar, delivered an opening keynote address titled “My Entrepreneurial Journey.”

At 6:50 p.m., the night wrapped up with a 10-minute preview of the next day’s attractions. This segment was moderated by Alex Gill, Canada-based founder of the Mendicant Group.

Finally, at 7:00 p.m., summit-goers enjoyed a 2-hour long networking buffet and reception at the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo, followed by a delegation photoshoot and a Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit group photo.

Please check back for a summary of the second day of the Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit, and be sure to keep up with the #YEA13 hashtag on Twitter.

I answered this important question during an interview at the MENA ICT Forum, and more importantly, explained what people in the region are doing to solve these big problems. Click this link to watch a 4.5-minute video recording of the interview, and read this article for a more in-depth look at the these important issues.

1. Payment inefficiencies.

The problem: The lack of a major payment gateway that serves the MENA region is the biggest barrier to successful e-commerce today. A payment gateway is a service that allows businesses to handle payments electronically.

Instead of using this new type of service, our region is still using the old-fashioned, inefficient cash on delivery model. This means that customers order products, then pay for them at their doorstep by handing cash to the delivery agent. In some local companies, 60% of transactions are done using the cash on delivery model.

While cash on delivery seems to be a safe model, it comes with many headaches. For example, a company that uses the cash on delivery model has to deal with transporting the cash from the customer’s house to their office. This requires cash insurance and extra security. The courier also has to pay the company back, which means extra accounting work to reconcile the books. So, even though cash the is top payment method in the MENA region today, it is creating a burden for companies.

The solution: Customers and businesses need to move toward electronic payments and mobile payments, and away from cash payments. My partners in the e-commerce business and I are working to make online payments easier for both shoppers and companies.

2. Lack of trust in local e-commerce brands.

The problem: People in the MENA region don’t trust local e-commerce brands. They choose to support foreign brands, such as those from the United States or Europe, even when this is less convenient for them.

The solution: A group of Saudi entrepreneurs, including Ecommerce Sea CEO Mazen Al-Darrab, have recently formed a group called Ittejar, which provides basic accreditation for Saudi e-commerce websites through their Mothoq project. E-commerce websites that meet Ittejar’s standards get the Mothoq certificate of approval.

They are then added to the Mothoq website and given the option of placing the Mothoq seal on their own sites. That way, customers can see whether a local e-commerce site is trustworthy, easing their worries.

3. The Saudi addressing system.

The problem: Many people in Saudi Arabia don’t know their addresses. They are used to the idea that houses are not formally addressed, even though this is no longer true. Because of this, when they order products, they provide complicated directions explaining how to reach their homes instead of giving their addresses.

The solution: Municipalities have put addresses and even QR codes on every building. Because of these QR codes, anyone who walks into a residential or commercial building can just scan the QR code with their mobile phone to find out the address of that building.

The Saudi Post and Google have also been working together to make buildings easier to find. Now, anyone can enter any Saudi Postal number into Google and find the correct building, down to 4 meters of accuracy.

Additionally, a new app created by information technology and services expert Abdulla Elyas and other entrepreneurs makes sharing your address easy. The app, Enwani, links your phone number to your exact address. Once you choose to share your address with someone through the app, they can find your home or office using a detailed, easy-to-navigate map.

So, while the days of having to follow confusing directions just to find someone’s house or office are not yet gone, things are finally improving.

Several of these issues came up at the ICT MENA session on e-commerce at which I spoke. That session was so packed that the moderator had to actually lock the door to the room!

I hope that interest in e-commerce will continue to grow in the coming years, inspiring new solutions that will help everyone in the region.

Opening Ceremony and Keynote Speech
At 10 a.m., the conference officially kicked off with an opening ceremony and keynote speech. Opening comments predicted that transformation driven by ICT trends would soon begin in the MENA region.

The State of Arab ICT Transformation
Next, at 11 a.m., an hour-long panel covered the state of the Arab IT revolution. One main point by Usama M. Fayyad, Ph.D, CEO and Executive Vice President of Yahoo! Inc., reverberated across the Twittersphere: e-commerce should grow by 400 times in the Arab world. In my opinion, this is because the Arab world is 400 times behind where it should be in e-commerce right now! Dr. Fayyad also emphasized the importance of focusing on opportunities that have been missed so far, like data analysis and e-commerce, but warned entrepreneurs not to depend on the government to drive innovation.

Global ICT Innovation: Big Data, Mobility, and Cloud
The panelists in the “Global ICT Innovation: Big Data, Mobility, and Cloud” session included CEO and Founder of Wikitude Martin Herdina, Microsoft’s Middle East Vice President of Sales, Marketing, Services, and IT Charbel Fakhoury, and IBM Senior Client Technical Advisor Tarek Saeed. All panelists emphasized the importance of creating new and interesting technologies in the region.

Global ICT Innovation: Consumerization, Games, and Social Media
After a 15-minute coffee break, the next event started at 1:15 p.m., titled “Global ICT Innovation: Consumerization, Games, and Social Media.” One surprising message from this session was that the focus on monetizing everything ICT-related has actually hindered the development of entrepreneurship in the region.

Special Address
Next followed a special address by Lorraine Hariton, Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

“Jordan is a model among Arab countries in terms of entrepreneurship,” said Hariton. She also said that women in the Arab region in general are highly educated, making ICT a great area of focus for women in Saudi Arabia especially.

How ICT is Transforming Sectors: Education, E-commerce and E-payments, Health, E-government, and Energy
Conference guests took an hour-long break for lunch before splitting up to attend 5 different panels focusing on how ICT is transforming various sectors.

Held over a span of 2 hours, these 5 panels covered:

• Education
• E-commerce and e-payments
• Health trends
• E-government
• Energy

I participated in the e-commerce and e-payments panel as one of 5 professional panelists. I shared my views using entrepreneur Mazen AlDarrab and fashion-oriented company Vanilla Shop as examples of Saudi Arabian entrepreneurship in e-commerce.

I will be publishing a summary covering the e-commerce and e-payments panel in a separate post. In terms of attendance, this was the most popular panel: the door had to be locked due to lack of space!

Realizing Arab ICT Potential
Finally, the conference goers came together again to attend a session titled “Realizing Arab ICT Potential.” This event again highlighted the importance of innovation in the region.

Invest in ICT
It is important to note that a planned side event had also been occurring all throughout the first day: Invest in ICT. Starting at 11 a.m., Invest in ICT provided an opportunity for entrepreneurs running small-to-medium businesses to meet angel investors. More than 30 investors were in attendance, including:

• Global Investment House
• Y+ Ventures
• Abraaj Capital
• Dash Ventures
• OT Ventures
• European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD)
• International Finance Corporation
• MENA Venture Investments
• Middle East Venture Partners
• Plug and Play Tech Center

Since Invest in ICT was happening at the same time as most of the events above, I wasn’t able to participate. However, I did follow the news throughout the day.

Gala Dinner
After all of the day’s events concluded, the night ended with a two-hour long gala dinner at the luxurious Mövenpick Resort and Spa. This outdoor event featured live music, networking opportunities, and a presentation by DJ Shadia Bseiso, all right on the shore of the Dead Sea.

Tomorrow will be the second and final day of MENA ICT 2013.
Please check back for a summary of the second day’s proceedings.

The MENA ICT Forum is a two-day event dedicated to Information and Communications Technology, an area of business that brings together telecommunications, software, and computer systems to help users access, store, send, and work with information. The MENA ICT 2013 forum covers important issues related to “regional investment climates, legislative support systems, infrastructure & communications, emerging technologies, as well as education & human capital development,” according to the official MENA ICT website.

I am participating in this forum because, as the founder of a tech company in Saudi Arabia, I feel it is important for me to contribute to discussions about business and technology in the region. I will be commenting on issues facing ICT in the Arab world, including challenges and opportunities, and participating in a 20 to 30 minute Q & A session between the panelists and audience.

If you are interested in attending, please register on the MENA ICT Forum website. The event will be held at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center, a 40-minute drive away from the city of Amman.

You can also learn more about the MENA ICT Forum on Facebook and Twitter.

I hope to see you there.

If you are serious about entrepreneurship, I invite you to apply to become my mentee today.

Working through Destination Jeddah magazine’s Enlighten and Mentor program, which aims to create inspiring new businesses through mentorship, I am offering one young, business-minded person a chance to receive up to a year of free mentoring from me. I would especially like to work with someone interested in the tech industry, but everyone is welcome to apply.

You can also apply to be mentored by a different leader in the business world, such as:

• Dr. Badr Al Shibani (Fitness)
• Eyad Mashat (Retail)
• Zina Nabulsi (Beauty)
• Omar Ajam (Food and Beverages)
• Essa Al Odeh (Mechanics)
• Abubakir Balfaqih (Visual Branding)
• Thuraya Batterjee (Publishing)
• Matt Lawson (Culinary Arts)
• Kaswara Al Khatib (Advertising)

To apply, you must e-mail mentors@destinationjeddah.com, state the name of the mentor you would like to learn from, and ask for an application form. If your application is selected, you will attend an introductory reception with the other people in the program. Then, you and your new mentor will schedule meetings to discuss how to proceed with your business idea. Once your mentor has prepared you, you will then work with INJAZ, who will help take you and your future business to the next level.

If you would like to learn more about the Enlighten and Mentor program or any of the entrepreneurs listed above, you can read Destination Jeddah magazine’s March 2013 edition online. The information is on pages 36 through 39.

Good luck, and I hope to mentor you soon.

P.S. You can also check out few pages from Destination Jeddah’s article below:

Saudi, We Have a Problem: Where Are the Real Entrepreneurs

Saudi Arabia is full of what I call wanna-preneurs.
They attend entrepreneurship events, call themselves entrepreneurs, and even get other people to call them entrepreneurs, but they’re not real entrepreneurs.

Here are the 5 categories Saudi wanna-preneurs fall into:

1. The Employee with the Hobby
✔ Has nice website, service, product, or retail outlet
✘ Still has traditional job or attends school full-time
✘ Not devoted to their company full-time
✘ Unsure about self, product, service, and/or market

Hobbyist, not entrepreneur.

2. The Employee with the Portfolio
✔ Takes risk by investing money in other companies
✘ Still has traditional job
✘ Not directly involved with the companies they invest in

Investor, not entrepreneur.

3. The Rich Boy (or Girl)
✔ From wealthy or business-oriented family
✔ Starts a few small businesses
✘ Relies on money from parents to start businesses
✘ Turns to family for support if anything goes wrong
✘ Doesn’t branch out from family’s areas of specialty
✘ Doesn’t take real risks or expand company

Rich kid, not entrepreneur.

4. The Tajir
✔ Buys wholesale, sells retail
✔ Understands basics: finding wholesalers, opening store, putting together product mix, pricing
✘ Easily replaceable: anyone with basic skills and adequate funding can do what they do
✘ Doesn’t improve standard wholesale-to-retail model to grow and sustain company
✘ Doesn’t focus on branding
✘ Doesn’t include value-added services (delivery, excellent product mix, integrated products)

Trader, not entrepreneur.

5. The Franchisee
✔ Runs a small business (or, if they are not the owner-operator, invests in a company via a chain store)
✘ Didn’t create brand, products, services, or business concept they profit from
✘ Pays an entrepreneur royalty fees

Small business owner or investor, not entrepreneur.

Let’s review.

1. Running a side project while working a day job or attending university isn’t entrepreneurship.
2. Investing in other companies isn’t entrepreneurship.
3. Running a small business fully backed by your rich family isn’t entrepreneurship.
4. Buying and selling other people’s stuff without adding innovative value isn’t entrepreneurship.
5. Owning a franchise business that you didn’t have a hand in creating or developing isn’t entrepreneurship.

Saudi Arabia has a serious problem.
There aren’t many Saudi entrepreneurs who are truly homegrown. Future entrepreneurs, their families, the community, and everyone else in Saudi Arabia must take responsibility for creating real entrepreneurs.

Let’s define entrepreneurship.
A true entrepreneur is someone who does all of the following:

1. Has an idea
2. Creates a product or service
3. Creates a company
4. Creates a brand
5. Creates a customer base
6. Puts together the product mix
7. Puts together the pricing mix
8. Grows their company and makes it go national or international
9. Overcomes challenges
10. Does it all over again and again

Saudi Arabia needs more entrepreneurs to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem.
We need to create new sub-economies in Saudi Arabia outside of the traditional economy of oil and gas, real estate, and low-cost manpower businesses. Without the economy created by entrepreneurs, job growth will remain at low levels. We will not see young, self-made millionaires and billionaires that will contribute to the prosperity of Saudi Arabia.

This country needs your help to create an entrepreneurial business environment.
So quit your job if you have to, drop out of school if you have to, and get serious about entrepreneurship!

In this article, I’m going to cover where a lot of entrepreneurs take wrong turns while seeking funding for start-ups.

Let’s use a simple car as a metaphor.
Every car needs to be engineered to suit the manner in which it will be driven, right? For example, it needs an engine that suits the size and purpose of the car. It also needs fuel to operate. Finally, the car needs a driver, and the driver needs a map.

When you and a group of people are forming a start-up, your company is like a car that’s being built. You’ll need to bring together all of the items in the paragraph above: a solid core concept to power it, funding to fuel it, a management team to drive it, and a business plan to map your course.

Now, your crew might finish the car yourselves, or you might have to hire someone to else to help, either paying him directly or letting him own a piece of the car—meaning distributing equity in the company. Either way, when you finish up, you’ll have a new challenge ahead of you: buying fuel to either test the car or start your journey.

Funding is to start-ups what fuel is to cars.
When you build a company or new product, meaning a prototype, you’re going to need operating cash to actually run it, just like you need fuel to operate a car. Operating cash, also known as operating capital or working capital, refers to the cash you need to start running the company you built. You can build a whole company out of sweat equity, but you can’t operate the company without cash.

Trust me on this one. I’ve created six companies so far and am continually creating new ones, with an average of two new companies per year. I know for a fact you can build a company without cash, but you can’t operate it without cash.

Anyone got fuel money?
So, sooner or later, you’ll need to seek more funding for your start-up, just like you need to keep buying fuel throughout a journey to keep your car going.

Now, you might need to buy more fuel because the engine you built consumes a lot—in the context of a company, that means your company is inefficient and isn’t using money effectively. Or, it could be because where you are now is still so far away from your goal that you need more fuel to reach the destination, maybe because you took a wrong turn. For a start-up, that would mean you didn’t plan your company’s path to success well enough. Another possibility is that your car has a leak, which translates to uncontrolled expenses in a business setting.

In any case, since you need fuel money, you’re going to visit the guys that can provide it: investors.

Picking travel buddies (AKA: investors).
When you choose travel buddies, you (hopefully) don’t pick just anyone with fuel money, but people who match up with your own plans for the trip. Would you like someone to just give you money and not tag along on your journey? Or, would you prefer a travel buddy who follows you in his own car? Maybe you’d prefer someone to ride with you the entire way, checking the map every few miles and keeping you on track?

Deciding the kind of travel partner you want is an important decision you need to make early on. In a business setting, after your investors give you fuel money, they will become your new travel partners.

Now, when an investor buys you fuel, he might just give you the money. Or, he might say, “Here’s the fuel money—I’ll drive my own car and meet you at the end point.” Another possibility is that he’ll say, “Here’s the fuel, and I also want to ride with you guys so we can overcome all the obstacles together.”

The point is that different investors are interested in different levels of involvement with start-ups, from handing over fuel money to riding up front, and that’s something you have to consider when you ask for working capital. You’re in charge, so pick the travel buddies that suit you.

Don’t ask for fuel money if your car isn’t built yet!
If your car isn’t built yet or you don’t have the right engine, buying fuel should be the least of your concerns. When you bring investors in to fuel your start-up, consider why you actually need the money.

Do you just need money to buy fuel for a car that has already been tested and proven to work so you can drive it from point A to point B? Or, do you need money to fix the car or continue building it? This is really important!

Young entrepreneurs get often confused about why they need money and end up saying things like “We need the money to operate,” when they actually need money for the wrong reasons—like fixing the car. If you just built the car and it’s already broken, that means you built it wrong, meaning there are serious problems with your business model. Another reason you might need money is because the car is taking longer to build and costing more than you planned for, another business planning issue that needs to be addressed before seeking additional funding.

Building a car with the right specs and getting fuel for it isn’t the whole battle, either.
Even if you build a car with the right engine and get enough fuel money to fill up the tank, that’s only half the battle. You could have the best car in the world, one that’s built for the environment you’re going to drive it in and suited for the purpose for which it was built, but still run into problems along your journey.

For example, if you have all the fuel you need, but your car doesn’t run efficiently, the fuel will burn so fast that you’ll always be running near empty. You’ll be the company with great funding that’s still always broke. You can keep burning through the fuel and asking investors for more fuel money, but you’re still not going to make progress.

If you don’t have a good driver, you just might crash.
I see this in start-ups all the time: they have the wrong people operating the company. The fact is the people who build the car need a different skill set than the people who drive the car.

There are a lot of start-ups that I see driving in circles because the people who built it don’t know how to drive it, or if they do know, they don’t have a map and have no idea where they’re going. If you drive a car without a map or run a business without a business plan, it doesn’t matter how much fuel you have.

Bottom line: get your ride in shape before asking for fuel money.
It doesn’t matter if you have all the cash in the world available to operate your company if you don’t have the right management team, the right goals, and the right plan, because you will not succeed without these elements. This is just like having an ocean of fuel available for a car with no driver, no destination, and no road map—it won’t help.

So, before you invite investors to check out your company, make sure your company is operating well. This means having the right product or service, having the right people available to run the company, knowing exactly where you’re going, and knowing exactly how you’re going to get there.

That’s the right time to go and ask investors to fuel your operations. Otherwise, you might as well be splashing buckets of fuel on a junkyard car.

So, are you ready to fuel up?
If your car is ready to fuel up, submit your business plan through my easy online form and let’s get this road trip started.

If that last paragraph offended you, you’re probably one of the people I’m talking about, so consider this your wake-up call.

Where are the homegrown Saudi entrepreneurs?
I get a lot of calls from local and international organizations asking me to provide them with the names of local, homegrown Saudi entrepreneurs, either to appear at an event, make a speech somewhere, be nominated for a program, or be nominated for an award.

Living in a smart city affects which routes we drive on, the way we use our water and power, and even how we watch TV at home or cook a meal. In a smart city, everything is connected to provide us with the most interactive, convenient experience possible.

The Benefits of Smart Cities

            Today, smart technology is generally implemented in existing cities to produce smart cities. In the future, smart technology expert Osama Natto believes smart cities will become standard, starting from the time of concept development and helping each city conserve resources.

“It’s going to cost the city management much more to operate a city that is not smart,” said Natto. “It should be smart from day one.”

Smart cities are cost-effective because they cut back on energy and water waste, helping everyone save money while reducing human impact on the environment and improving each citizen’s access to resources.

However, having every system within every building connected is not enough to make a true smart city. An integral part of the concept is having effective processes, programs, and people in place to manage the city, ensuring the technology can be fully leveraged.

            The payoff comes from the benefits that both average citizens and city administrators receive. For example, instead of each apartment tenant worrying about their bandwidth connections, what if every apartment could come pre-plugged with Internet access? All each tenant would have to do would be select the type of service that meets their needs and budget. Plus, instead of each tenant having to deal with lighting, utility, and miscellaneous system maintenance, those systems could be monitored electronically. Maintenance schedules could be provided to the tenant, or even be handled remotely by a central building management body.

            On the operational front, having smart infrastructure in place would increase the life of each property, translating into fewer upgrades, less maintenance, faster maintenance, a smaller number of maintenance staff, and fewer inspection visits. With planned maintenance programs in place, city management would enjoy lower costs in the long run. Centralized teams would work to manage the city from one command and control center. Cost savings would come from needing fewer maintenance and management team members, purchasing spare parts on schedule, monitoring the city remotely, utilizing energy saving programs, and leveraging other smart innovations.

            Implementing smart solutions now is a long-term investment in the value and profitability of any city. Here are just a few of the benefits that come with a smart city:

• Improved productivity across local businesses, from senior management to everyday workers, as a result of the optimized, practical environment
• Increased safety and security as a direct result of the smart systems installed
• Reduced office and housing costs due to centralization and consolidation
• More revenue for commercial buildings, as building owners or operators could provide extra services at an additional cost
• Reduced ongoing maintenance and operational overhead costs as a result of automated management (preventive measures taken, fewer opportunities for user error, etc.)
• Higher sustainability index as a result of extending the depreciation period
• Easy monitoring and controlling of all smart features and services
• Increased end-user satisfaction
• Efficient use of resources, both people and material
• Minute control over all functions
• Lower bills as a result of efficient use of resources and consolidation
• Enhanced accessibility for individuals with disabilities
• Environmental benefits from reduced energy usage—great for “going green”

            With all of the benefits that smart cities provide, they are no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

The Social and Economic Impact of Smart Technologies in Saudi Arabia

            The advancements in the field of telecommunications that have accompanied the rise of smart cities have opened up many new markets. One such market is distance working for women, particularly in Saudi Arabia.

Since Saudi Arabia lacks a proper public transportation network, commuting is an issue for citizens, especially women. In some households, it is expected that women not leave the home unaccompanied. Additionally, women in Saudi Arabia do not drive.

            The availability of information and communication technology, however, has made it possible for women to work remotely from home. Soon, with this smart infrastructure reaching smaller towns and villages, a new economy will open up for the residents of those remote locations, allowing them to serve corporations in major cities. But, why stop there? Many remote workers will surely start serving customers overseas as well. With the proper infrastructure in place, computer and smartphone screens will become Saudi Arabia’s windows to the global marketplace.

            Currently, the economy of Saudi Arabia is largely based on oil. Yes, there are other prominent industries, but the majority of them depend on petrochemicals—again, back to oil. One of the key movements within Saudi Arabia is focused on improving this situation by building a knowledge-based economy.

            Smart cities play an important role in the creation of such an economy. Saudis have already begun to see the rise of new sub-economies in the nation, such as what Natto calls “the YouTube economy.”

            “We started to see many talented Saudis forming their own YouTube channels with all sorts of programs,” said Natto. “Without having the proper infrastructure and bandwidth connectivity, such YouTube businesses would not have been possible. People in Saudi stream YouTube shows on their mobile devices, including on tablets and phones, making new technologies a part of everyday life.”

            Another growing sub-economy in Saudi Arabia is online gaming. According to Natto, Saudi gamers spend more on their hobby than gamers anywhere else. Many young Saudis have formed their own game development companies, along with several gaming communities. One of the most exciting is GCON, the Riyadh Girls Gaming Convention, which is the first girls-only gaming convention in the region. Thousands of people have also started their own online businesses from home, shipping products and providing services.

            These are just a few examples of the new knowledge-based economies that are being built in Saudi Arabia, coming together to form the rising Saudi e-commerce sector. Smart cities will play a major role in the development of this new economy.

Smart Customized Communities

            It is important to understand that smart city requirements change not just from country to country, but from city to city, and even community to community. Because of these differences, city planners need to profile and understand the needs of city inhabitants, building the smart city around their current and future requirements.

However, just performing studies isn’t enough. Each citizen must have an active role in designing their future smart city. Living in a smart city has the potential to make inhabitants focus on their productivity and quality of life, rather than concerning themselves with infrastructure issues.

Smart Cities Are the Future

            These are just a few of the possibilities that a smart city offers. The technology needed to help citizens save money, save time, and save the environment is already available. Smart city solutions are truly the wave of the future, and their implementation is the next step to improving quality of life across urban areas, and eventually, perhaps the entire world.

Smart Cities are no longer a luxury, it is a necessity.

For more information about smart cities, watch this five-minute video on smart cities in Saudi Arabia. Produced by the French telecommunications corporation Alcatel-Lucent and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both of whom are heavily involved in smart city research, the video features interviews with a variety of smart environment experts in the Middle East.