Dr Noura Al Dhaheri is one of a new generation of women who have begun stamping their mark on the United Arab Emirates’ shipping industry.

Widely acclaimed for her leadership and contributions to the country’s maritime sector, she is pioneering Abu Dhabi Ports (ADP)’s digitalisation drive.

Al Dhaheri is head of the ADP digital cluster, and chief executive of its purpose-built digital port community system, Maqta Gateway.

She holds a BSc degree in software engineering from the United Arab Emirates University, an MSc in engineering systems and management, as well as doing a PhD in interdisciplinary engineering at the Masdar Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Accolades she has won include Entrepreneur of the Year from International Bulk Journal, the Seatrade Maritime Awards for Integration of Women in the Maritime Sector and the Young Personality of the Year in 2019, as well as the Emirates Women Award for Leadership.

Her passion, she tells TW+, is technology.

An internship with ADP in 2014 piqued her curiosity in maritime trade, which she describes as an industry that, despite being responsible for moving 90% of world trade, is somehow still not visible to everyone.

“The question I kept asking myself was why one of the most ancient and predominant of industries was still paper-based for all of their dealings.

“Applying software engineering and the experience that I’ve got in logistics optimisation and supply chain to the maritime sector was something that I really wanted to do. Other sectors are really well advanced, whereas maritime needs a lot of work and effort to take it to the next level.”

The question I kept asking myself was why one of the most ancient and predominant of industries was still paper-based for all of their dealings

Noura Al Dhaheri

Having joined ADP as an intern, Al Dhaheri was quickly put to work investigating the enhancement of port operations through digital development and optimisation modelling.

The project started with four people, and within nine months became Maqta Gateway, a separate company under the ADP group that now has 400 employees.

She was hired to head the entity and tasked with creating a bridge between big data and the ports’ business operations, with a focus on the digitalisation and enhancement of the greater Abu Dhabi trade community.

Projects it has developed and implemented include the first purpose-built Port Community System in the UAE, as well Margo, the UAE’s digital marketplace for logistics.

Al Dhaheri and her team are developing an advanced trade & logistics platform that will become the Emirate of Abu Dhabi’s dedicated single window for all trade via sea, land, air and free zones.

“We are using cutting-edge technology to push the limit of the single-window platform so that it goes beyond the sea-side all the way to the doorstep of the consumer,’ Al Dhaheri explains.

She argues that shipping can’t live in its own little bubble, especially when it comes to digitalisation. “The supply chain is interconnected and is only as strong as its weakest link.”

Al Dhaheri suggests that the biggest challenge facing the maritime industry, including the ports sector, in future years will be collaboration and sharing of data.

“I think the biggest focus will be on how to bring everyone to the table to agree on how the information will be used and exchanged. The good news that we have seen over the last few months is a drive for creating a collaborative platform in order to exchange information amongst ourselves.”

She credits this effort in part to the International Port Community System Association, which has created the concept of a “network of trusted networks” so that information can be exchanged to facilitate end-to-end trade.

“I am very optimistic about the trends that are coming now for connectivity and big data. This will bring greater operational efficiencies and competitive advantages for all the users of the network. This by itself will show the value of having those information exchanges.”