A trend is often out within a season, and as fleeting as a TikTok video. Yet trends are great: they indicate direction of change. For example, you mark your children’s height on a wall with a Sharpie every year they grow. Or, the more you run, the faster you get (hopefully).
In its simplest form, a trend shows a progressive relationship between two variables. And so, on the back of historical information, we expect future observations to continue along that pattern.
We see the increasing adoption of electric vehicles, the creation of artificial intelligence-lawyers as well as a growing prevalence of working from home, a rising shift toward online learning and shopping. It is then compelling to extend the trend line and make predictions about even greater numbers of electric vehicles or the rising use cases of AI; about remote working becoming more common and online learning and the way we shop online to be here to stay.
But here is the thing: while we make sense of two variables to describe a trend, many more forces are at work. We so often forget about how the past continues to influence a trend. And, over time, a trend is no more.
In the early days of Covid-induced lockdown last year, the Dubai Future Foundation started publishing an extensive series of reports on the impact of the pandemic and what the future might have held.
Working and learning from home was imposed on all; the physical office space was to be a thing of the past and we would work happily ever after on Zoom. But then new trends set in: Zoom fatigue, cabin fever and back-to-back-calls-without-stopping-for-a-biobreak or proper posture, and, darn, were we all looking forward to going back to the office.
Our routines had to adapt to the new, deeper trends, to the new structural forces that were shaping our well-being and survival.
So, what about the other trends that we, and others, anticipated during those early Covid days? Schooling and education is an interesting one: as learning shifted online or stopped altogether, there was a sense of a future ripe with distance learning becoming more widespread, even after the pandemic. As anticipated, much was invested into education technologies and some regulatory changes were made to legalise and formalise off-site learning.
What’s interesting is the trend that emerges from the combination of home-schooling and working from home: flexibility is becoming a necessity and so schools that provide blended – online and offline – learning at variable times of the days to suit students and carers. Plus, there is now a strong push towards reimagining education models to focus more on future-readiness, inquiry and humanity.
Another of our reports assessed the outlook on retail. Perhaps this was one of the more obvious trends to anticipate as the world is coming out of lockdowns in waves. At first necessity, then convenience, have led customers to take on and ultimately continue to use e-commerce solutions. This is true around the globe as the pandemic has accelerated the growth of existing e-businesses and forced all others to ramp up their online offering.
A completed electric motorcycle is ridden from the assembly line area at the Silence Urban Ecomobility plant in Barcelona. Bloomberg
Trend-spotting is challenging because it is so compelling to extrapolate a trend from very few observations
Now the battle for customers is fought on delivery times: dark stores – warehouses stocked with popular items – are the new trends that enable delivery companies to send shopping to your doorstep within 10 minutes. Such dark stores are an incarnation, though smaller, of another trend we had written about within the global logistics story: the need for regional manufacturing and distribution centres.
Supply chains collapsed during the first lockdowns, prompting speculation that stocking locally will be important to prevent future supply shocks. Dark stores are mini-versions of some major ports providing huge storage facilities. But demand and supply picked up again at an uneven rate as China has surged ahead on pandemic recovery. This dynamic caused cargo container shortages for goods coming from China – not from local manufacturing facilities. We did not anticipate that. And, importantly, malls have been getting a significant increase in footfall, a rebound we anticipated would take longer.
The future of cities is another important area to watch. Covid-19 or other transmissible diseases may shape city planning more than previously. Density, mobility and connectivity have always influenced cities and we have tasted periods of fewer crowds, less traffic and improved air quality. As such, our cities report made no predictions but aimed at taking the learnings from the pandemic to shape a better future for city dwellers.
Trend-spotting is challenging because it is so compelling to extrapolate a trend from very few observations. The pandemic seemed at the time to catalyse entirely new directions for good.
Instead, in some cases it was already proven to be more like a pendulum, swinging in one direction, then back. The task before us – as it always is – is to try to understand when something is a fad, a trend or a deeper change to life as we know it.
Dr Patrick Noack is the executive director of future, foresight and imagination at the Dubai Future Foundation
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
8.50pm: Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m
9.25pm: Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m
The National selections
6.30pm: Final Song
7.05pm: Pocket Dynamo
7.40pm: Dubai Icon
8.15pm: Dubai Legacy
8.50pm: Drafted
9.25pm: Lucius Tiberius
360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017 Founder: Khaled Zaatarah Based: Dubai and Los Angeles Sector: Technology Size: 21 employees Funding: $7 million Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 3
Fleck 19, Mousset 52, McBurnie 90
Manchester United 3
Williams 72, Greenwood 77, Rashford 79
Key facilities
Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
Riders must be 14-years-old or over
Wear a protective helmet
Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
