The Middle Eastern Wired title is the fifth printed edition of the tech media brand and is published under license agreement with Nervora, which also publishes Vogue Arabia.
The launch issue is a dual-cover edition featuring two of the Middle East’s most prominent names from the science and tech industries. The first cover features Sarah Al-Amiri, the UAE’s minister of state for advanced sciences and the deputy project manager for the Emirates Mars Mission probe, appointed to her position when she was just 30 years old. Al-Amiri talks to Wired about the UAE’s twin missions to Mars, the wider ambitions of the space program, and its potential impact for humanity at large. The second cover is Emirati businessman Mohamed Alabbar, who built the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, and the world’s largest mall, The Dubai Mall. Alabbar is also founder of Noon.com, an e-commerce company backed with $1 billion and is the biggest regional rival of global giant Amazon.
Wired Middle East launches as the region goes through a major societal and economic transformation, with technology and innovation at its core, say the publishers. The region consists of a young, tech savvy population, with 60% of people under the age of 30. Additionally, over the past few years, the Saudi Arabian and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds have been the world’s largest investors in technology companies, through a combination of direct investments in companies including Uber, as well as investments in global venture capital funds. In Saudi Arabia, new “giga” projects are formulating entirely new cities driven by new approaches to technology and infrastructure development.
Karina Dobrotvorskaya, Executive Director, Editorial Development, Condé Nast commented: “Wired Middle East reflects the values of the Wired brand, but is also specific to the local culture. It is vibrant, international, visual and sensual. There is a certain lifestyle element in this version of Wired, and it gives the iconic brand a fresh new perspective.”
Wired Middle East aims to elevate the region’s most prominent names and bring the latest trends in innovation to the global stage through a mix of technology, science, business and culture. Editorial in the launch issue includes a rare sit-down interview with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Chairman of Aramco, the world’s most valuable company. Other features include an interview with Emirati Omar Al Olama, who at just 27-years-old was appointed the world’s first AI minister in October 2017; an exploration of the shapers defining the future of tech in the region; as well as an investigation of the UAE’s extensive cloud-seeding operation.
Shashi Menon, Founder & CEO of Nervora and Publisher of Wired Middle East, remarked: “The launch of Wired Middle East heralds a new golden era of science and technology in the region. With the historic transformation taking place across the Middle East, there’s never been a more important time for the authoritative voice of Wired to come to the market and chronicle and elevate these stories to a global stage.”
He added: “Wired in print is a very special collector’s item: artfully curated, imaginatively designed and illustrated, and thoughtfully deep on the topics driving substantive change.”
Wired Middle East’s launch issue will be available on newsstands from 18 December in the GCC and wider Middle East. The print edition of Wired Middle East will be published quarterly.
Wired is published in Italy, Japan, the Middle East, South Korea, the UK and US.
