Dubai: If you know how to better serve the public and can make your idea take flight, you might just be the UAE’s next millionaire.
The UAE government on Saturday announced that it has started accepting entries for the ‘UAE Drones for Good Award’ that gives prizes worth around Dh4 million. The award aims to explore how people apply the technology of drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to improve people’s lives.
Drones are unmanned aircrafts controlled remotely from the ground.
The award was launched under the direction of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, during the second Government Summit in February.
The award has two parts, which include an international prize offering $1 million (Dh3.67 million) and a local prize of Dh1 million.
The local prize will honour the best application for delivering government services in the UAE within the next 12 months. The focus should be on priority sectors such as health, education, civil defence, transportation, tourism, and others.
The international prize will recognise the best ideas for using UAVs in the next one to three years, focusing on their broader application in any area that may benefit humanity. This could include delivering government services in remote areas to humanitarian applications such as providing relief during natural disasters, to name a few.
Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs, said the award is a demonstration of Shaikh Mohammad’s vision to raise the government’s role in supporting innovation in future-related technologies and services that impact positively on people’s lives.
“This is another step in our efforts to achieve our goal of utilising technology to make life easier for people in the UAE and around the world,” said Al Gergawi. “The world has young innovators who need the support to translate their ideas into landmark projects of benefit to humanity. The award is therefore aimed at encouraging innovation among global students and in universities,” he added.
Al Gergawi said the government has been working on developing the strategic framework for effectively utilising UAV technology in extending services beneficial to humanity.
“After identifying the challenges and evaluating the current technology, we created a plan for UAV-based services based on four main pillars: legislative framework, priority services, creation of platforms for exchange of knowledge and experiences, and research and development.”
For more information, visit www.DronesForGood.ae.
