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By Godfrey Olukya 13-2-2015
In order to compete with the world’s leading nations, the UAE is now seeking to maximise on its knowledge capital rather than primarily relying on its oil and gas reserves. Through various initiatives, such as the Technopreneur Competition in Abu Dhabi, which will be explored in depth at innovation Arabia 8 the UAE is increasingly placing emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Technopreneur competition, which was organised by Abu Dhabi University and the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, offered budding technology entrepreneurs in the UAE advice about their ideas and help in turning them into viable commercial prototypes.
The winners received funding from the Khalifa Fund and access to Abu Dhabi University resources, as well business and technical mentoring.
This aimed to help tackle the lack of support in the prototype development phase, which had previously been an issue in technology innovation in the UAE.
The Technopreneur Program is reflective of the wider need for governments in the MENA region to promote entrepreneurship and foster knowledge-based ventures, as Professor Khaled Sartawi, Chair of the Quality and Business Management track at Innovation Arabia 8, explains:“We need to look at education from the early stages in human life and to identify unknown potential in people. We also need to assure the availability of needed financial resources to transform the idea into a successful product or service. At the macro level, governments need to promote entrepreneurship through effective policies, regulations, and the efficient allocation of resources.”
The Technopreneur Program in Abu Dhabi will be discussed in detail at Innovation Arabia 8 along with other relevant topics such as innovation management for sustainable development and the role of university-industry collaboration in research and development.
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