His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Member of the member of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Committee, hailed the adoption of his Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, of UAE’s Higher Policy for Science, Technology and Innovation, noting the vital role of higher education institutions as an essential lever in the application of Policy for Science, Technology and Innovation through the provision of specialized infrastructure in the areas of research and development and support of small and medium-sized enterprises with sophisticated database that includes the results of such studies and research.
His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan said that that the Ministry has presented several initiatives to support the Policy including the launch of courses on innovation in all national universities, the establishment of scientific and technological complexes at these universities and an increased focus on scholarship programs in the main fields of the Policy, including the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship.
His Excellency pointed out that the Ministry will work to attract entrepreneurs to benefit from their expertise through lectures, workshops and training courses to promote the practical concept of innovation and entrepreneurship, in addition to regulating the process of research and development at State universities, and standardization and development of policies of research and development centers.
His Excellency’s initiatives comprises over 100 national initiatives in sectors of education, health, energy, transport, space and water, and where the investment amounted to more than 300 billion Dirhams, the set includes new national policies in the investment, technological, legislative, educational and financial fields, with the aim of changing equations of the national economy, and pushing it away from dependence on oil resources and achieve advanced science and knowledge transfer for the UAE in the coming years.
In addition, the Science, Technology and Innovation Higher Policy includes a set of educational and scientific initiatives that aim to prepare leaders to align with the developmental changes anticipated for the UAE, the Policy aims to redouble the focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in all educational stages in the State, in addition to establishing research centrs in all UAE universities, focusing on innovation as the main factor in evaluating both public and private schools and universities, and establishing offices for technology transfer in all universities in the State to facilitate the transfer of advanced knowledge, and to establish programs for graduates in basic and applied research and drive cooperation between universities and the private sector in the fields of science, technology and innovation.
The Policy also includes providing national strategic support to various advanced industries, including space research and specialized aviation industries, and provides a number of investment and legislative incentives to attract global pharmaceutical industries by facilitating contractual partnerships with local factories, and to support the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the State, the establishment and development of national research programs in the field of robotics, genomics, the Policy includes new legislative frameworks to protect intellectual property and copyrights, attract scientists and researchers to the UAE’s academic and research institutions and facilitate the easy movement of advanced scientific equipment and resources into the State.
The Policy also includes establishing centers for energy storage solutions, expanding solar energy research programs and launching a national program for water desalination using advanced technologies and to establish specialized innovation complexes in technology, auto industry techniques and spare parts.