The Winter 2023 issue of WIRED Middle East explores the future of our physical and virtual realities. In the late ‘90s, we couldn’t have imagined what the world of Web 2.0 would look like. Today, we’re sitting on the cusp of a fully realized Web 3.0, but what will it look like, and how will it work?
This issue, we’ll take our readers on a wild ride through the reality-bending Web 3.0 ecosystem, as we jump from world to world, exploring every nook and cranny of this unfolding arena. While the Web 3.0 market was valued at $7.7 billion in 2022, it’s poised to reach approximately $64 billion by 2029.
We speak to industry leaders and change-makers to find out what to expect and how we can build a better, smarter and more human internet. But then there’s the real world, in crisis and barreling towards climate catastrophe. On the heels of COP28, we speak with
leaders in sustainability to understand what the future holds for our Earth, as well as the technologies and science that could bring us back from the brink of climate disaster.
The magazine also features diverse coverage from across the worlds of science, technology, culture and gear, with everything from smart home technology to the AI revolution, the booming world of lab-grown diamonds and potential for human
digital twins.

The latest edition of Wired Middle East, “The Pioneers Issue”, brings together a remarkable collection of stories about companies and individuals from the Middle East and beyond who are pushing boundaries and transforming their industries.
A standout is an interview with e& Group CEO Hatem Dowidar, where he discusses the company’s evolution from a telecom provider to a global technology leader in fintech, cybersecurity, and sustainability.
We also dived into the Year of the Camel and explored its role in science and economics, from breakthroughs in health research to its role in tourism and luxury fashion. In music, pioneers like Habibi Funk are reviving forgotten Arabic records from the 1960s-1980s, gaining global recognition for artists like Hamid Al Shaeri.
Additionally, the issue delves into AI and robots reshaping logistics, healthcare, and daily life, alongside stories of designers creating eco-friendly products from natural materials like seashells and loofahs.
We looked at Egypt’s efforts to reclaim artifacts like the Rosetta Stone, sparking discussions on heritage and colonialism. With articles on autonomous cars, climate change, and more, this edition is a must-read for innovation enthusiasts.

This edition of the magazine explores the limits of humanity – from the Olympic athletes at the peak of human performance and the science that could expand their limitations, to real-life cyborgs like Neil Harbisson implanting technology in their bodies.
As the Paris 2024 Olympics are well underway, this issue dives into the stories of Olympic heroes. From Farida Osman’s shocking exclusion from this year’s Olympics to the relentless drive of refugee Olympians like Yusra Mardini and Perina Nakang, we see the human spirit in action.
It’s not easy being human in the digital age. In a wide-ranging conversation with Hasan Piker, we dig into media literacy, bias and the role of popular streamers such as himself as a complement to mainstream media.
In the age of influence, we speak to regional influencers about what it means to make social media a profession. Looking closer at the relationship between human and machine, we set a WIRED editor up with an AI boyfriend, and she finds that the experience is a little too familiar.

Not long ago, the word “disruptive” was used in a primarily negative context – an apt descriptor of rebellious youth, disturbers of the peace, and people who simply didn’t fit the mold. In a way, these ideas are still true.
The disruptors of today are young minds that hope to change the way the world works – shaping a new approach to the present world, rather than contorting to fit into yesterday’s standard. Disruption, a term reclaimed by our unruly innovators, has become a global status quo.
The Middle East has, in the past few years, entered into its own renaissance of disruption. Visionary thinkers and the inspired few, backed by eager investors and government mandates, have seized the golden opportunity to reshape the region.
Arabs are innovating on a regional, global and interstellar role – Emirati Sultan Al Neyadi’s historic spacewalk was just the start of the nation’s collaboration with NASA. Closer to home, founders like Emon Shakoor empower Saudi women to build their own businesses, and leaders of industry including Alat’s Amit Midha aim to turn the region into a global business hub.
They’ve already left an impact. At LEAP and DeepFest this year in Riyadh, the sentence I heard the most often was: “This is my first time at LEAP.” It’s not just small talk – this is an important indication that the world is paying more attention to Saudi Arabia as a tech and business hub.
With hundreds of hands shaken, dozens of interviews and many panels attended, we’ve created our list of Disruptors changing the face of Saudi Arabia. From rocket engineering to entertainment, technology and esports, our disruptors are making major moves to build the future of the Kingdom.
On that note, the second-most common phrase I heard at LEAP was: “Saudi Arabia is not how I imagined it would be.” Peruse our list of Disruptors and you’ll see exactly why that is – old stereotypes about the Kingdom are rapidly shattering as it opens its doors to the world.

This issue edition of WIRED Middle East is all about innovation. The clue’s in the name! The Innovation Issue is packed with stories of people and companies that are changing the world around us in one way or another. It starts on the cover, filled with doodles and sketches, much like the scribbles that brought to life many of the world’s greatest ideas. You can color it or imagine it any way you like.
Inside the issue, we’re all about celebrating the best and brightest innovators from across the region, so there’s a lot to cover.

We start off in Saudi, where we talk to two Public Investment Fund companies: Savvy Games, and KSA’s big move to create the future of the gaming industry; then, we move to Riyadh Air, a pioneering airline that’s going to connect the Kingdom like never before through the power of modern tech and contemporary approache. We also dig deep into the country’s plans to leverage the power of underground minerals and materials in a fascinating piece about mining.
From there, we learn to walk again with some fantastic brain-computer connections. We dive into VR and AR to discover virtual worlds. Headsets off, we speak to a number of experts about our ‘digital will’, a legal document that covers what you want to be done with your social media and digital legacy after you shuffle off this mortal coil.

We discover how mRNA vaccines are changing the way we combat disease. We also look at social media’s quarter-life crisis, studying how social media platforms are working to evolve and change in a landscape that seems all too comfortable copying and pasting ideas from competitors. We meet an artist who uses trash and used items to create stunning garbage collages that educate us on our disposable single-use culture. Finally, we explore the ultimate in watches from some of the most famous names in the industry, pieces that you and your family will treasure forever.

So, dive into the Innovation Issue and get inspired, create something great!

The Summer 2023 issue of WIRED Middle East explores the region’s startup landscape, recognizing the limitless creativity, ambition, and entrepreneurial spirit of Arab startup founders. As the startup scene becomes increasingly sophisticated, analysts expect the MENA region to spawn 100 unicorns (startups valued at $1 billion) by 2030, up from six this year. WIRED invites you to join our issue celebrating the ambitious innovators who have transformed the Middle East into a Silicon Oasis, bringing to life ideas that solve real issues
faced by people in the region.

As we take a closer look at the sector, we identify the top startups in the region across industries and verticals, selected by the WIRED Middle East editorial team. Our magazine will take readers on a journey through the booming world of financial technology in all its iterations as we explore its impact on financial literacy. We also look under the hood of the Middle East’s obsession with driverless vehicles, examining the reality of bringing them into the mainstream in smart cities of the future. We’ll whisk you away to that very promising future, as we profile game-changing young companies presenting exciting new ways to make our environment cleaner, whether they are reducing water use in agriculture, automating deliveries, or innovating in cleantech.

We also take a quick detour into the past and explore the art and science of preserving Egypt’s treasure-trove of ancient artifacts. As usual, we round up the best in gear this season, from luxury yachts to watches, with a special feature on how to responsibly and safely dispose of your smartphone at the end of its life. Join us for an exciting ride through the world of startups, where ambition and vision are in abundance, and there’s always another round of funding to look forward to.

The Spring issue of WIRED Middle East narrates the stories of continuous space exploration fostered by human’s boundless curiosity of the unknown world. In six decades, space expeditions have gained tremendous progress and fruitful outcome. The launch of space telescopes becomes human’s eyes in space, allowing us to see the world from an unprecedented perspective. Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, the first Arab astronaut in space, opens a new chapter of Arab space exploration. WIRED celebrates the genius and tenacious pioneers of a great epoch and would like to present the mesmerizing discoveries they have made.

In this issue, we will also dive into the immense universe of space technology innovations and the businesses sectors evolved around them. WIRED will take you for a ride with NASA to see the Middle East from above, listen to Mishaal Ashemimry, the first female aerospace engineer in the GCC, and her inspiring story that adds another stroke to the scroll of Arab space exploration. The bold imagination of living in
space is becoming more real as space agriculture is on the agenda. WIRED survey five space-tech startups and show how they empower MENA’s space ambition.

AI and ChatGPT, the hottest tech topic of the year, is evolving every second. We focus on their impact on our lives and dissect its trend. Sustainability is also entering the center of any major future planning. We also introduce the latest stories on health and technology and try out the most up-to-date cars, watches, and other gears for you. Join
WIRED Middle East on this swirling journey to the technology- driven future.

WIRED Middle East is celebrating it’s three-year anniversary with an exclusive cover that brings together two men deeply committed to creating a better world through science. Photographed in Qatar, Bill Gates and Dr. Sofonias K. Tessema, Program Lead for Pathogen Genomics at Africa CDC, shared their insights in an in-depth interview. 

Our first issue of 2023 also pays homage to women in technology—everything they’ve achieved and all that lies ahead. From women’s career paths, to their scientific discoveries, healthcare, participation in the metaverse, and much, much more, there are, of course, a range of issues to explore in depth!

And don’t miss our winter fashion shoot, featuring innovative, eco-friendly pieces and sneakers designed from a single piece of material in a coming-together of tech and wearables.

WIRED Middle East autumn edition: Know all about the Identity Issue

WIRED Middle East's autumn issue features a study on doppelgängers, Iran's human rights violations with an internet blockage, and much more.
Another topic we highlight in this edition is the scale of a looming economic recession many say is right around the corner.  On a more positive note, counting down to Qatar’s FIFA World Cup—considered the most technologically advanced football tournament to date.

Counting down to the FIFA World Cup, the biggest sporting event in the world, WIRED Middle East’s ‘The Performance Issue’ looks at the power of the human body, and the social and personal impact of sport. It also delves into our fast-changing lives and how the future of science and technology can help us do better, reach farther, and achieve more.
‘The Performance Issue’ cover features a man who embodies the coming together of human and technological achievement. Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulla Al Thani, President of the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, skied to the South Pole and was the first Qatari to climb Mount Everest and Ama Dablam.
Speaking of history, this issue explores two fascinating developments. First, we look at how the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi acquired “Stan”, one of the most complete T.rex skeletal fossils in the world, after it disappeared from public view in 2020. And we learn how scientists are leveraging AI to decipher and date ancient texts and digitally “unwrap” mummies.
Other features in WIRED Middle East’s Summer issue include stories about an artist placing his work on the Moon, an exploration of Saudi’s NEOM by a group of inspirational women, a spirited discussion on the future of AI and quantum computing by leading regional experts, a look at a collective utopia in India, and much more.

THE SURVIVAL ISSUE
As war looms in Eastern Europe, WIRED’s spring issue looks at the hard science behind our continued existence in 2100 and beyond. We examine the modern-day technology shaping military conflict, from hypersonic missiles to AI, as well as the people coming up with innovative tools to bring about peace, like the growing force of open-source sleuths relying on website metadata and satellite imagery to debunk misinformation.
Keeping an eye toward the future, we speak with the UAE's Minister for Artificial Intelligence on how the emerging technology is helping shape government policy in the Gulf. We also put the spotlight on moonshot initiatives that could ensure that our legacy endures through the centuries: Harvard geneticist George Church takes us through his bid to bring back woolly mammoths from the dead (and save our environment), while the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre's Adnan Al-Rais reveals how the Dubai space organization's Mars 2117 program is already preparing the UAE's plan to build a human settlement on Mars

THE HOPE ISSUE 
Our response to the global pandemic has highlighted one positive thing: humans' ability to rally to solve even the most intractable of problems. At the year-end, WIRED profiles the people promising a brighter tomorrow, including Huda Al-Hashimi, UAE deputy minister of Cabinet affairs, Khalfan Belhoul, the CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, and Mia Atoui, head of a mental health organization Embrace Lebanon. The top line: we’ll be OK in 2022. Elsewhere in the issue, WIRED puts a spotlight on the Israeli med-tech startups leading a new revolution in psychedelic drugs, examines how Meta’s metaverse is likely to extend Facebook’s woeful record in stamping out hate speech and delves into how UFO “sightings” have impacted Middle East culture.

Would you turn down $200 million for a 24-by-24-pixel online image? That is the decision taken by one CryptoPunk investor interviewed for WIRED Middle East’s Autumn cover story, which unpicks the NFT craze in an effort to establish whether the digital tokens are the key to connecting in a brave new virtual world—or the dictionary definition of a bubble. Elsewhere in the issue (which was published as the world gathers in the UAE for Expo 2020 Dubai), WIRED focuses on how networks—be they purely human, or the web of billions of internet devices—have made the world more connected than ever before, and are driving future change. It looks at the real-world potential of technologies showcased at the Expo, how they promise to revolutionize life in the Middle East, and how AI “consciousness” will one day answer existential questions humans never could.

As the world recovers from the biggest global upheaval since World War II, here’s how to reboot your life for the better—and the tech that will help you do it. Looking at the science of happiness—from how to measure our mood, to AI-powered therapy sessions and the psychological benefits of talking to strangers—WIRED Middle East looks at how to reinvent the human experience for better lives.

Are flying taxis, human biohacking, and AI-powered health care systems just concepts for the future or are they shaping our present-day reality? WIRED Middle East explores that crucial question in our Imagination Issue, which examines the ways in which technology is helping us reimagine our way of life.
The new issue features a rare media interview with Nadhmi Al-Nasr, the chief executive of NEOM, Saudi Arabia’s planned $500 billion “country within a country” that plans to transform the way its residents move, seek medical treatment, and live out their day to day lives. For now, NEOM’s grandiose vision exists primarily on paper. But in a series of interviews, executives at the project map out how they’re attempting to translate these ambitions into reality.
The issue also takes a look at how technology is reshaping us on an individual level, and shines a light on how the Middle East’s ambitions are viewed by the rest of the world. “The Great Biohack,” probes the broad, sometimes bizarre world of human augmentation, while “View from the Valley,” reveals what the venture capitalists sitting in the epicenter of the global tech industry really think about the region.

Was 2020 a mere blip—or a horrible taster of the decades to come? In its latest issue, WIRED Middle East takes you on a tour of tomorrow—from two radically different perspectives. It explores what 2050 might hold for us—and whether we’re headed down a path to utopia or dystopia. From the prospect of environmental catastrophe (or a new world of clean energy), to the opportunity for social media to create unity, rather than division, The Future Issue paints two pictures of where our world is heading. Elsewhere in the magazine, WIRED interviews Noura Al-Kaabi, the UAE minister of culture and youth, who is confident about life after the After Times; it also explores how the growing accuracy in predicting when we will die could bring about an unjust future straight out of dystopian fiction. And in “Khallas for Arabic,” the magazine explores how technology poses a dire threat to the language (but may also end up saving it.)

WIRED Middle East’s Autumn edition examines how societies across the region are being transformed from within, via a raft of tech-driven initiatives that promise to radically reshape the way we live and work. The issue explores transformation in all its forms: from the creation of Saudi Arabia’s vast gigaprojects, to the tectonic shifts in how companies and governments operate, and how digitalization poses both opportunities and risks for society. The magazine cover features Prince Faisal bin Bandar, a member of the Saudi royal family and son of the kingdom’s former ambassador to the US. Prince Faisal heads up Saudi Arabia’s esports federation—one of the key elements in tech-driven change in the country. Other interviewees include senior government figures spearheading transformation in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and beyond. The Transformation Issue also looks at how the UAE’s recently announced space mission to the moon promises to have real transformative effect down here on Earth.

WIRED Middle East’s Summer edition focuses on Bill Gates’ biggest challenge in the Covid-19 era: to win over the minds of the anti-vaxxers, at the time it matters most. Exposing the extent of a largely hidden movement in the Middle East, WIRED shows how anti-vaccination sentiment is quietly gaining a foothold, posing a potential risk as the world prepares for a mass immunization drive to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The issue examines how, given a rising tide of corona conspiracy theories globally—with some of the most outlandish directed at Bill Gates himself—the battle for public opinion is becoming just as important as developing a vaccine. Other notable features in WIRED’s The Makers issue, which profiles the entrepreneurs leading the “Made in the Middle East” revolution, include “What’s Really on Your Plate,” which looks at new DNA tests that found the Arabic food you’re eating might not be what you think it is, and “The Middle East’s Fake-Art Sleuths,” which probes the art and science behind detecting knockoff paintings.

WIRED Middle East’s Spring edition focuses on a central question: can the world emerge a better place after the coronavirus pandemic? The magazine visits the Middle East medics in the vanguard of the fight against Covid-19, while Life After Corona probes how things will change, for better and worse, after that battle is over. WIRED also meets the eco-warriors of the Middle East—from Razan Khalifa Al-Mubarak, the head of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, to the Middle East’s “Gretas,” the teenage activists fighting climate change. Also in the issue is The Eternalists, which highlights the scientists and researchers trying to hack life to solve death, and The Real Beef with Veganism, which exposes how plant-based diets—long vaunted as good for the planet—have hidden environmental costs.

WIRED’s historic Middle East launch issue 
explored, celebrated, and challenged the state of technology and innovation across the region — and their impact on culture.
Uniquely, the issue included two separate covers that featured industry icon Mohamed Alabbar and Sarah Al-Amiri, the UAE’s minister for advanced sciences.
WIRED in print is a very special collector’s item: artfully curated, imaginatively designed and illustrated, and, across the nearly 300-page issue, thoughtfully deep on the topics driving substantive change.

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WIRED is a global authority on innovation and ideas. It covers the pervasive impact of technology on society, business, culture, and the world of tomorrow. Its Middle East edition, launched in 2019, reflects a new era of innovation and change in the region, at which tech is at the forefront.

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Wired Middle East - Winter 2023

Wired Middle East - Winter 2023

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