Dubai: The Chairman of Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, Hussain Jasem Al Nowais, revealed that the Khalifa Fund is considering launching a unique incubator for innovation which is to be the first in the UAE. It is designed to embrace Emirati innovators and provide them the right environment in which to develop their ideas. The incubator will include comprehensive programmes of support resources and services to convert innovative ideas into reality.
Al Nowais, participating in a discussion titled “From Investment to Innovation” during the third day of the Government Summit in Dubai, said, “Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development is working on launching the first innovation incubator in the UAE in cooperation with a number of partners, including educational, research, development and investment institutions, in the government and private sectors.
“The Fund is currently working on developing a vision for those incubators and its mechanism of action, and the services and facilities to be provided by the beneficiaries’ sectors, including finance,” he explained.
A comprehensive project for the development of electronic services and applications, in line with the rapid and successive growth in Abu Dhabi and the UAE, will be completed by the Khalifa Fund within two years, said Al Nowais.
“The first phase of the project includes the development of electronic systems to enable the user to complete all transactions with the Fund, starting from application for the fund, down to obtaining the necessary approvals, as well as tracking the status of the loan and the implementation of any developments during the period of repayment and other services.
“The second phase includes the development of smart applications to access and benefit from the Fund’s services through mobile devices and smart tablets and this is scheduled for implementation in 2016,” said Al Nowais.
Al Nowais also stressed “the need for the government to build and strengthen the knowledge capital to facilitate the transition to a knowledge-based economy and continue with the development of human capital, education curricula and support for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector”. He also highlighted the need to increase investments in infrastructure such as optical fibres or in the numbers of receiving towers to boost coverage and internet speed. “In the UAE, there are more than 16 million mobile phones, of which 75 per cent are smartphones,” he said.
“The Government of Abu Dhabi,” said Al Nowais, “attaches special importance to the ability of electronic technologies to reinforce quality of government services and their development. Electronic exchange and use of information has become a component of work in various government departments in the capital.
“Abu Dhabi works on the clear strategy of the transformation of society into a knowledge-based economy,” said Al Nowais. “The government of Abu Dhabi has achieved great successes in the electronic transformation of its services, and now offers more than 1,200 e-services in various fields with more than 52 smart government apps,” he added.
Abu Dhabi, he said, is the most appropriate place for creativity and innovation, and the UAE enjoys political stability, tolerance for religious, cultural freedom of expression and economic laws. Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030 places utmost importance on the education sector, according it a top priority in order to keep up with modern developments.
“The leadership believes in the importance of investment in human capital and development through the adoption of highest international standards in the education sector, which has a stake of up to 21 per cent in the federal budget,” said Al Nowais.
