SAP also announces results of a recent sustainability survey
The Museum of the Future’s (MoTF) newest showcase, the OSS Hope Simulator from SAP, was recently unveiled, providing an immersive experience where visitors can see how today’s technologies could be leveraged to sustain a future space station.
The launch was part of the SAP NOW event held at the Museum, which explored the future of innovation, sustainability and digital transformation.
The new exhibit is the result of a strategic partnership announced between the Museum of the Future and SAP in the past year. This was one of a series of partnership agreements the Museum established in order to be a key laboratory for entities from all around the world and to be able to generate futuristic and innovative technological solutions that address humanity’s greatest challenges.
Tomorrow Today
The OSS Hope Simulator from SAP is situated on the ‘Tomorrow Today’ floor of the Museum, a dedicated space featuring near-future technologies that have the power to transform and change the way we live. The simulator presents visitors with various scenarios that will have an impact on the Orbital Space Station (OSS) Hope, a space structure redirecting solar energy to power earth by 2071, as conceptualized by the Museum.
The space station is constantly working towards maximizing its resources and, therefore, it is crucial to sustainably balance energy, materials, and opportunities for all the inhabitants, and for the station itself. Guided by an AI assistant, visitors playing on one of the three available gaming stations encounter challenges that use existing SAP technologies and solutions to reduce emissions, waste, and inequalities to zero and thereby make OSS Hope an even more sustainable vision.
“Our partnership with SAP reinforces the importance of the Museum’s role as a global testing platform for the latest technologies and innovations of the future, and a centre for international partnerships aimed at developing new solutions to the most pressing challenges facing humanity in the years and decades to come,” affirmed Majed Al Mansoori, Deputy Executive Director, MoTF.
Direct engagement
“While SAP helps organizations of various capacities to run better, the OSS Hope Simulator provides us with the opportunity to directly engage with individuals of all ages to showcase how innovation can enable a more sustainable and brighter future,” asserted Sergio Maccotta, Senior Vice President, SAP Middle East Africa South.
Maccotta pointed out that with the simulator’s focus on zero emissions, zero waste and zero inequality, it was fitting that it was launched during the UAE’s Year of Sustainability, and the year in which COP28 will be held in Dubai. He added that the UAE government’s focus on sustainability has led to a ripple effect seen across all industries, according to a new survey released by SAP.
Sustainability linked to business success
“A recent SAP-commissioned survey shows that the overwhelming majority of companies in the UAE are fully aligned on the importance of sustainability including the role it plays in the future success of their business,” Maccotta observed. “Businesses are facing pressure from customers and partners to demonstrate sustainable practices, and the survey shows that it is being driven internally too, as the financial value of sustainability is increasingly recognized,” he added.
According to Maccotta, the new YouGov survey commissioned by SAP indicated that 96% of UAE companies recognized the importance of sustainability as a business objective, with 52% describing it as vital to their success. Similarly, 94% of IT decision makers surveyed stated that their organizations’ financial performance and sustainability strategies would be connected in the coming 12 months, with 36% stating they would be intrinsically connected.
When IT decision-makers were asked about their companies’ specific sustainability goals in the next 18 months, the most cited goal was addressing sustainability in supply chains (65%), closely followed by reducing waste (62%), and reducing carbon emissions (53%).
Digital transformation
Alongside sustainability, the survey showed that companies in the UAE are also overwhelmingly focused on digital transformation. A total of 89% of companies are planning to invest further in digital transformation cloud solutions and services in the coming 18 months. In addition, 95% of respondents stated that technology and innovation was important to the success of their sustainability strategy.
In attendance at the especially convened press conference to mark this occasion were Zakaria Haltout, Managing Director of SAP UAE; Martin Wezowski, SAP Chief Futurist and Head of the SAP Future Hub; Mia Rizk – Innovation LEAD, SAP and Brendan McGetrick, Creative Director, Museum of the Future.
