Page 40 - SAMENA Trends - August-September 2025

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

stc Pay Bahrain Wins Fintech Telecommunications

Award at Middle East Technology Excellence Awards
2025

stc pay, Bahrain's most innovative and stc pay has quickly become a leader products such as the Elite Card and Family
accessible mobile wallet for digital financial in the country’s fintech sector, offering Cards. The platform also supports Apple
transactions, has won the Fintech – services such as local and international Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay for
Telecommunications category at the Middle transfers, bill payments, prepaid cards, seamless contactless transactions. Khalid
East Technology Excellence Awards 2025. and payroll solutions. Key initiatives Al Osaimi, Chairman of stc pay and CEO
The recognition highlights stc pay’s role include a partnership with the Labor of stc Bahrain, commented. "This award
in driving Bahrain’s digital transformation Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) to reflects our commitment to providing
and delivering secure, accessible, and provide new expatriates with instant IBAN- secure, accessible, and innovative financial
innovative financial services to individuals linked wallets, a Wage Protection System- solutions for everyone in Bahrain. stc pay is
and businesses across the Kingdom. compliant payroll service used by over more than just a mobile wallet – it is part
Licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, 100 companies, and exclusive Mastercard of our vision for a cashless Bahrain, in line
with the Kingdom’s digital transformation
strategy. We will continue to innovate
and collaborate with our partners to
make digital financial services even more
inclusive and convenient for all." The
Middle East Technology Excellence Awards
celebrate innovation and excellence
across the region’s technology sector. By
combining telecommunications expertise
with advanced fintech solutions, stc pay
continues to support Bahrain’s vision of
a fully digital economy and strengthen its
position as a leader in the region’s digital
payments landscape.

Tech Mahindra and MIT Technology Review Insights
Release Report on AI’s Growing Role in Sustainable
Product Design

Tech Mahindra, a leading global provider of technology consulting nology Review Insights reinforces the importance of measurable,
and digital solutions to enterprises across industries, in collabora- AI-driven frameworks that reduce emissions and help businesses
tion with MIT Technology Review Insights, released a joint report future-proof their models responsibly.” According to the research,
that emphasizes how enterprises can leverage artificial intelli- nearly 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined at
gence (AI) to enhance sustainability in product design and devel- the design stage. AI-powered tools such as digital twins, simula-
opment. The report highlights that enterprises combining AI with tions, and rapid prototyping can optimize designs for functionality,
sustainability in their design and prototyping processes will gain a manufacturability, and sustainability, significantly reducing waste,
significant competitive edge. The study finds that while AI adop- emissions, and resource usage. Despite these opportunities, the
tion in product development is on the rise, many organizations are study identifies key challenges enterprises face in embedding sus-
still in the exploratory stage. Full-scale implementation remains tainability into product development. These include:
limited due to cost constraints, knowledge gaps, and rapidly shift- • Customer confusion about what makes a product truly sustain-
ing market dynamics. At the same time, increasing regulatory and able
societal expectations are putting corporates under pressure to re- • Rapidly changing regulations and standards, a shortage of spe-
duce environmental footprints while continuing to innovate. Nara- cialized talent
simham RV, President - Engineering Services, Tech Mahindra, said, • The absence of measurable sustainability metrics to track prog-
“Enterprises today are under increasing pressure to innovate while ress.
reducing their environmental footprint. At Tech Mahindra, we em- The joint report emphasizes that by overcoming hurdles and adopt-
power enterprises to achieve this by embedding AI into the earli- ing measurable AI-led frameworks, organizations can harness sus-
est stages of product development through tools like digital twins, tainability as a driver of innovation, ensuring long-term business
simulations, and rapid prototyping. The joint study with MIT Tech- resilience and contributing positively to the planet.
40 AUG-SEP 2025