The Dubai Future Foundation predicts that remote working will be “the new norm” in the UAE in the long-term and that company policies will adapt to reflect the change.
"Though it doesn't feel like it now, there will be a time after this [Covid-19 pandemic]," Patrick Noack, the head of Dubai Future Research, the research arm of Dubai Future Foundation, told The National. "Are we starting to set up the tools, structures and mindsets to make remote work possible?"
Prior to Covid-19, the UAE had one of the lowest remote work participation rates in the world. Ten per cent of workers in the country reported working from home one to two days per week, compared to a global average of 62 per cent, according to a 2019 survey by International Workplace Group.
On March 29, almost all public and private sector employees were told by the UAE government they must work from home to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Mr Noack said that while there will not be an "all-or-nothing" shift to remote work in the long term, the DFF expects there will be broad acceptance of some of the work structures set up during the Covid-19 crisis. Those systems may stay in place because they met employers' expectations for business continuity, and allowed employees to be productive and flexible.
Above all, he would like to see this experience raise a conversation: "Think about how you, as an employee or employer, would like to work after Covid-19. How will things change to make the most of your work or your workforce?"
The Dubai Future Foundation will regularly publish research that explores the future of work including the impact of physical distancing and what regulatory implications and work models could emerge.
Making the best use of technology – an area still up for grabs as remote working goes mainstream in the UAE – is among the biggest opportunities.
One of the most popular work-from-home tools has been Zoom. The video calling platform is one of several approved for use by the UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority amid widespread distance learning and remote working. The teleconferencing company's experience has also provided the first example of some of the risks of a massive, rapid shift in work culture.
"Video conferencing platforms were not high on the target list for cyber criminals until the Covid-19 pandemic," Amir Kolahzadeh, founder and chief executive of Dubai cybersecurity company ITSec, told The National. "But the remote working environment globally suddenly made the wealth of information worth the risk for hackers."
Zoom was valued at $9.2 billion (Dh33.79bm) when it went public on the Nasdaq exchange in April of last year. Its stock price bounced higher in early February as our new reality set in – a rare markets victor amid a growing sense of global calamity – and was up around 40 per cent before the limits of its infrastructure began to show.
Usage of Zoom "ballooned overnight", its chief executive Eric Yuan wrote in a recent blog post. As of the end of December last year, the number of daily Zoom users was 10 million. In March, it had more than 200 million daily meeting participants, both free and paid.
Mr Yuan said that effective last Wednesday, the company would not release any new features and will bring in outside oversight experts to monitor privacy policies. But it did push out an update to address users' concerns and fix security flaws at the weekend.
The next few weeks will decide whether Zoom acted fast enough to keep its new customers' loyalty – and it is a cautionary tale for new technology products to support the remote work boom.
"With Covid-19 we are discovering we are capable of remote working and we are discovering we have the tools and wherewithal to be effective," Mr Noack said. "Now, we need to make sure that we are also happy with it."
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Lexus LX700h specs
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Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
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Read more about the coronavirus
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
FIXTURES (all times UAE)
Sunday
Brescia v Lazio (3.30pm)
SPAL v Verona (6pm)
Genoa v Sassuolo (9pm)
AS Roma v Torino (11.45pm)
Monday
Bologna v Fiorentina (3.30pm)
AC Milan v Sampdoria (6pm)
Juventus v Cagliari (6pm)
Atalanta v Parma (6pm)
Lecce v Udinese (9pm)
Napoli v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
Specs
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Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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