The third annual Ideas.Arabia International Conference opened yesterday ( April 21) at Majlis Al Salam ballroom in Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

The event, organised by Dubai Quality Group (DQG), an organisation dedicated to raising the general performance level of the local business environment, was inaugurated by president of Dubai Civil Aviation Department and the patron of DQG Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

The two-day Conference will gather international experts and regional businesses to discuss best practices and current trends concerning ‘suggestion schemes’, a human resource strategy that encourages ideas from non-management employees to enhance standardised procedures and improve quality.

The event was preceded by two workshops that were moderated by president of innovation transfer Bernie Sander and IBM Learning Programme Manager for Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Thomas Dupre.

The conference proper will include presentation sessions led by prominent speakers which include chairman, IdeasUK Andy Beddows; CEO, Nakheel, Chris O’Donnell; chairman, Ideas.Arabia, Abdulqader Obaid Ali; CEO, Jaffari Consultants, Dr Akbar Jaffari and Strategic Innovator Jabir Walji.

“The Dubai Government recognizes the important role of innovation in realising the vision of UAE vice-president and prime minister and Ruler of Dubai Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to develop Dubai as a global business hub, promoting business excellence and competitiveness. The potential for innovation is not exclusively found in corporate and public leaders, though; it dwells within all employees, and harnessing it spells greater success for organizations, and sustained growth for Dubai and the country as a whole,” said chairman, DQG, Marwan Al Sawleh.

The conference’s major sponsors include Dubai Aluminium (Main); Dubai World and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Jumeirah Group (Platinum); Dubai Properties, the Kanoo Group, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Oman Insurance Co. (gold); and Al Khaleej Sugar Co., Ducab, Dubai Municipality, and Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (silver).

The event will be capped by the announcement of the winners of the annual ‘Idea of the Year’ Award. 

Organised with the theme “Living Innovation,” the conference is the major annual event of DQG’s Ideas.Arabia Subgroup, a forum of companies dedicated to disseminating and optimizing the effectiveness of suggestion scheme programmes.

The Ideas.Arabia Subgroup aims to create a broad awareness of suggestion scheme programs; their implementation; evaluation; award structure; audit system; and benchmarking. 
The Subgroup supports the DQG’s broader goal of enhancing business performance levels in Dubai, which in turn complements the Dubai Government’s Strategic Plan 2015. – TradeArabia News Service