Tech News
Budget: Accelerating Development through Reform and Innovation
The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, unveiled today his 2025-26 Budget. He noted that while geopolitical situation might bring risks, technology reform and artificial intelligence (AI) development are remoulding the global landscape, leading to the emergence of new industries, new forms of business, new products and new services. He stressed that Hong Kong must seize the opportunity to make the most out of this critical window to speed up development, establishing the new before abolishing the old. He also emphasised that transformation and innovation will lead the way into the future, and the Government is poised to fast-track the high-quality development of Hong Kong’s economy.
The Budget presents a series of measures aimed at accelerating the cultivation of new quality productive forces. On innovation and technology (I&T), the Government will promote Hong Kong into an international exchange and co-operation hub for the AI industry. Through frontier research and real-world application, the Government will endeavour to develop AI as a core industry and empower traditional industries in their upgrading and transformation. To spearhead and support Hong Kong’s innovative research and development as well as industrial application of AI, the Government will establish the Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute and launch the Pilot Manufacturing and Production Line Upgrade Support Scheme (Manufacturing+). On finance, the Government will continue to take forward reforms to the listing regime, host the Hong Kong Global Financial and Industry Summit, and formulate a plan this year on promoting gold market development.
To seize the opportunities brought about by the rapid advancement of innovation and technology, the Budget highlights the need to accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis, which is an investment in Hong Kong’s future. The Government will continue to accord priority to providing resources for this initiative, which primarily includes providing large tracts of I&T land at the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone, together with San Tin Technopole; adopting an innovative mindset in piloting “large-scale land disposal”; developing a data facility cluster at Sandy Ridge; as well as identifying suitable sites in the Northern Metropolis for the construction of conference and exhibition facilities.
On the promotion of tourism, funding will be allocated to pursue the concept of “tourism is everywhere” and implement the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry 2.0. A study will be conducted on the development of the waterfront and former sites to the south of the Hung Hom Station into a new harbourfront landmark, including a yacht club.
Regarding land supply, Mr Chan announced that the Government will not roll out any commercial site for sale in the coming year in view of the high vacancy rates of offices in recent years to allow the market to absorb the existing supply. The Government will also consider rezoning some of the commercial sites into residential use and allowing greater flexibility of land use. To tie in with the relevant work, the deadline for completing in-situ land exchange for commercial sites in the town centre of the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area will be extended.
Mr Chan proposed a reinforced version of the fiscal consolidation programme to focus on strictly controlling government expenditure, supplemented by increasing revenue, to restore fiscal balance in the Operating Account, in a planned and progressive manner, within the current term of the Government. For 2025-26, the executive authorities, the legislature, the judiciary and members of the District Councils, including members of the civil service, take a pay freeze. The Government will step up the Productivity Enhancement Programme; compared with 2023-24, the recurrent expenditure in 2027-28 will record a cumulative reduction by 7 per cent and deliver a saving of $27.3 billion. By April 2027, about 10 000 posts of the civil service establishment are expected to be deleted within this term of Government. The Government will also deliver more efficient public services to citizens through leveraging technology, streamlining processes and driving the digital transformation of public services. In the Budget, it is proposed to adjust two transport subsidy schemes, namely putting forward the “$2 flat rate cum 80 per cent discount” in the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities ($2 Scheme), and raising the threshold for receiving the subsidy under the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme from $400 to $500, with the prevailing subsidy cap at $400 per month remaining unchanged. He will uphold the “user pays” and the “affordable users pay” principles as far as practicable while increasing revenue, including increasing the air passenger departure tax, and reviewing the tolls of government tunnels and trunk roads. The Government will suitably expand the size of bond issuance on the premise of maintaining healthy public finances and use the funds raised on infrastructure works in a proper and flexible manner to invest in Hong Kong’s future and create value for society.
Mr Chan concluded that he has full confidence in and high expectations for the future of Hong Kong, because Hong Kong people are intelligent, creative and tireless in contributing to the economic development. More importantly, he is confident due to the staunch and unwavering support received from the country and Hong Kong people’s profound insight into the major development trends of the future, as well as the city’s enviable and advantageous position.
Tech News
BELKIN INTRODUCES A NEW ACCESSORY COLLECTION FOR SAMSUNG GALAXY S26 SERIES
Belkin, a leading consumer electronics brand for over 40 years, has announced a new collection of accessories designed and optimised specifically for the Samsung Galaxy S26 series. From fast, reliable Qi2 25W charging to advanced screen protection engineered for ultrasonic fingerprint sensors and next-generation displays, every product in the collection is designed to meet the demands of Galaxy S26 users.
‘Designed for Samsung’ Certified
Developed in alignment with the Samsung Mobile Accessory Partnership Program’s (SMAPP) performance, safety, and compatibility standards, the new lineup underscores Belkin’s role as a trusted partner delivering accessories built to work seamlessly with next-generation Galaxy devices.
SHEERFORCE for Samsung Galaxy S26
Designed for everyday protection without compromise, the SHEERFORCE collection for the Samsung S26 series combines military-grade durability with thoughtful design details. The cases are tested for drops up to 13ft / 4m and feature Nano-Titan Technology to enhance shock absorption and heat dissipation for long-term performance. Certified to meet Samsung standards and Qi2 25W wireless-charging compatible, each case includes reinforced raised edges to protect the screen and camera, textured areas for improved grip, and a built-in lanyard attachment for added versatility. Made with 75% recyclable materials and packaged plastic-free, the SHEERFORCE Series is backed by a two-year warranty. SHEERFORCE products are available to order now on belkin.com and amazon.com.
The collection includes:
- SHEERFORCE Clear –An ultra-thin, minimalist case that preserves the natural look of the Galaxy S26 devices. Anti-scratch and anti-yellowing coatings help maintain a clean, crystal-clear appearance over time while still delivering reliable, everyday protection.
- SHEERFORCE Protect – A rugged, double-layer case built for active, on-the-go lifestyles. Featuring bold styling, grooved sides, textured buttons, and reinforced construction, it delivers enhanced impact protection and a secure grip. Available in black, navy, and lavender.
Titan EcoGuard Collection
The Titan EcoGuard Collection isoptimized for Galaxy S26 displays and ultrasonic fingerprint sensors. Built with advanced polymer materials infused with proprietary Nano-Titan Technology, EcoGuard offers industry-leading 7H-rated scratch and impact resistance with ultra-thin construction that flexes under pressure to absorb impact rather than crack. Made from 97% post-consumer recycled materials certified by the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), Titan EcoGuard delivers up to 5.9ft / 1.8m of drop protection. All Titan EcoGuard products ship in 100% recyclable, FSC-certified packaging and include eco-friendly installation tools for precise, frustration-free application. Titan EcoGuard products are available to order now on belkin.com and amazon.com.
The collection includes:
- Titan EcoGuard Anti-Reflective Screen Protector
- Titan EcoGuard Privacy Filter Screen Protector
- Titan EcoGuard Red Light Screen Protector
Advanced Protection and Power Collection
Titan SmartShield Screen Protector
As the premium rigid glass solution in the Galaxy S26 lineup, Titan SmartShield delivers aerospace-grade protection while preserving display clarity and touch accuracy. With a 9H surface hardness, drop protection rated up to 6.5 ft / 2 m, and full fingerprint sensor compatibility, Titan SmartShield is engineered to provide smart, durable protection against everyday wear. An advanced anti-reflective coating maintains brightness and colour fidelity in any environment, while anti-dust adhesive technology supports a flawless installation. Manufactured with up to 60% recycled materials, Titan SmartShield balances durability, clarity, and sustainability. A privacy version will also be available.
UltraCharge Modular Charging Dock
The UltraCharge Modular Charging Dock delivers fast, efficient Qi2 25W wireless charging designed to charge Galaxy S26, earbuds, and smartwatch simultaneously. A bring-your-own-puck (BYOP) smartwatch holder with a collapsible spring-latch design adds flexibility for Android ecosystem users, while soft-touch silicone protection, a nonslip base, and case compatibility up to 3 mm ensure everyday reliability.
Tech News
The Executive Health Upgrade: Why Personalized Prevention Is the UAE’s Next Premium Category
How Prana AI + SindyXR Want to Make Personalized Health Routine in the UAE
By Integrator Web Editor

Most healthcare is built for emergencies. But the biggest risks to long-term health often develop quietly—sleep debt, metabolic drift, chronic stress, early cardiovascular strain. Prana AI and SindyXR are building a UAE-first model that treats health like a modern dashboard: establish your baseline, detect drift early, and guide course-correction through an AI “longevity OS” paired with concierge support.
The UAE is rapidly becoming a proving ground for next-generation, consumer-friendly health models that blend premium services with data-driven personalization. This article explores a shift underway in Dubai and the wider Emirates: moving from reactive, appointment-led care toward continuous, proactive “health operating systems.” Prana AI and SindyXR are among the emerging players aiming to productize prevention—making personal health measurable, understandable, and easier to follow through on.
“Most healthcare is built for emergencies. Personalized health is built for trajectory.” – Christopher M. Hill, Board Chair, President, and CEO of SindyXR
From Firefighting to Flight-Checking
Most of us treat health like a fire alarm: we respond when it’s loud enough to ignore. A symptom appears, we book an appointment, get a prescription or advice, and move on. That model isn’t “bad”—it’s just built for a different job.
Reactive healthcare is excellent at handling acute problems. But the biggest threats to long-term wellbeing often don’t arrive with sirens. They creep in quietly: chronic stress patterns, sleep erosion, metabolic instability, early cardiovascular risk, burnout. By the time something becomes obvious, the fix is harder, slower, and more expensive.
This is why “personalized health”—often described as preventive, longevity-focused, or precision wellness—is accelerating globally. The promise is simple and non-medical: know your baseline, track changes over time, and act early with clarity.
In the UAE, where performance, pace, global mobility, and high expectations are everyday realities, that promise is especially relevant. People want health experiences that match how they actually live: fast, discreet, premium, and practical—with minimal friction and real follow-through.
Personalized Health, Explained Without the White Coat
Personalized health doesn’t require a medical degree to understand. It’s a system that does four things well:
- Establishes your baseline — a clear snapshot of how your body is functioning today.
- Detects drift over time — what’s improving, what’s stuck, what’s slipping.
- Translates data into action — simple, tailored steps you can actually do.
- Keeps you consistent — so improvements don’t fade after a “good month.”
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s trajectory. You’re not trying to “win health.” You’re trying to reduce risk and increase resilience—month after month.
“Think of it as a health command center: baseline, drift detection, and guided course-correction.” – Charles Cavo, DO Co-founder, Pounds Transformation
Why the UAE Is Ready for This Category
Dubai and the wider UAE are fertile ground for this model for three reasons:
- High intent: Many professionals already invest in fitness, nutrition, mental performance, recovery, and longevity practices.
- High friction: Even motivated people struggle to stay consistent when travel, deadlines, and family responsibilities pile up.
- High expectations: Premium experience isn’t a “nice to have” in the UAE; it’s a baseline for adoption.
Most people don’t need more information. They need a system that makes follow-through easier than falling off track.
That’s the core thesis behind Prana AI + SindyXR: the real disruption isn’t “one more health test.” It’s a repeatable operating model around the person that converts insight into sustained action.
Prana AI + SindyXR: A Hybrid ‘Longevity Concierge’ Built for Busy Lives
The Prana AI + SindyXR approach can be understood as three layers working together—each solving a different part of the real-world problem.
Layer 1: Precision diagnostics (the baseline)
This is the “what’s happening inside my body?” layer—advanced diagnostics designed to establish a meaningful baseline across key health domains. Not just a basic annual check, but a deeper view intended to help identify risk patterns early and prioritize what matters now.
Crucially, the output has to be readable, not intimidating: scores, trends, and plain-language insights that allow non-medical professionals to understand what they should focus on—without getting buried in numbers.
Layer 2: Prana AI as the Personal Longevity OS (the daily system)
This is where personalization becomes real. Many wellness apps can nudge, but they often lack context—your baseline and your changes over time.
Prana AI’s role is to function like a health command center:
- Daily routines that fit real schedules (sleep, movement, recovery, nutrition prompts)
- Wearable integration where available (to track trends, not obsess over single readings)
- Progress tracking that emphasizes trajectory (what’s changing, what isn’t)
- Quarterly and annual comparisons to identify drift early
The design intent is simple: reduce decisions. When people are busy, friction kills follow-through. The “OS” needs to feel like a co-pilot—not a second job.
Layer 3: SindyXR concierge + expert ecosystem (the follow-through engine)
The uncomfortable truth about health is that many people already know what to do. The problem is friction:
- booking
- scheduling
- follow-up
- accountability
- decision fatigue
SindyXR’s concierge layer aims to handle the “life admin” of better health—connecting users to curated experts, creating structured sessions, enabling community learning (webinars and roundtables), and coordinating next steps so momentum doesn’t fade.
This is the difference between:
- “I should do something about this,” and
- “It’s scheduled, guided, and underway.”
“The innovation isn’t one more test—it’s the operating model around the person.” – Sumit Puri, CEO & Co-Founder, Prana AI
The Closed Loop Most Health Experiences Don’t Deliver
Here’s what separates a premium testing service from a real system: the loop.
Most offerings stop at “test + report.” Some add “test + report + generic advice.”
The Prana AI + SindyXR model is designed to deliver a full cycle:
In other words:
- you don’t just learn your numbers,
- you change the trajectory, and
- you prove it over time.
That loop is the true product: a repeatable “operating model” for personal health.
Who It’s For First: The Executive Longevity Circle
The initial positioning is clear: this is built for people who are time-poor, performance-driven, and outcome-focused—CXOs, founders, board-level leaders, and globally mobile professionals (often 45+).
It’s a pragmatic wedge. High-touch membership models can:
- protect quality while the system is refined,
- build trust through experience rather than marketing,
- generate credible outcomes stories (the only marketing that matters in health).
From there, the model can expand into broader segments and partnerships—especially in an environment like the UAE where premium experience and measurable outcomes are powerful adoption catalysts.
The Trust Test: No Magic Claims, Just Clear Guardrails
AI in health is powerful—and sensitive. Adoption depends on trust:
- What is informational vs diagnostic?
- How is data stored and consent managed?
- How are recommendations explained?
- Where does clinician oversight come in?
The healthiest framing is simple: AI doesn’t replace doctors. It reduces noise, spots patterns, and improves follow-through. It helps people act earlier, more consistently, and with fewer blind spots.
What Success Looks Like in the UAE
If Prana AI + SindyXR execute well, the UAE could become a flagship market for a new category: personalized preventive health that feels as seamless as concierge banking.
Success won’t be measured by how “advanced” the tech sounds. It will be measured by:
- consistent engagement over months (not weeks),
- measurable improvement in key markers,
- fewer health surprises,
- better energy, sleep, recovery, and resilience.
Because the future of health won’t be another appointment.
It will be a smarter system around you—quietly keeping you on course.
“The UAE is uniquely positioned to lead this shift: people here value time, discretion, and outcomes. Personalized health will win when it feels as seamless as concierge banking—and as measurable as a performance dashboard.” – Subrato Basu, Global Managing Partner, The Executive Board
Tech News
AL OSTAD PALLET FACTORY APPOINTS ZAYSTACK INTELLIZENCE TO ADVISE ON DIGITISATION AND AUTOMATION PROGRAMME
Process digitalisation programme set to create another industry benchmark for Dubai Industrial City-headquartered Al Ostad Pallet Factory

Al Ostad Pallet Factory, based in Dubai Industrial City, has appointed ZayStack Intellizence to deliver a groundbreaking programme to digitise and automate core business processes across sales, procurement, production, inventory, and delivery.
Under the agreement, ZayStack will support an initial three-month phase focused on “quick wins and foundations”, including current-state assessment, process mapping and advanced software and AI tool recommendations. The project will also see rollout of practical templates, dashboards and minimum viable automations, designed to improve visibility and accountability across operations.
The recently inked agreement is part of Al Ostad’s continuing evolution, ensuring it keeps delivering value to its ever-growing customer base, building on more than 25 years in business with strong investment in the technology-driven future of the logistics sector.
The engagement aims to help Al Ostad reduce manual, person-dependent workflows and move towards a more digitally enabled, data-driven operating model that supports long-term growth, improved decision-making, and stronger customer communication. The project will help employees understand how to use cutting-edge AI tools to increase productivity.
Alex George, Managing Director, Al Ostad Pallet Factory, said: “Al Ostad Pallet Factory has grown on the strength of operational know-how and a hands-on approach. Now, we need to ensure our team is AI prepared, and that we all understand how to make best use of AI across our business.
“This programme is about putting the right digital foundations in place so we can improve visibility, reduce friction in day-to-day workflows, and scale with confidence, all while continuing to deliver reliably for our customers.”
Alex is keen to implement cutting-edge technologies at his 8,000 square meter DIC manufacturing facility, and is intent on becoming “best in class” for logistics and packaging solutions, aiming for the number one position regionally.
“We’re on track,” Alex says with confidence. “It’s about being ready for the future – a future where technology, sustainability, and supply chain resilience define the leaders in manufacturing. We want to be at the forefront of that shift.”
Alex believes the new workflows Zaystack will deliver will create a new industry benchmark in the region.
Tarun Malik, Partner, ZayStack Intellizence LLP, said: “Manufacturing businesses don’t need ‘digital’ for its own sake, they need practical systems that improve speed, accuracy and accountability. We’ll be working closely with Al Ostad to identify critical workflows and establish the dashboards, templates and ‘intelligent’ automation foundations that support sustainable, long-term adoption.”
The programme also includes a review of document management and IT readiness (hardware and network), with training and change-management support to help teams adopt new ways of working.
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