MoF to launch ‘Innovation Festival’ from Nov 21-22

Dubai / Emirates Business

As part of the Innovation Week of UAE, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced the launch dates for the ‘Innovation Festival’ which will take place on November 21-22. This initiative is aligned with the directives of HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of UAE and encapsulates the national innovation strategy launched by HH Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai to contribute in achieving the UAE Vision 2021.
The Innovation Festival within the Innovation Week aims to create a platform where creative minds and innovators will meet to communicate, share knowledge, exchange experiences and discuss overcoming challenges towards encouraging creativity and innovation. This festival will also be an ideal platform to enhance cooperation between various sectors locally and globally and will comprise of several workshops and interactive panels sponsored by the e-Dirham aiming to foster communication between stakeholders. Sessions will feature both innovators and entrepreneurs and the activities will include a Hackathon: Smart City Hack, an intense two-day competition for budding entrepreneurs during the 2 day festival.
HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs commented that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) adopts a culture of creativity and innovation and implements it in government work as a main pillar of the national strategy. H.E further added that MoF is committed to providing an innovative eco-system to give way to creativity and investment in human resources. MoF is keen to support all national efforts which are aimed towards fostering and elevating the rank of the UAE in achieving a position amongst the 10 most innovative countries in the world by 2021, through the adoption of a culture of innovation in all aspects of government.
HE said, “The UAE is a pioneer in entrepreneurship and innovation, which has become the adopted approach in all fields as a main pillar in governance. The pursuance of innovation today has become a comprehensive system with full-time teams and is now an anchored culture in both society and government, which works on developing its people and institutions in terms of knowledge and creativity. Innovation is necessary to build a sustainable future and realize a qualitative jump in that direction. Furthermore, it enhances international competitiveness and positions the UAE among the most innovative countries worldwide”.
HE added, “The UAE has great achievements to its credit in the area of innovation and has accomplished a number of events and activities during 2015, the Year of Innovation, in local and federal government as well as the private sector”.
Commenting further, H.E said, “As part of this momentum, MoF launches the Innovation Festival, to celebrate the spirit of creativity and excellence and to spread this culture among both Emiratis and residents of the UAE, as a contribution to the building of a knowledge-based society to guarantee the UAE will pursue its journey towards excellence in all fields. Through endeavours such as these, including the Innovation Festival, the UAE will become a global model of innovation which will further position the UAE amongst the other developed economies of the world. The Innovation Festival is a meeting place for creative minds and opens the door to companies and entrepreneurs to cooperate in various fields. It also allows innovators to communicate amongst each other to promote their innovations. The process is aimed towards addressing the needs of the UAE to achieve a smart government of the future”.
The Innovation Festival organized by the MoF coincides with the Innovation Week and will last for two days. The festival will feature events targeting the community of innovators and will also present a number of events dedicated to entrepreneurs and innovators aspiring to find funding and counseling from experts to be able to launch their innovations. Participants will be able to showcase their projects on dedicated platforms, and will have the opportunity to recount their journey on the road to innovation, share their experiences and discuss obstacles and solutions. Private sector companies will also have the chance to showcase their projects and initiatives to support innovation, their innovative products and new technologies.
The Innovation Festival will provide an opportunity to learn business strategic planning, the art of presenting and pitching project ideas, a number of condensed workshops with experts to develop the business ecosystem, lectures on how to implement innovation in the business environment, sharing real success stories of entrepreneurs, and many more functions aimed at enhancing the
culture of creativity and innovation.
Furthermore, it will also feature several events like the ‘Young Innovators’ workshop, for school children aged between 8 and 12 yrs, during which both visiting and participating children can learn about the design, programming and the use of robotics by using simple and accessible tools. There will also be an ‘innovation challenge’ to uncover innovators by challenging their abilities to find innovative solutions to various challenges in health, environment and education, to deliver models, study papers, services and final products. Winners will be awarded cash prizes.
The festival will include an ‘Innovation Discussion’, hosting a number of innovators and international experts to deliver presentations and participate in panel discussions about the future of innovation. Presenters will feature renowned names such as Hatem al Amoudi, a UAE businessman and founder of the Energy Solutions Group International (ESGI) in the “Innovation Journey’ segment and a keynote speech from Dr. Bruno Lanvin, from INSEAD on innovative nations, followed by a panel discussion on the role of innovation and how it can be promoted.
The Innovation Festival will be a platform for entrepreneurs to communicate with new innovative projects locally and internationally to meet investors and prominent international corporations. Participants will be able to meet with companies interested to know more about their projects, while various stakeholders can also present their innovations during the festival.