Author: Stuart

Fewer than 10,000 students attended Saudi universities in the 1970s. Today, that figure exceeds two million—a 200-fold increase that has left accommodation infrastructure scrambling to catch up. The Myriad, a purpose-built student living operator backed by a recently announced SAR 2 billion war chest, is now in advanced talks with an unnamed Saudi institution. The discussions mark the platform’s first formal push into the Kingdom, where dormitory-style housing has historically dominated campus life but purpose-built models are gaining traction among administrators rethinking student experience. The move follows Dedicated Housing Company’s capital allocation announcement in late March, earmarking funds specifically for…

Renewable energy investment in the Middle East climbed to $12.9 billion last year, up 28% from 2024’s $10.1 billion. The surge reflects a regional bet that integrated infrastructure—building power generation and transmission simultaneously—can outpace Western markets now choking on permitting delays and grid bottlenecks. AI’s voracious energy appetite is rewriting investment priorities. With data centres projected to consume 409 terawatt-hours by 2030 in the United States alone, and over $500 billion in AI infrastructure spending anticipated this year, the scramble for dispatchable renewable capacity has intensified. Globally, renewable energy investment reached $496 billion, according to research from Ansarada, an M&A…

Mirwais Azizi handed the trophy to jockey Connor Beasley on Saturday afternoon, marking a ritual the property developer’s founder has repeated for nine consecutive years. Native Approach had just stormed home in the Al Quoz Sprint. The partnership endures. Azizi Developments confirmed its ninth straight year backing the $1.5 million G1 sprint at the Dubai World Cup, a commitment that now spans nearly a third of the event’s 30-year history. Since 2017, the UAE developer has sponsored the 1,200-metre turf race that draws champions from six continents. Few corporate partnerships in Dubai sport have lasted this long. The Al Quoz…

Boats will slide directly from workshop floor into open water. That’s the advantage Gulf Craft gains from its new 10,000 sq m production facility in Ajman, positioned on the emirate’s waterfront with immediate sea access for launching and testing vessels without the logistical tangle of road transport. The Emirati boat builder is weeks from opening the dedicated factory for its Leisure Craft division, manufacturing Oryx cabin cruisers and SilverCat power catamarans at a site close to where the company first launched in 1982. The investment targets surging global appetite for multihull recreational boats—twin-hulled catamarans that deliver wider beam, greater stability,…

Manoj Narender Madnani spent nearly a decade structuring cross-border energy deals across four continents. On Tuesday, he took charge of a company betting that the world’s power crisis is actually a plumbing problem. GasEntec appointed Madnani as president on 25th March, tasking the three-decade energy veteran with steering global strategy and sovereign partnerships as the New York-based firm expands its modular LNG platform. His focus: markets from the Gulf to Southeast Asia where surging demand for reliable power is outpacing the infrastructure needed to deliver it. The appointment comes as data centres, AI compute facilities, and industrial expansion collide with…

Seven per cent. That’s how many enterprises say their data is genuinely ready for artificial intelligence, according to research published by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services and Cloudera on 25th March. The figure exposes a widening chasm between corporate AI ambition and operational reality. The gap is most pronounced in the Middle East. Across the Gulf states, governments have poured billions into national AI strategies and digital transformation initiatives. Yet the Harvard study—which surveyed 230 executives involved in AI data decisions during October 2025—found that 27 per cent of organisations admit their data isn’t ready at all. Another 66 per…

At 7pm on Sunday, March 29th, exactly 150 teams will log into what QuizBiz is billing as a month-long lifeline for quiz addicts across the UAE. After that, the virtual door shuts. The Dubai-based entertainment brand confirmed it will host free online quiz nights every Sunday throughout April, with host Graham Chambers steering participants through rounds spanning geography, film, music and pop culture. Teams join via Zoom while submitting answers through the SpeedQuizzing app on their phones—a dual-device setup designed to replicate the adrenaline of in-person competition. No entry fee. No catch. Well, one catch: capacity caps at 150 teams,…

Between January and December 2025, threat actors launched 1,186 distinct attack campaigns targeting organisations worldwide. They deployed 147,000 malicious domains, distributed nearly 58,000 malware files, and exploited 549 separate vulnerabilities. The numbers emerged Tuesday from HPE’s inaugural threat research report, released as security professionals gathered at RSA Conference 2026 in San Francisco. What the figures reveal, according to the company’s newly formed Threat Labs unit, is less about volume than structure—cybercrime has industrialised. Government organisations absorbed the heaviest bombardment. Some 274 campaigns targeted federal, state, and municipal bodies throughout the year. Financial institutions faced 211 campaigns. Technology companies dealt with…

AtkinsRéalis and Futurecity signed their partnership agreement on 24 March at MIPIM 2026 in Dubai. Within hours, the two firms had begun outlining plans for the Futurecity Lab, a joint research platform designed to feed cultural intelligence directly into engineering and masterplanning projects across the Gulf. The memorandum of understanding pairs a global design and engineering firm with roots stretching back to 1911 with a London-based cultural placemaking agency that has shaped more than 400 projects since 2007. Together, they’re betting that the next wave of Middle Eastern urban development will reward projects that embed cultural identity from the earliest…

The Dubai-based facilities management company is making its full range of maintenance services available to external clients for the first time European Technical, a facilities management and property maintenance company based in Dubai, has expanded its services to residential landlords, property managers, and commercial operators across the UAE. The company was founded to serve a large private real estate portfolio covering properties on Palm Jumeirah, Blue Waters, Jumeirah Village Circle, and in Abu Dhabi. That background gives it a practical foundation that most independent maintenance providers have not had the opportunity to build. Institutional Standards, Now Available to All European…