ABU DHABI // Four UAE cyclists will join an international pack on a 2,100-kilometre European tour that will test smartphone technology designed to help manage diabetes.
The four Etisalat workers will provide blood-sugar readings on the 13-day tour from Brussels to Barcelona, which is also being staged to raise awareness of the disease.
Faisal Alreyaysa, 29, an Emirati working at Etisalat's carrier and wholesale services in Dubai, will be tackling the final and hardest leg of the journey with his cycling partner - through the Pyrenees mountains.
For Mr Alreyaysa, the cause is personal.
"A lot of people are suffering from diabetes," he said. "The majority of my family who are aged more than 40 are suffering from diabetes."
Up to 36 riders in the mHealth Grand Tour will be taking part in a live clinical study on the effects of days of exercise on blood- glucose levels in people with Type 1 diabetes, and in non-sufferers.
The event is being run by the global mobile trade association GSMA and the International Diabetes Federation.
The volunteers will wear glucose monitors that are attached to the skin and transmit data.
As they cycle, a bio-harness will take their heart rates and a small computer will record cycling statistics such as speed.
The data will be transmitted to the riders' smartphones, allowing them to track their health and performance, and to a web portal where it will be available for analysis by a team at Newcastle University, in northern England.
"Gathering and transmitting healthcare data wirelessly demonstrates that mobile-phone technology can be used in the remote diagnosis, treatment and long-term monitoring of this debilitating disease in hospitals all over the world," said Ahmad Julfar, chief executive of Etisalat Group.
Mr Alreyaysa and the three other UAE riders were chosen from more than 500 applicants from Etisalat's 15 international operations including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tanzania and Sudan.
They will be joined by five other Etisalat workers from abroad.
At the start of this month, 35 gathered in the UAE and underwent physical and psychological tests before the final team was selected. The chosen riders will each do a different leg of the route.
Sara Coppo, senior manager for Etisalat Group Commercial living in Dubai, will cycle through France, with another cyclist covering about 550km in three days.
Mrs Coppo, 43, from Italy, said she wanted to represent her company in a good cause and set an example to her children, aged 2 and 6.
"It's an opportunity to teach them that if you want to do something, you just need to make a big effort to get it and you can get anything you want," she said.
Abdul Aziz Al Sawaleh, Etisalat Group chief human resources officer, led recruitment of volunteers from across its operations.
"In participating in this cycle ride, our staff are standing up and showing that they, too, want to contribute to the global fight against diabetes," Mr Al Sawaleh said.
"Not only are they raising awareness in their communities and pursuing more active lifestyles, they are making a tangible contribution to developing real solutions to the disease."
Jeanine Vos, the GSMA's executive director of mHealth and education, explained how mobile technology could help in monitoring a diabetic person's condition.
"Vital stats could be sent across a network and then shared with relevant people, whether that's their doctor, whether that's their carer, or maybe shared back to themselves so they can track information over time," Ms Vos said.
Among its other benefits, the system allows doctors to send advice back to their patient, and an alert can be set up to tell a diabetic that their blood-glucose levels have dropped.
The tour starts on September 5.
ecleland@thenational.ae
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Started: 2020
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Sector: Entertainment
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
