Aligned to the Smart UAE initiative launched by the UAE Government, Emirates NBD Group, a leading banking group in the region, announced the winners of the 2018 GEMS Future Intelligence Innovation Competition.

The all-girl winning team from GEMS Cambridge International School in Abu Dhabi beat 21 other GEMS teams in developing creative banking-technology prototypes centred on one of three key themes: Youth Banking, Innovation in Cryptocurrency and Blockchain. Over the past two weeks, the finalists underwent a mentoring session with Emirates NBD's Future Lab™ and the bank's newly formed Digital Office. The aim of this was to develop prototypes that were each presented as part of the Emirates NBD Group's fifth annual Innovation Day, hosted at Dubai's World Trade Centre. The panel of judges included representatives from the Emirates NBD Group, as well as its subsidiaries; Tanfeeth and Emirates Islamic, and two external judges including a senior innovation advisor from Expo 2020 and a managing partner from a customer neuroscience innovation company, LeadNeuro.

"The future of innovation in the UAE lies in its youth. As a future-focused bank, Emirates NBD is committed to instilling a spirit of creative thinking within students across the country whilst nurturing the next generation of banking talent. We are pleased to partner with GEMS to offer passionate young minds an incredible opportunity to work with our Emirates NBD Future Lab™ and transform their ideas into actual prototypes that in turn, can be embedded within the digital strategy for Emirates NBD. I wish the winners the very best in their endeavours and congratulate them on their victory," said Evans Munyuki, Group Chief Digital Officer.

Nargish Khambatta, Principal, GEMS Modern Academy, said: "In this ever-evolving information age, blockchain and cryptocurrencies are intriguing topics for everyone. The agility of banking is changing as new age technology is pushing the boundaries of innovation. We believe that in order to realize the impact of such exponential growth, students who embrace a culture of innovation will steam ahead. It is partnerships like the one we have with the Emirates NBD Group that would help prepare them for the future. A future that is closer than we think."

Emirates NBD has always championed the spirit of innovation within both the bank and the wider community, in search of the next big idea in banking. As part of its commitment to the digitalisation of its products, processes and services, the bank launched Emirates NBD Future Lab™ in 2016 to act as a strategic think tank and testing centre for innovative ideas, products and services.