The first operational phase of a fund to finance innovation in the UAE has been inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The e-platform, which is set to receive requests from applicants for the ‘Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Fund to Finance Innovation’ has also been launched, said a Wam news agency report.
Sheikh Mohammed stressed the importance of long-term investment in innovation and supporting UAE innovators and enabling them to turn their ideas into innovative projects that benefit people.
''Supporting UAE innovators is a key pillar of the future work and efforts of the government to embed the concept of innovation into corporate cultures and society,'' he said.
He visited the ‘Innovation Festival’, organised by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) from November 21 to 22 to celebrate the UAE’s Innovation Week.
Sheikh Mohammed said the UAE government has worked to create an environment for innovation incubators by adopting models for financial and moral support that work on building capacities and upgrading national competencies.
He emphasized that in order to support innovation, there must be an effective cooperation and participation between society and the public and private sectors, which is thereby essential for the development and growth of various sectors.
Sheikh Mohammed also attended the Hackathon challenge which is implemented by MoF in cooperation with Microsoft. The Hackathon is an intense programming activity which takes place for 36 hours and includes 100 students from six different universities in UAE. The Hackathon develops innovative applications which serve the key sectors of the National Innovation Strategy. This activity received great interest where more than 200 students applied and 100 students have been shortlisted.
Sheikh Mohammed also attended several workshops specialised in business development, organised by MoF in cooperation with 20 different entities from the private sector.
Younis Haji Al Khouri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, said the fund aims to raise the level of national innovation to higher standards, and supports individuals during their innovation journey in addition to providing funding solutions and the appropriate environment to assist them in transforming their ideas and innovations into projects that support the National Innovation Strategy and achieve the UAE Vision 2021.
He stated that the Fund’s team will study and evaluate the funding requests and will discuss them with experts in related entities, in order to determine their compliance with the fund’s standards, and to successfully meet the commercial side of transforming those creative ideas into successful projects.
The applicants need to provide long-term plans for their projects supported by a study in order to qualify them to receive the required funding.