Supporting UAE innovators a key pillar of future work

Dubai / WAM

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, stressed the importance of long-term investment in innovation and supporting UAE innovators and enabling them to turn their ideas into innovative projects that benefit people.
“Supporting UAE innovators is a key pillar of the future work and efforts of the government to embed the concept of innovation into corporate cultures and society,” stated HH Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid.
HH’s visited the ‘Innovation Festival’, which is organised by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and is taking place on November 21–22, to celebrate the UAE’s Innovation Week. During the event, HH Sheikh Mohammed inaugurated the ‘Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Fund to Finance Innovation’s’ operational phase and the e-platform, which is set to receive funding requests from applicants.
During his speech, HH also said the UAE government has worked to create an environment for innovation incubators by adopting models for financial and moral support that work on building capacities and upgrading national competencies. HH emphasized that in order to support innovation, there must be an effective cooperation and participation between society and the public and private sectors, which is thereby essential for the development and growth of various sectors.
HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum inaugurated the first operational phase of the ‘Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Fund to Finance Innovation’, and took part in an introductory tour where he reviewed the festival’s events. HH Sheikh Mohammed was accompanied by Younis Haji Al Khouri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, a number of executives from the Ministry, representatives from government entities and festival participants.
HH Sheikh Mohammed commenced his tour by attending the Hackathon challenge which is implemented by MoF in cooperation with Microsoft. The Hackathon is an intense programming activity which takes place for 36 hours and includes 100 students from six different universities in UAE. The Hackathon develops innovative applications which serve the key sectors of the National Innovation Strategy. This activity received great interest where more than 200 students applied and 100 students have been shortlisted.
HH Sheikh Mohammed also attended several workshops specialised in business development, organised by MoF in cooperation with 20 different entities from the private sector. The workshops discussed several topics including innovative thinking, the transition from an idea to an invention, virtual reality and an introductory session on how to apply to the ‘Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Fund to Finance Innovation’. His Highness also attended the ‘Young Innovators’ workshop for school children aged between 8 and 12 years, where attendees learnt about the design, programming and the use of robotics by using simple and accessible tools.
The ‘Innovation Festival’ provided a platform for innovators, government representatives, entrepreneurs, investors, participants, SME owners and visitors to network together. The platform enables them to present their creative ideas to interested investors from the public and private sector in order to collaborate and further develop those ideas commercially. The festival also presented the ‘innovation challenge’ that identify three challenges in health, environment and education sectors, and present them to a group of innovators round the world, in order to receive their suggested innovative solutions. The Ministry received 65 innovative solutions from innovators from 21 different countries, and the three finalists met with the related federal entity to review, evaluate and study their solutions and the possibility of implementing them. The winners will be honoured by at the end of the festival.