Tesla Senior Consultant: Georgia can have smart country concept

Reema Diab, a Senior Consultant for Tesla, the CEO of Galaxy for Technology and one of the world’s top 100 women influencers in technology, said in an interview with agenda.ge Georgia could have a “smart country concept” with a modern technological urban environment.

Diab made the remark to the publication on the backdrop of Touch Summit, the largest technology conference in the South Caucasus region that opened in Tbilisi on Wednesday with support from Tbilisi City Hall, Georgia’s Education Ministry, the Innovation and Technology Agency and Bank of Georgia.

Georgia can be a smart country with smart cities inside with technologically modern urban areas that use information and communication technology. With this concept you can optimise cities' functions and promote economic growth while also improving the quality of life for citizens by using smart technologies and data analysis", she told the interview.

• Tbilisi hosting South Caucasus’ largest tech conference

Rustaveli Theatre is hosting Touch Summit. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge

Diab, who has over 10 years of experience in entrepreneurship, worked in Telecom companies as well as with the United Nations and is a member of global youth and women's bodies, also noted she was impressed with the “amazing country, welcoming people and perfect food" on her first visit to Georgia.

At the Summit, we asked the Tesla Senior Consultant what opportunities she saw for Georgian startups. She said there was an “obvious opportunity for startups to be unicorn companies in Georgia”, adding “but first of all they need to know what are the needs of the market and how to use the best technologies for their ideas”.

Georgian startups have huge potential to grow. They have to invest more in their skills, to know more about their competitors, and to know more how to bring their ideas to the investors. Organising these kinds of conferences could help to attract new investors for startups. Once you have an idea it should come from the needs of the community and should be a creative idea”, the entrepreneur told us.

Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge

We also asked about the significance of the Georgian Government’s support for startups through programmes and funding, with Diab noting it was “very important for startups to have a supportive ecosystem”.

The ecosystem comes from the partnership between the private sector, governmental sector and the startups. The other thing is that the regulations are aligned to the startups, to give them easy access to the finance. It is nice to hear that the startups in Georgia get funding from the state. There should be good relations between startups and the government”, she noted.

In response to our question on the top three pieces of advice she could give to domestic tech startups, she said the first piece of advice would be to “dream big and believe in yourself. Don't let anyone underestimate you. You have to believe in yourself and in your ideas”, followed by an understanding that “you need to have a right mentor from around your industry. You have to reach out to the investors or mentors, or some CEOs of the companies who will like your idea and direct you in a good way from their experience”. She also said she wanted to urge startups to “not be shy”, adding “[i]f anybody says no to your idea, it's not the end”.