In embodiment of the declaration of his Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan the adoption of the year 2015 as a year of innovation, and upon the directives of his Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai for the implementation of the National Innovation Strategy, and embracing the principles of entrepreneurship in government work, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced the introduction of innovation and entrepreneurship curriculum as an accredited course in all government and private universities in the State, to begin teaching them students in the various specialties at all university levels next semester in January 2016.
His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, confirmed that the introduction of innovation and entrepreneurship curriculum into university education courses at all levels as a mandatory course aims at rooting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the fields of higher education, and the development of students’ knowledge and skills on innovative basis, strengthening the role of universities as scientific and intellectual platforms to enhance the education output to support the development of an integrated economic system built on a foundation of knowledge that enhance the superiority of the State and its global leadership, in line with the objectives of the UAE Vision 2021, which responds to the orientations of the wise leadership of the UAE, for innovation and entrepreneurship to become a social and scientific knowledge culture and an inherent value in college students, to adopt it as an approach and vision for the future in support of the government’s efforts in building the knowledge economy when these students become in a few years leaders and entrepreneurs.
His Excellency added that universities play multiple essential roles in knowledge generation and community service, which requires the development of the university educational system, transforming universities into scientific research centers that embrace innovation and entrepreneurship as a method according to a future vision to upgrade the educational process and its outputs, and to encourage students to transform their ideas into innovations by providing the resources, tool and innovation and entrepreneurship incubators, capable of their development, capacity-building and training to engage them to engage in the knowledge society.
His Excellency stressed the importance of intensifying and uniting the joint national efforts among all universities, academic institutions, and scientific research centers in the State, so as to ensure the quality of education outcomes, to contribute to the achievement of knowledge-based comprehensive development.
On the other hand, His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan pointed out that the joint cooperation agreement, recently signed by the Ministry and Stanford Center for Professional Development of the “Leland Stanford Junior University” in the United States, aims to strengthen global partnerships, exchange experiences and expertise, have access to the best global practices in the development of innovation programs and educational entrepreneurship according to the highest and latest international standards, support the efforts of the Ministry, and benefit from the expertise of the Center through the design of an educational program in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship, under the supervision of the Stanford Center for Professional Development, and Stanford Technology Ventures Program “STVP”.
The agreement also includes the preparation of innovation and entrepreneurship curricula, and the training of faculty members selected from public and private universities accredited in the country on these curricula, to be taught as of January 2016, in order for the chosen authority to become a hub to train the university professors on teaching the innovation and entrepreneurship curricula at UAE universities. It also includes holding workshops for faculty members in the participating universities, organizing guidance sessions for the faculty members in the country with the participation of experts from the Center, and organizing visits for faculty members to “Stanford” and “Silicon Valley”, in order to introduce them to the sophisticated systems in the areas of teaching and engage them in a series of activities and accumulative experiences to develop and strengthen their abilities to design the innovation and entrepreneurship curriculum.