I grew up in Silicon Valley where my family settled generations ago and my grandfather worked on a farm and as a machinist. Today, at Google, I spend my workdays writing, speaking and meeting people. My grandfather would not recognise what I do as a job. For him, it would have been a holiday. We should ask ourselves: what will our grandchildren do that we will not recognise as jobs?
Two hundred years ago, 97 per cent of people worked in the fields. Then many moved to factories and then to offices. And change continues today with growing use of industrial automation and artificial intelligence. Just as industrialisation changed agriculture and industry, artificial intelligence and machine learning are starting to change office jobs and automating routine tasks.
Google’s approach to machine learning is driven by a belief that the benefits of technology should accrue to everyone.
The internet has been “the great equaliser”. It distributed access to technology and created a frictionless marketplace that empowered both consumers and new companies. With costs continuing to decline, more people around the world now have access to mobile phones than to decent sanitation. Today, a kid in Al Ain using a search engine has the same access to information as the chancellor of Germany or the president of France.
On a larger scale, cloud-based services have made advanced IT offerings easier to scale and purchase on demand – making information processing an affordable utility like water or electricity. Now Google is integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning into most of our products: whether you are using Search or YouTube or Translate or Maps you are benefiting from a wealth of machine learning.
This widespread access to internet connectivity plus essentially unlimited computing power have, with the acceleration of machine learning and artificial intelligence, led to profound business transformations shaping the future of work.
Already, we have jobs such as data scientists in fields that didn’t exist 20 years ago. It would be foolish to think that what we do today represents the end of the process. But it takes an act of imagination to envision the future.
With the advent of ATMs in the 1980s, people thought that there would be no more bank tellers. In fact, there are more bank tellers now than there were in 1980. They just do more sophisticated things like helping clients with financial planning and new kinds of services. It’s a great example of how technology displaces tasks, not jobs.
A recent survey found that the “best job in the US” in 2017 was that of mobile apps developer – a job that did not exist a few years ago.
Software engineers will help design the future of medicine, infrastructure, finance, transportation, stock markets and maybe even music and art.
Philosophy, history and the humanities will always be important as we chart this new path. But so will computer science and programming. A recent study by Google shows that computer science and programming skills are critical to the UAE's digital economy plans. At the heart of every organisation, there will be need to be data scientists who understand how to program the business for success.
Beyond educational change, cultures need to evolve as well. It seems counter-intuitive, but you want young people to take a chance on a cool new thing, not just hope for a safe job with the government or a large company. You need to promote a culture of risk and reward, and a legal system that accepts that sometimes people will try and fail. No other place in the world has witnessed more failures than Silicon Valley. These failures constitute the fertiliser that led a subsequent generation of Silicon Valley start-ups to create perhaps more value than any other place in history.
The governments in this region can adopt other policies that will directly contribute to the rise of the knowledge economy and benefit both businesses and citizens. Promoting a start-up ecosystem, letting successful companies share economic rewards with their employees, avoiding red tape, burdensome licensing rules and limits on trade, and giving ready access to government data can all help entrepreneurs grow new markets.
I feel fortunate to be living in a time when technology has the potential to fundamentally improve the way people work, learn and live – no matter who they are, where they are or what they do. History has shown us that technological progress leads to greater prosperity, more jobs, safer workplaces and higher standards of living. It’s up to all of us – tech companies, governments, business and citizens – to work together to create the conditions that allow innovation to flourish.
The UAE has been a leader in many aspects in the region. Social and economic developments that would have seemed hard to imagine 50 years ago are today a reality through vision and a relentless desire to achieve results.
But more than ever before, governments must prepare for the future. Technological change means that leaders must constantly re-evaluate how to foster the right policy environment.
We look to the UAE to rise to the challenge to become as much of a regional and global leader in the hyper-connected digital age as it has been in the bricks-and-mortar economy.
Kent Walker is a senior vice president at Google
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
If you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.
The hotels
Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company%20profile
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The Specs
Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS)
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The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
Ronaldo's record at Man Utd
Seasons 2003/04 - 2008/09
Appearances 230
Goals 115
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
Company Profile
Company name: NutriCal
Started: 2019
Founder: Soniya Ashar
Based: Dubai
Industry: Food Technology
Initial investment: Self-funded undisclosed amount
Future plan: Looking to raise fresh capital and expand in Saudi Arabia
Total Clients: Over 50
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
