Science & Technology

Inspired by the Silicon Valley’s growth-friendly entrepreneurial ecosystem for quite some time now, the British government and ambitious start-ups have shown a keen inclination towards nurturing domestic innovation. Taking after the venture capitalists and entrepreneurs of the Bay Area, pioneers from the United Kingdom have demonstrated that they now have much to teach tech innovators all over the world as well, particularly in regions where entrepreneurship is less emboldened.

Evincing the same is the announcement in early February by Plexal, an innovation center based in East London, about partnering up with Oman’s start-up development and corporate innovation company, Al Jabr, to launch a rapid innovation accelerator initiative. Plexal is a specialist in forging connections between industry, academia, investors, start-ups and scale-ups to tackle contemporary challenges in the society. Its newest ambition is to guide Oman navigate local challenges created by the pandemic.

Initiated by the UK-Oman Digital Hub, the virtual programme will connect digital innovators in Oman with counterparts in the United Kingdom through mentoring and workshops. The primary objective of the programme is to facilitate Omani entrepreneurs up their game, particularly to develop further in the post-pandemic world. Plexal, the co-working space created by property-developer Delancy, is set to help them in development of technology-led solutions and with traversing through the impediments of the New Normal.

Spanning across six weeks, the mentors from the U.K. who will be sharing knowledge with Omani entrepreneurs include a diverse group of contributors. Helen Panzarino, Rapid Innovation Program Director at the Centre for Financial Technology and David Ripert, CEO of Poplar Studios are among them,

The innovation teams from East London and Muscat’s industry innovation initiatives, Plexal and Al Jabr, with sufficient support from the British Embassy in Muscat, has analysed the response to the pandemic from start-ups in the U.K., and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the society and businesses of Oman to design the programme. The study unravelled that the most successful innovation has primarily been taking place across three areas of need: digitization of businesses, digitizing communities, and digitizing education.

With challenges presented by the pandemic that has taken lives in every country across the globe also come opportunities. While dealing with the threat that the world collectively is posed with, Oman, as a nation, is looking ahead to its future. It considers the development of an innovation-led entrepreneurial economy rather essential to sustenance and development when faced with uncertainties. Additionally, considering the speculated fall in demand for oil, the program provided by Plexal is of utmost importance as a life-guard.

While it is questionable what creative solutions the UK-based innovation centre could possibly offer to entrepreneurs in an environment that is distinct from theirs, culturally, politically and economically, Andre Roughan, the managing director of Plexal, seemed rather optimistic about the implications.

First, the initiative is bound to strengthen ties between the two states. Roughan says, “We are closely aligned with the government. One by-product of that is that we have been on the trail of inbound trade missions.” An interesting detail is that one among the inbound trade missions was from Oman, as a result of which, a working relationship ensued between the sultanate and the U.K. The pandemic has placed enormous pressure on economies and society, but it has also encouraged open innovation across borders- long may it continue.” The programme could enable opportunities for start-ups to work together beyond the defined period of six-weeks.

Second, the response to the Covid-19 situation from the start-ups in the U.K. has been “swift, effective and nothing short of heroic,” as Roughan further marks. “Plexal is excited to share what we have learnt with Oman and explore local solutions.” The British innovation community has proved significantly resilient during a global public health emergency so far. Technology, in particular, has played a major role in helping businesses continue to operate and find customers throughout multiple lockdowns. Moreover, businesses of all sizes have found a way to enter new markets and grow despite challenges. The program will incorporate lessons learnt from the experience.

Third, a mix of local and universal can prove productive because in the words of Roughan, “some issues relating to product development are generic and some are very specific.” While the employing of essentially British solutions to address situations and problems specific to Oman might seem counterintuitive, it can yield substantial progressive results.

In addition to providing a supportive backing to Oman, the U.K. also has much to benefit from the program. The links established with Oman, and in extension, the Middle-East, will serve well for British start-ups, and may even function as an important door to future prosperity, considering the lack of adequacy of the trade deal and other relations with EU following BREXIT. On this note, “we needed a very capable local partner,” states Roughan. “And we found that in Al Jabr.”