Dubai: Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman & CEO of Emirates Airline and Group, on Saturday launched the ‘Innovation Attraction Programme (IAP),’ an initiative that will position Dubai as a global hub of disruptive technologies as well as solutions.
The initiative was announced at the ‘StartUp Night’ hosted recently by Dubai SME, the agency of Dubai Economy mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, bringing together innovative startups in the UAE and 60 disruptive enterprises from 15 countries in a dialogue on successful entrepreneurship and the future of business.
Designed and implemented by Dubai SME, the programme seeks to reach out to over 25,000 startups worldwide that are looking at Dubai as a new market for their innovative solutions and facilitate their entry to Dubai.
Dubai SME developed IAP on its ‘Start Alliance’ platform, a partnership of SME enablers and facilitators from 15 countries, including Germany, Singapore, and Japan. The partnership exposes disruptive foreign SMEs to Dubai’s business ecosystem while also introducing SME innovations in Dubai to markets overseas.
The IAP will focus on disruptive solutions in six key sectors worldwide – aerospace; transport & mobility; energy efficiency; medical & health; education, and information technology – in line with Dubai’s strategic focus on these sectors as enablers of innovation, industrialisation and sustainable development.
“The Innovation Attraction Programme represents an action plan to translate the vision and strategies guiding Dubai and the UAE into tangible outcomes and accelerate the knowledge economy journey. Dubai already has a unique advantage as an entrepreneurial hub and our startups when empowered with the right resources can usher in innovative solutions and help accelerate our transition to a future-ready economy,” said Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of Dubai Economy.
