Dubai sets the stage for global innovation

In Dubai, creative disruption is a way of life. That’s because normal is not acceptable. In fact, it’s boring. Repetitive government work is passe. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, is not one to rest on the emirate’s laurels. He demands dynamism from both institutions and individuals. What’s inspiring is that he leads by example and shows how it can be done. How else could a small maritime trading home have become a megapolis in just a few decades? Dubai’s expansion in the last 10 years has been the stuff of dreams, but sitting in the comfort zone is not Sheikh Mohammed’s idea of progress. The city has come so far in a short span of time and is in a hurry to do better. Enterprise is still fresh here and the leadership should be lauded for keeping the sense of dynamism alive. There’s a spirit of adventure that comes from the city’s close ties to the sea and other countries. With 200 nationalities in the country, there is so much potential that Dubai and the UAE seek to harness for its future development. There is talent and transparency and things get done faster here than any other country in the Middle East. Dubai is all about people coming together for innovation. It has built the right infrastructure and institutions and now wants to instil in its people a culture that creates, seeks and finds. Innovation is the government’s central theme, and Sheikh Mohammed is personally supervising how departments and officials are faring in this respect. The Ruler means business and asked government departments to come up with three innovative ideas this year as part of the 10x initiative to be rolled out over the next decade. Execution of these schemes will be supervised by Sheikh Mohammed himself. “Today, we don’t only plan for the next few years for Dubai, but also for the next decades,” he said at the World Government Summit. For a city that is not known to keep its ambition under wraps, Dubai has set the bar higher. It first built and people came. Now it will innovate for humanity and more people will come — and stay.