UAE UPS thE bAr ON iNNOvAtiON
Dh2b
dubai — Innovation is a key value and distinguishing feature for societies of the future, according to His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VicePresident and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Shaikh Mohammed’s comments came as he attended the Government Innovations Ceremony, organised by the Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation (MBRCGI).
The event – part of the second UAE Innovation Week which ends Saturday – saw three winners emerge in the innovation contest, which was held under the theme “Afkari” – Arabic for “my ideas”.
“Innovation is a key value and a distinguishing feature of the societies of the future,” he said. “The UAE has successfully established innovation as a culture, and has used it to develop and support all strategic sectors. Under the leadership of His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, the United Arab Emirates has changed the way the world perceives government work, and adopted innovation as a culture, setting the foundation for a competitive knowledge economy. This, in turn, has developed our services and projects that aim to serve society and spread happiness.”
“Your efforts make us proud; every project entered in the competition is valuable and worthy of praise and admiration. We encourage every government employee to come forward with their creative ideas and projects,” he added. “Any idea, simple as it may seem, could be the seed for a project that can drastically transform the way our government operates, which eventually works to the advantage of our community.”
has been set aside
Any idea, simple as it may seem, could be the seed for a project that can drastically transform the way our government operates. for innovation Shaikh Mohammed
He asked all government entities to encourage all those in their ranks to be bold and creative, and to then adopt and implement their ideas to improve performance and increase productivity. “We want every government agency to become an incubator for innovation and to embrace its creative employees, support them, and turn their ideas into a reality that benefits society,” he said.
“The UAE realised early on that to build the future, we must begin by building an innovation- and knowledge-centric society. We worked to establish an environment that attracts innovators and creative minds, and launched initiatives and projects to encourage government departments to invest in innovation to enable future generations to grasp and utilise the sciences and technologies of the future.
“Our goal is clear and we are satisfied with what we have achieved so far; that said, we seek to achieve even larger and wider accomplishments. We want to accelerate our pace in order to turn innovation into a culture and a daily task in the community’, he said, adding that “we still have a lot to achieve to serve our people and make our nation one of the best countries in the world.”
He also toured an exhibition of the 30 ideas that made the finals, and met with participants from the second batch of the Diploma in Government Innovation, who were divided into six teams and presented happiness-related projects to His Highness: “Happiness Keys”, “Farha”, “Happiness Application”, “Happiness Path”, “Habiython” and “Home of Happiness”.
The second edition of the UAE innovation Week witnessed significant turnout, with federal and local government agencies, as well as private-sector, educational, academic, and community institutions, from across all seven emirates, taking part in 1,200 events throughout the week.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com