Economist Kai Chan from INSEAD has been researching which is the world's most powerful language - and its smartest country. The results might not be what you think. Brandy Scott and Malcolm Taylor ask the questions on the Business Breakfast. (Click on picture below for video of the taping.) Copyright © 2016, Arabian Radio Network. All rights reserved. 
English is the modern lingua franca Jessica Hill September 7, 2016 Updated: September 7, 2016 02:36 PM [caption id="attachment_2944" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Dr Kai Chan, a distinguished fellow of Insead, used 20 indicators to measure the five basic opportunities afforded by language. Antoine Robertson / The National[/caption] Imagine an alien landed on Earth wanting to interact with humans. Which language would afford them the best opportunities for interaction and success? That’s the question Kai Chan asked himself when, as an associate fellow of Insead, he wrote his research paper "The Power Language Index". Aiming to pinpoint the world’s most influential and powerful languages, Mr Chan used 20 indicators to measure five basic opportunities afforded by language – geography, economy, communication, knowledge and media, and diplomacy. It might come as no surprise that English ranked in the top spot, with a score of 0.889 – more than double that of the No 2 ranking, the rising star Mandarin. "This index is a snapshot in time and 16 years ago, Mandarin wouldn’t be anywhere close to where it is now," says Mr Chan. "Going forwards, its numbers will surely increase." Mr Chan, 41, was born to a Chinese peasant family on the streets… 
Top three data challenges for the Middle East 30 AUGUST, 2016 BY JENNIFER AGUINALDO MEED talks to Kai Chan, economist and distinguished fellow at French business school Insead, on what the Middle East has to address to gain the maximum benefit from Big Data. Big Data requires highly numerate people to work with the data Data must be robust, reliable and correct People, businesses, and governments need to be more curious to use the power of Big Data MEED talks to Kai Chan, economist and distinguished fellow at French business school Insead, on what the Middle East has to address to gain the maximum benefit from Big Data MEED: What are the top three challenges that the Middle East has to address if they were to gain the maximum benefit from Big Data?Kai Chan: One, bringing up the human capital skills that can work with Big Data. Big Data is complex; it requires highly numerate people to work with the data and, more importantly, to understand the data and the insights that will come from asking the right research questions and applying the right theories and mathematical or statistical tests to generate fresh insights that can be used to make… 
Gulf Nations Must Develop Soft Infrastructure Sparkling office towers won’t draw business without the right policies. JULY 22, 2016 Author: MARK TOWNSEND Governments of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are reacting to the collapse in oil prices in varying degrees, but none can return to the status quo ante of handouts and expensive state-backed subsidies. For years the GCC has lavished billions of dollars on projects, many of which turned out to be white elephants. Perhaps the most vivid example is the 59 mostly empty towers of King Abdullah Financial District in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh. Reportedly costing $7.8 billion, with floor space of more than 3 million square meters, the project is bereft of the investment bankers it sought to attract. For many, the project symbolizes the latent disconnect between the Gulf’s tendency to spend billions on grandiose infrastructure yet overlook the equally important “soft” infrastructure of regulation, governance and human capital. There are, however, exceptions. The Dubai International Financial Centre, which Riyadh was trying to emulate, has managed to set itself apart from other regional competitors and is noted for the quality of its regulation and transparency embedded in a tax-free zone. Although GCC countries have begun… 
In a bid to stay competitive, companies across industries are generating a significant amount of data and utilizing different tools and techniques to gain useful insights. Against this backdrop, the Smart Data Summit that commenced today explored how organizations can harness the power of big data and analytics to derive maximum business value. Supported by Federal Competitiveness Statistics Authority (FCSA) and organized by global conference producers, Expotrade, the summit attracted over 300 senior IT, marketing and business intelligence specialists. The summit was opened by Dr Kai L. Chan, Special Adviser - National Competitiveness, Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA). He delivered the keynote session on the topic using robust data and modelling to win Expo 2020. He emphasized upon the importance of data-driven analysis (DDA for policy and planning). Yousuf Mohammed Al Shaiba, Director - Smart Services Development Dept., Ajman Municipality & Planning Department took the discussion further during his session on creating a Smart Government, emphasizing on the smart services offered by Ajman Municipality. The summit saw over 20 prominent experts and sector specialists including Mohammad Shokoohi-Yekta, Data Scientist, Apple; Sayan Dasgupta, Senior Data Scientist, LinkedIn; Usama Qasem, Regional Digital & Content Marketing Manager, IKEA and Michael Sultan, Senior… 
