Smart Crowd hosted the third edition of Fintalks in collaboration with DIFC’s Fintech Hive. The event is aimed to create a forum to connect with Fintech enthusiasts in the region on the latest developments in the space. Special guest speakers included Mahmoud AlBurai who is currently serving as senior advisor at Real estate Regulatory Agency of Dubai and Irina Heaver a Dubai based lawyer who works on bringing legacy businesses into the 21st century by leveraging the Emerging Technology – AI, Blockchain & Crypto.
The panel discussion included a review of the following topics:
- How real estate crowdfunding can change the real estate investment market in UAE
- Can artificial intelligence predict future movements in real estate economics months, if not years in advance
- Where can blockchain play it’s part on smoothening out bureaucratic and trust challenges
PropTech is transforming the real estate industry across the globe with innovative property based solutions. Historically, real estate investments have been accessible to a limited number of individuals and institutions due to high capital requirements. PropTech innovations in this area have transformed the way real estate investments are made – particularly through crowdfunding. Crowdfunding involves pooling small amounts of capital to fund the desired “project” or “venture”. With innovations in PropTech and crowdfunding, opportunities can now be opened up to individuals regardless of geographical location and capital requirements.
Mahmoud AlBurai is currently serving as senior advisor at Real estate Regulatory Agency of Dubai manadated to work on a plan to make Dubai more competitive. Before this role Mahmoud has served as the CEO of Dubai Real estate Institute for 10 years in which the institute graduated 80,000 real estate professionals from the region. Amongst his prolific ventures, Mahmoud is FIABCI representative at the United Nations Economic Commission for West Asia (UNESCWA) and UNECE (Geneva). He is also the Chairman of UN Global Compact UAE since 2015 and represent MENA region in UN Global Compact advisory board since two years.
Irina Heaver is a Dubai based lawyer who works on bringing legacy businesses into the 21st century by leveraging the Emerging Technology – AI, Blockchain & Crypto.With over 15 years of experience gained in-house (in senior leadership roles) and private practice (as a Partner in a law firm) she worked across the Middle East, Asia Pacific, CIS countries, Europe and North America. Irina advised on over 500 billion USD worth of projects and transactions in the oil&gas, mining, construction, maritime and technology sectors. Irina consulted numerous blockchain and crypto enterprises located or operating in the MENA Region, as well as multiple Governments and Governmental organizations on regulatory policies surrounding such emerging technology as blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. She is a multilingual Australian qualified lawyer with a Master of Laws and Juris Doctor Degrees. Irina is also a certified blockchain expert and passionate about designing token economic models and logic for smart contracts.
