It is a formula that reinforces the UAE’s precision of approach to nation-building. The National Innovation Strategy announced by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai, seeks to enrich the country’s treasuries of intellect by embedding innovation in the key areas of development. The seven sectors to be driven by innovation — renewable energy, transport, education, health, technology, water and space — are the infallibles in a country’s growth. The UAE’s accent on innovation has always been a strong feature of its national plan and the Innovation Strategy unifies its vision into a highly focused result-driven initiative. Its emphasis on promoting research and development in government and the private sector is the re-assertion of a fundamental truth — the more you invest in thinking out of the box, the more you gain in breakthroughs. For example, encouraging government departments to reduce spending by 1 per cent to funnel the savings into research is a result-oriented strategy of the highest order. But it is not just the big entities who are being encouraged.
Even individuals working in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and education are under the purview of the Innovation Strategy, given how intellectual property rights can reshape the human condition and give countries an edge over others. In a highly competitive world that gauges nations by their ability to set their own benchmarks, the UAE is making sure it defines excellence in a way that is a standard-bearer for the rest of the world.
