{"id":741300,"date":"2019-09-27T09:05:11","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T07:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/?post_type=articles&p=741300"},"modified":"2020-11-17T12:12:32","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T11:12:32","slug":"innovation-and-digitalization-in-the-islamic-economy","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/articles\/innovation-and-digitalization-in-the-islamic-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation and Digitalization in the Islamic Economy"},"featured_media":741301,"template":"","meta":{"_has_post_settings":[]},"schools":[29,33,35],"areas":[18],"subjects":[416,419,422],"class_list":["post-741300","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","schools-business-school","schools-human-sciences-and-technology","schools-university","areas-finance-control","subjects-business-and-finance","subjects-global-affairs","subjects-innovation-and-technology"],"custom-fields":{"wpcf-article-summary-enable":["1"],"wpcf-article-summary":["Over the past 20 years, the world of Islamic finance has grown considerably. New digital technologies and the development of fintech have played a fundamental role in this growth. Consequently, numerous products and services have emerged in recent years. In this interview, Germ\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez, Professor at IE Business School, speaks with Saeed Mubarak Kharbash Al Marri, Deputy CEO of Strategy and Planning at the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC), about the evolution and impact of these products and services."],"wpcf-article-leadin":["Islamic finance has grown exponentially in the past two decades. In parallel to the development of fintech, Islamic finance has embraced new digital technologies, offering customers alternative products and services through new platforms and structures. In this conversation, Germ\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez, Professor at IE Business School, and Saeed Mubarak Kharbash Al Marri, Deputy CEO of Strategy and Planning at the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC), discuss technology use in the world of Islamic finance and new developments in the market for halal food products."],"wpcf-article-body":["Germ\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez:<\/strong> This year marks the 20th<\/sup> anniversary of the creation of the Dubai Internet City technology<\/a> park. More recently, the Dubai Silicon Oasis has been making great strides. What is the objective of these initiatives, and what stage of development are they currently in?<\/span>\r\n\r\nSaeed Mubarak Kharbash Al Marri:<\/strong> When we talk about Dubai Internet City and the Dubai Silicon Oasis, we are talking about the Islamic digital economy. In Islamic finance<\/a>, the way forward is to keep incorporating the digital dimension, whether through artificial intelligence, blockchain, or other technologies<\/a>. A growing number of startups are bursting into the market and having an impact on the banking sector. I think it would be positive for all of us to work together.\r\n\r\nDigitalization also allows us to set three goals: increase product and service quality, reduce prices, and improve data collection and management. In the market for halal food, data allow us to inform consumers about the entire logistical process that went into the production of any food item they purchase.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nGerm\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez:<\/strong> That\u2019s what we call farm-to-retailer traceability...<\/span>\r\n\r\nSaeed Mubarak:<\/strong> That\u2019s right.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nGerm\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez:<\/strong> How soon could that be ready?<\/span>\r\n\r\nSaeed Mubarak:<\/strong> Implementation will take one to two years. Adaptability might take a bit longer. It\u2019s quite easy to implement, but the problem is the idea behind this traceability from the farm to the end point. Some people say that the economic crisis going on all over the world makes this a bad time to act. The crisis makes some people unwilling to spend more\u2014not even a little bit more\u2014on something new. However, a year or two from now, the market will be ready to grow<\/a> again.\r\n
Digitalization allows us to set three goals: increase product and service quality, reduce prices, and improve data collection and management.<\/blockquote>\r\nGerm\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez:<\/strong> Is this project limited to the DIEDC, or do you plan to expand it?<\/span>\r\n\r\nSaeed Mubarak:<\/strong> Most of the projects we\u2019re working on at the DIEDC have multiple layers. First, we concentrate on our home country: the United Arab Emirates. We start by setting the best standards. The next step is to see how we can move forward, gently, at the global<\/a> level. We meet with major countries that have a lot of experience with Islamic finance<\/a>, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. We sit down with them, try to come up with best practices, and work things out together. One example is the International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF). We have something like 34 members, about 25 of which\u2014if I recall correctly\u2014come from countries that are not majority-Muslim, including places like Australia and New Zealand. You learn a lot from them because they are pioneers and they negotiate the things that they\u2019re good at. Why don\u2019t we take what they do well and apply it to the halal system? Our idea is to expand it, but we can\u2019t go overseas without first attaining a good level in our home country.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nGerm\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez:<\/strong> How do you think the DIEDC will evolve over the next five years?<\/span>\r\n\r\nSaeed Mubarak:<\/strong> The objective is to have 40 member countries by the end of this year and 60 by the end of next year. With this critical mass, we can reach, for example, 95% of the market for meat. The plan is to have as many members as possible. The ultimate goal is not to create a registered trademark for halal, but to facilitate trade. That\u2019s the real challenge. Let\u2019s make the halal industry flourish by tearing down trade barriers.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nGerm\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez:<\/strong> It sounds like your goal is to have more countries making halal products, which means you also need to have more countries consuming those products.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSaeed Mubarak:<\/strong> Exactly. We\u2019re working in both directions. We want to have more countries making halal products and more halal products overall, but we also want to go a step further. Let me give you an example. I travel a lot. Whenever I\u2019m on the road, I always look for kosher products because I associate them not with religion but with quality. That\u2019s how we want to position halal products. We want people to associate them not with the Muslim diet but with quality. That\u2019s our main goal.\r\n\r\n \r\n

\"Innovacion<\/a><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n\u00a9 IE Insights."],"wpcf-article-extract-enable":["1"],"wpcf-article-extract":["By Germ\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez<\/strong>. Islamic finance has grown exponentially in the past two decades. In parallel to the development of fintech, Islamic finance has embraced new digital technologies, offering customers alternative products and services through new platforms and structures."]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/741300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/741301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"schools","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/schools?post=741300"},{"taxonomy":"areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/areas?post=741300"},{"taxonomy":"subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subjects?post=741300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}