Dubai:

Bridging the gap between industry, academia and government is key to facilitating the transformation of our current knowledge-based economy into an innovation-led economy, driven by skilled, specialised workers striving for development across every industry.

Education is a vital component of this strategy, and the first step is to bring together representatives from each of these groups to discuss how we can deliver innovative higher education courses. This is one of the reasons that, as part of Tecom Investment’s support of the National Innovation Strategy, we at the Education Cluster are launching our inaugural Industry and University Partnerships Forum (I-UP).

Our ultimate aim is to ensure the education sector continuously pursues innovation so that it is able to better cater to the industry requirements that will ultimately sustain the wider economy.

The UAE is currently ranked 24th for innovation, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index. Bearing in mind that these rankings consider 144 countries, coming in at 24 is an excellent feat, and one to be proud of. But the UAE is competitive by nature and we will always continue to strive to improve, develop, and achieve more.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, recently announced the launch of the new National Innovation Strategy, an evolution of the knowledge-based economy that was established, of which growth of our education sector was an integral part of achieving this success. However, it is now time to shift our mindsets and use our resources, our youthful nation, and the ever growing influx of talented minds to the region, if we are to drive cross-sector innovation.

The aim of the National Innovation Strategy is to establish the UAE as one of the most innovative nations in the world within the next seven years, focusing on seven core sectors — renewable energy, transport, health, technology, water, space, and education. The Dubai Innovation Strategy involves 20 initiatives which will be rolled out over the next three years, in an effort to make Dubai the world’s most innovative city.

To do this, we must continue to facilitate dialogue and synergy between the public and private sectors, academics and the Government to ensure that each is aligned to the same objectives.

The big question, from an education perspective, is how do we deliver on the innovation strategy and successfully integrate academia and industry into one coherent function? The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) report by the World Economic Forum placed the UAE sixth in terms of ‘Quality Higher Education and Training’, ahead of traditional economic hubs such as UK, USA and Australia, demonstrating how far the UAE has come in becoming a higher education hub.

The report also highlights how in today’s increasingly global economy, nurturing a pool of well-educated workers able to perform complex tasks and to adapt rapidly to their changing environment is vital for overall country-level competitiveness. And a key part to being able to accommodate change is the ability to foster innovation.

The recent launch of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation is certainly a step in the right direction in answering the need to integrate academia and industry. The centre seeks to build a network of global partnerships with universities and specialised institutes, as well as international organisations.

Our IUP event is another example of the progress in this area, as it is designed to bring together experts from a wide range of industries to discuss practical ways in which we can grow the industry sector and foster innovation through training, research, and knowledge development. The event will be a platform for universities to interact with industry professionals and introduce new educational programmes designed to plug the major skill gaps identified across a number of key industries.

At the Education Cluster, we are committed to creating synergies between our partners so that we may identify and discuss the demands of industry. As a result of this demand, our partners offer 400 higher education programmes, each designed to cater to the needs on both the students and their future industries.

By ensuring that we are providing training and knowledge development innovative and relevant for the future growth of both the country and this region, we are playing our part in the UAE leadership’s vision of creating an Innovation-led economy that will safeguard sustainable GDP growth.

Education is a key component for our leadership’s innovation agenda, but it needs to be driven on a sector-wide scale.

— The writer is the Managing Director of the Education Cluster of Tecom Investments, a member of Dubai Holding.