4. RECOMMENDATIONS: LINKING MACRO AND MICRO ANALYSIS

Dubai Private Sector Innovation Index

Private Sector View

Macroeconomic View

Dubai Innovation Index applied both top-down and bottom-up

Enablers

methodologies to measure innovation with the macroeconomic analysis focusing on this top-down approach, while the microeconomic private sector analysis focused on a bottomup approach. The Index helps to draw a comparison not only across global cities, but also within the private sector in Dubai, across industries and companies of various sizes. The Dubai Innovation Index at macroeconomic level, analyses how the innovation ecosystem is defined by it’s enablers and the tangible and intangible outcomes indicate what a city has achieved as of today. The enablers of innovation refers to all elements of the Innovation ecosystem that help create the ideal environment for innovation. A high enabler score would mean investments are being made by the city to build a solid foundation to help propel Innovation.

Dubai Innovation Index

“The macroeconomic is a view of today , while the microeconomic factors into the future” At the private sector firm level these enablers needs to translate into innovation capabilities of the firm. These capabilities then allow private sector firms to conduct activities related to innovation creating impact in the form of both tangible and intangible outputs. Once these capabilities are built, they will remain for longer and are likely to be improved and enhanced by private sector. There has always been a time lag between the macroeconomic support and private businesses reacting and responding to it to improve on the existing Capability.

Activity

Private Sector Output Ratio Private Sector Innovation Score

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ENABLER SCORE

46.48

PERFORMANCE SCORE

MACROECONOMIC INNOVATION RATIO: 0.68

31.80

Comparing the two ratios shows that innovation is largely government driven, and that private firms are largely benefitting from the enablers the government is creating. As the micro level ratio is larger than one, it shows that firms are more than exceeding the amount of innovation output relative to the amount of innovation input they are putting in. This indicates that the public sector’s initiatives and contributors to innovation are allowing the private sector to reap the benefits, as well as indicating that private sector firms must work harder at increasing capability and activity in order to see more impact.

Performance

Innovation Output Ratio

Capability

INNOVATION SCORE: 39.14/100

The innovation ratio is a measure of input compared to innovation output, signifying how much innovation output is resulting from a given level of innovation inputs. The macroeconomic innovation ratio (0.68) signifies that Dubai is seeing less innovation output relative to it’s level of inputs. This is both a sign that Dubai is seeing less innovation output than it is input, but also a positive sign that Dubai has plenty of capacity in which innovation can grow. Dubai’s micro level innovation ratio (1.04), meanwhile, is showing a positive signs of delivering more impact as an output compared to investments in building capabilities and conducting Innovation related activities.

Impact

Private sector view of Dubai (Microeconomic level)

For a complete picture of the innovation in a city to be painted , the top-down approach of the macroeconomic analysis must be compared and contrasted with a bottom-up method of the microeconomic analysis. This is the first time ever this study has evaluated macroeconomic data and contrasted it to firm-level private sector views of a city. The macroeconomic view of the index studies ecosystem elements at the city level in two parts, first those that enable innovation and second those that measure innovation performance. In line with the elements of the macroeconomic study, the private sector view, i.e. microeconomic analysis is an overall measure of firms’ capability to innovate, their innovation activities and the subsequent impact of innovation.

Macroeconomic City-Level Dubai

Comparing macro and micro innovation ratios indicates that innovation in Dubai is primarily Government driven.

Comparison of Micro and Macro results

ENABLER SCORE

56.34

CAPABILITY SCORE 53.96 ACTIVITY SCORE 56.34

INNOVATION SCORE: 57.10 PRIVATE SECTOR INNOVATION RATIO: 1.04

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IMPACT SCORE

58.62

TANGIBLE IMPACT 57.79 INTANGIBLE IMPACT 59.45

Dubai Private Sector Innovation Index Comparing macro and micro innovation ratios indicates that innovation in Dubai is primarily Government driven.

Comparison of Micro and Macro results Top-down and Bottom-up data measures MACRO DATA INDICATORS

1. Public sector is building an innovation profile for the future and Private sector is focussed on current state results On closely looking at the distribution of enabler and performance scores at macro level and capability, activity and impact scores at micro level, it can be interpreted that at Macro level Dubai is following a more forward looking approach and investing to build foundation for the future as indicated by their innovation ratio of 0.68. This ratio places Dubai in the top half of the ranking table for Innovation Ratio amongst the 28 cities and also indicates that Dubai’s enabler score is significantly greater than performance. The reverse of this is seen at micro level where the impact scores exceed capability and activity scores, this leads to the interpretation that the private sector is focussing their efforts towards immediate, current and short term results to create an impact and are scoring lower in building the environment or the right capability for sustainable innovation. This is backed by the low scores for implementation of new ideas, organization enablers and skills and talent for innovation.

2. The Private Sector firms report low intellectual capital which reciprocates with the low scores for R&D institutions at Macro level.

Although the overall impact score for private sector is high, this has been brought down by low scores for intellectual capital and growth and revenue generation. Innovation can be defined as the commercial exploitation of ideas, and poor scores in both intellectual capital and revenue growth and generation draw a striking insight that true innovation which results in intellectual property is crucial at the private sector. The low score for intellectual capital is also complemented with the low score for capability at private sector level, which is mainly brought down by the challenge faced across firms to retain the best skilled talent for innovation. Overall, although the private sector is recognizing the importance of innovation and starting to build capability for management of innovation, and conducting activities for accessing, selecting and developing new ideas, poor scores across skills and talent, implementation of new ideas, intellectual capital and growth and revenue generation indicate that focused efforts towards these elements can further boost the overall innovation ecosystem across the private sector. The private sector also reports high scores for technology readiness, hence another insight that can be drawn is that despite high scores in technology readiness, the right capability is essential to be developed in order to utilise technology extensively to develop intellectual capital and result in growth and revenue generation.

3. Dubai’s mid-table ranking for overall innovation score but upper half ranking for innovation ratio indicates Dubai is doing more for less. Dubai’s high rank for innovation ratio, #11 across the 28 cities of comparison indicates that in relation to other cities Dubai’s performance in innovation is better matched to their investment in enablers, however, there is a significant scope for Dubai to better utilise the foundation set for the future of an innovative city by continuing to build enablers and also reciprocate investment in enablers with continuous performance across both tangible and intangible pillars. Currently, low scores in intangible pillars is bringing Dubai lower in performance ranking.

4. Comparing Macro Innovation Ratio to Micro Innovation Ratio suggests that Innovation in Dubai is more Government driven than Private Sector driven.

This highlights the role of Dubai Chamber in spreading awareness amongst the private sector to better utilise innovation enablers developed across the city to build innovation capability and conduct activities in innovation. Primary research and interviewing key players in the industry such as Sanjeev Chadha, CEO PepsiCo, Asia, Middle East and Africa backs this insight as well. “The public sector is doing great things for innovation and further awareness of this needs to be spread across the private sector, Dubai Chamber plays a big role in this”

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ENABLERS 46.48 PES Environment Measures political stability, economic environment an overall appeal of the city

PERFORMANCE 46.48

Government Measures policies and regulations set by the government that impact the business environment

57.99 Infrastructure Measures the infrastructure for innovation including R&D labs, ICT infrastructure and the environmental performance of the city

Funding Measure the extent and prevalence of funding, both private and public which helps develop new businesses

69.70 Skills & Talent Measures the enablement of skills & talent through primary and higher education

and institutions of education

17.39

31.74 Culture Measures the presence of an entrepreneurial and open, employee friendly culture in the city which boosts innovation

37.99

64.06

Tangible Outcomes Measures tangible results of innovation including new products & services, creative outputs, technology outputs and revenue generation in the city

35.26

Intangible Outcomes Measures outputs in terms of intellectual property, creation of culture and the extent of collaboration for innovation

28.34

MICRO DATA INDICATORS INNOVATION INPUTS

46.48

IMPACT 46.48

Capability Questions falling under this category mainly measure the capability of the organization to carry out innovation, these are around 5 key areas: • Leadership & Culture • Management of Innovation • Organization Enablers • Collaboration • Skills & Talent Activity Questions falling under this category measure actual activities being carried out by the organization to ensure innovation is taking place, it measures the efforts put in towards innovation: • Accessing new ideas • Selecting & Developing new ideas • Implementing new ideas

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Tangible Impact

53.96

Measures tangible results of innovation including new products & services, creative outputs, technology outputs and revenue generation of the firm

57.79

Intangible Impact

58.72

Measures output in terms of intellectual property, access to talent and the extent of collaboration for innovation in the firm

59.45

Dubai Private Sector Innovation Index Enablers that are building the platform for innovation in Dubai fundamental to Dubai’s progress.

Government support (as measured in the Government pillar) through business-friendly policies and regulations are key elements of an environment supportive of business innovation. Regulatory constraints or tax burdens can greatly diminish innovation Capacity, be it through decreased resources or lack of profit motives. In contrast, government incentivisation of innovation can greatly encourage and support Activity. Funding is a key part of allowing a private business to innovate, as capital accessibility encourages more investment in IT and R&D. Availability of funds is a huge element in the management of innovation, a part of innovation Capability, and hence is a key factor in whether innovative initiatives and ideas are able to translate into Activity. One of the measurements for innovation Infrastructure is access to high-quality research and educational institutions. Research institutions make it easier for private companies to invest in R&D, creating a knowledge base, both measures of innovative Capacity. Proof of concepts are then able to translate these findings into new and improved innovative products and services, a measurement criteria of Activity. Among others, the Skills & Talent pillar measures a city’s academic resources, as these develop better human capability, which does the work of innovation. A more skilled workforce allows firms to find better talent, a metric measured in Capacity. Better trained employees are more likely to be able to contribute to innovation efforts as measured in Activity. One of the measures of the Culture pillar quantifies how conducive an environment is to entrepreneurship. A high score indicates that the atmosphere is right to encourage entrepreneurial and innovative thinking, a measure of Capability. This in turn will mean valuing innovation Activity and cultivating an environment that allows and even encourages constructive risk-taking.

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Dubai’s Rank

The selected Enablers are the macroeconomic variables that encourage innovation in a city, allowing Capacity to develop, which in turn drives Activity. Capacity measures whether a company is encouraging and creating the environment for innovation. Activity measures how much of this capability is being put to use by private firms, meaning that Capacity determines whether innovation Activity takes place. One of the enablers in the PES Environment pillar is economic growth. Strong economic growth means that the market is doing well and hence private business will be rewarded for innovating, as well as have the right climate to grow. Economic growth means increasing resource levels, thereby allowing greater innovation Capability. Increasing revenue will also allow firms to be able to access and implement new ideas quicker, as gauged by Activity.

Interactions between Macro output and Micro input 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Dubai’s Overall Enabler Ranking

PES Environment

Government

Innovation Funding

Innovation Infrastructure Figure 4.1: Dubai’s Overall Enabler Ranking

As can be seen in the diagram above, Dubai ranks 15th highest for macroeconomic enablers. Delving further into individual pillars, PES Environment is slightly below average, with Dubai scoring amongst the lowest for it’s People score, due in part to low ecological footprint scores. Increasing the focus on green technologies and eco-friendly products and services is an example of an action that private sector firms can take in order to improve this score and counter this weak spot.

Skills & Talent

Innovation Culture

resources to invest further in innovation was a major challenge. Dubai’s weakest enabler score is Innovation Infrastructure, with Dubai scoring the lowest for institutions, second to the lowest for ICT and poorly for environmental stability. Increasing software spend and importing other ICT goods are examples of private sector actions that would contribute to increasing this score, while the most needed action is increasing R&D spend, where Dubai ranks lowest in the world. Finally, improving environmental sustainability through energy efficiency and Dubai scores above it’s average for Government, an indication performance are another example of private sector initiative that that the government of Dubai is developing the right can translate to substantial effects to Dubai’s macroeconomic environment for innovation, however Dubai’s regulatory score innovation environment. brought this score down, and this is an area which could see some improvement. Skills & Talent is Dubai’s second weakest pillar, and that both the public and private sectors must focus on improving. Dubai Dubai’s enabler score is brought down by Innovation Funding, scores weakly for both primary and higher education. The with scores for both private investment and banking weak. private sector can support this through educational programs Private sector actions that could remedy this would include and initiatives. increasing investments in greenfield projects and venture capital, as well as through increasing inward FDI. In terms of Finally, Dubai ranks favorably in terms of Innovation Culture, banking, access to credit and a low amount of domestic credit a sign that this is a strong point for Dubai, one that it must being afforded to the private sector were highlighted as weak continue to develop. Specifically, increasing job security will points in the macro-level analysis. This is echoed through the allow employees to be more willing and able to dedicate their micro level survey, in which firms highlighted that finding the full attention to developing innovation for their firms.

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Comparing macro and micro innovation ratios indicates that innovation in Dubai is primarily Government driven. Macroeconomic City-Level Dubai

Private Sector View of Dubai (Micro Level)

INNOVATION SCORE: 39.14/100

INNOVATION SCORE: 57.10/100

ENABLER SCORE

ENABLER SCORE

46.48

IMPACT SCORE

56.34

PERFORMANCE SCORE

46.48

CAPABILITY SCORE

53.96

MACROECONOMIC INNOVATION RATIO: 0.68

ACTIVITY SCORE

56.34

Evaluation and comparison of macroeconomic view and private sector view of Dubai provides insights that support recommendations for the future Dubai has a sound base for Innovation, although Innovation is largely driven by the Government in Dubai Government is building and investing for the future in innovation but the private sector is focusing on the short term, i.e. immediate outputs.

58.62

TANGIBLE IMPACT

57.79

INTANGIBLE IMPACT

59.45

Government is enabling and driving innovation to a greater extent than the private sector

PRIVATE SECTOR INNOVATION RATIO: 1.04

Comparing Macro Level Innovation Ratio to Micro Level Innovation Ratio 0.68/1.04 = 0.65 This ratio represents the Government’s involvement in innovation. A low ratio would indicate high Government Driven Innovation and a high ratio would indicate high Private Sector Driven Innovation 1. Public sector is building an innovation profile for the future and Private sector is focussed on current state results On closely looking at the distribution of enabler and performance scores at macro level and capability, activity and impact scores at micro level, it can be interpreted that at Macro level Dubai is following a more forward looking approach and investing to build foundation for the future as indicated by their innovation ratio of 0.68. This ratio places Dubai in the top half of the ranking table for Innovation Ratio amongst the 28 cities and also indicates that Dubai’s enabler score is significantly greater than performance. The reverse of this is seen at micro level where the impact scores exceed capability and activity scores, this leads to the interpretation that the private sector is focussing their efforts towards immediate, current and short term results to create an impact and are scoring lower in building the environment or the right capability for sustainable innovation. This is backed by the low scores for implementation of new ideas, organization enablers and skills and talent for innovation.

2. The Private Sector firms report low intellectual capital which reciprocates with the low scores for R&D institutions at Macro level. Although the overall impact score for private sector is high, this has been brought down by low scores for intellectual capital and growth and revenue generation. Innovation can be defined as the commercial exploitation of ideas, and poor scores in both intellectual capital and revenue growth and generation draw a striking insight that true innovation which results in intellectual property is crucial at the private sector. The low score for intellectual capital is also complemented with the low score for capability at private sector level, which is mainly brought down by the challenge faced across firms to retain the best skilled talent for innovation. Overall, although the private sector is recognizing the importance of innovation and starting to build capability for management of innovation, and conducting activities for accessing, selecting and developing new ideas, poor scores across skills and talent, implementation of new ideas, intellectual capital and growth and revenue generation indicate that focused efforts towards these elements can further boost the overall innovation ecosystem across the private sector. The private sector also reports high scores for technology readiness, hence another insight that can be drawn is that despite high scores in technology readiness, the right capability is essential to be developed in order to utilise technology extensively to develop intellectual capital and result in growth and revenue generation.

Lower enabler (input) score compared to performance score (output) at private sector level suggests focus on short term outputs Dubai has challenges to utilise the strong foundation and further boost innovation performance Low intellectual capital and skills & talent scores at both macroeconomic and private sector level

Funding and innovation policies stand out as areas of improvement to further enable innovation Dubai ranks very low for knowledge and R&D institutions resonating with poor scores for implementation of ideas by private sector

3. Dubai’s mid-table ranking for overall innovation score but upper half ranking for innovation ratio indicates Dubai is doing more for less. Dubai’s high rank for innovation ratio, #11 across the 28 cities of comparison indicates that in relation to other cities Dubai’s performance in innovation is better matched to their investment in enablers, however, there is a significant scope for Dubai to better utilise the foundation set for the future of an innovative city by continuing to build enablers and also reciprocate investment in enablers with continuous performance across both tangible and intangible pillars. Currently, low scores in intangible pillars is bringing Dubai lower in performance ranking.

4. Comparing Macro Innovation Ratio to Micro Innovation Ratio suggests that Innovation in Dubai is more Government driven than Private Sector driven. This highlights the role of Dubai Chamber in spreading awareness amongst the private sector to better utilise innovation enablers developed across the city to build innovation capability and conduct activities in innovation. Primary research and interviewing key players in the industry such as Sanjeev Chadha, CEO PepsiCo, Asia, Middle East and Africa backs this insight as well. “The public sector is doing great things for innovation and further awareness of this needs to be spread across the private sector, Dubai Chamber plays a big role in this”

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There is a lack of awareness of the importance of innovation across the private sector

Retention of talent for innovation recognized as a challenge by the private sector

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Key observations on innovation in Dubai from analysis of macro and micro scores

Overall Dubai’s Rank is low at #16 out of the 28 selected cities and Dubai should aim to progressively climb the ladder from rank 16 to a rank above the likes of Sydney, Paris etc. in the coming few years, as well as set a -5year plan to rank amongst the top 10 with the likes of New York, Seoul. etc.

1. Skills & Talent is an innovation challenge area for Dubai indicated by private sector responses and also reflected in the low macro scores A well-educated and qualified workforce is a key factor for the success of any city. This is especially true in terms of innovation, where skilled and technically proficient employees are key factors in driving and generating innovative thinking. Skills and talent, however, has arisen as an area of concern in both the macroeconomic and the microeconomic analysis. In the macroeconomic analysis, this is visible through Dubai’s low scores on educational assessments, lack of world-ranking universities, and low amount of libraries, all contributors to it’s low ranking and scores. These are findings reiterated by the private sector survey, in which the majority of businesses identified finding and retaining talent as a challenge. Initiatives such as the “Year of Reading” and the Mohammed bin Rashid Library are steps in the right direction, however focused funding on other relevant areas of education, such as universities, and devising a strategy to ease retention of talent, are key to Dubai firms improving their ability to continue to attract and maintain a skilled and talented workforce.

2. Intellectual capital is scored low by the private sector and is also reflected at the macro level. Dubai needs to work towards building IP domestically to improve their global innovation footprint Companies must keep innovating in order to have a competitive advantage, however lack of intellectual property (IP) protection, through patents, trademarks and the enforcement of the same, can keep firms from pursuing the research and development of new ideas. Without these protections in place to ensure they are justly rewarded for their efforts, firms may be hesitant to invest in innovation. The findings on both the macroeconomic as well as the microeconomic analyses were that IP is an element that is sorely lacking in the Dubai. The city’s firms own very little IP as found in the macroeconomic analysis, and then confirmed in the Private Sector survey. Dubai must encourage firms to pursue IP creation and development through incentivizing research, the creation of knowledge-intensive jobs and writing and publishing scientific and technical articles in collaboration with institutes and economies abroad.

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3. Dubai needs to focus on improving people happiness and GDP per capita in order to boost Enabler Scores The political, economic and social environment of a city is a key aspect of whether or not innovation is likely to thrive. A sound political system and positive economic prospects mean that innovators are more likely to see the fruits of their labour, providing strong incentives to pursue them. Additionally, a social environment open to new ideas is the conducive atmosphere in which innovators flourish. Dubai scores well for it’s political environment, however weak economic growth hampers it’s scores. This, alongside regulatory quality and enforcement, are the main areas of concern. Additionally, Dubai’s “Happy Planet Index”, a measure of life expectancy, well being and ecological footprint were weak, indicating that these are areas on which Dubai needs to focus.

4. Dubai needs to build institutions for R&D and innovation in order to enable innovation within the city Research, development and innovation infrastructure are key components of an innovative environment, as are environmental sustainability and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Research and development allow a city to stay on the cutting edge of new trends and technologies, as does ICT investment. The need for environmental sustainability is also another key driver of innovation, and one Dubai would behoove itself to focus on. Dubai ranks low for all of these elements, and while initiatives such as the Dubai Science Park and the Drones for Good Award are good starts to encouraging progress, the city must focus more on developing this. Dubai’s weak scores indicate the city should work to increase the amount of R&D, spending on computer software and on improving it’s environmental sustainability. Doing so will allow Dubai to continue to lead the world with the passion and vigor for new ideas and change that it is so well known for. 5. Although the policies adopted by the Government are favourable to the innovation climate, better regulation and an improved business environment will further increase Government enabler scores, while private businesses would prefer to see innovation support through tax breaks and fee waivers

Dubai’s innovation is presently primarily driven by the public sector. Dubai’s government and its agencies are currently setting the pace for innovation, however the private sector must be incited to keep up if not exceed them in this. These institutions have the power to cradle or stifle innovation, through policies, regulation and business environment. Dubai’s private sector responded favorably to questions regarding government support and incentives for innovation. In the macroeconomic view, while Dubai ranked well for policies and business environment, primarily due to it’s favorable tax and tariff rates, it’s logistics performance scores were not stellar, indicating an area for improvement. Additionally, Dubai scored poorly for regulations, both in quality and enforcement of the same. Dubai’s private sector must begin to take the reins and guide innovation, while Dubai’s government must look to improve it’s regulations and logistics performance.

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Government Initiatives indicating that Dubai is investing in enablers of innovation “Government building foundation for the future” 6. An improvement in the availability of private investments and banking support for the private sector will help improve overall funding scores and thus enable innovation through provision of funds Funding is a crucial part of being able to support innovators. In a world with finite resources, firms may require assistance in funding innovative projects, and a city needs to allow for this to be possible. In Dubai, public sector funding for innovation endeavors is readily available, while the private sector struggles with this. To counter this, Dubai needs to increase the amount of inward FDI flow and venture capital deals, as well as easing access to credit from banks for the private sector, as expressed in the macroeconomic analysis. Firms also expressed this challenge in the private sector survey, showing that this is, at present, one of the issues that greatly hampers private sector innovation in Dubai.

7. Although a good innovation culture prevails in the city, low cost of redundancy dismissal and high number of days to start a business bring down the culture score

Dubai is a city rooted in entrepreneurial culture. From it’s very inception it has taken innovation, ambition and creative thinking in order to grow from a small pearling village into the global trade hub it is today. This culture is visible through Dubai’s ability to set the bar tremendously high for cities both in the region and globally. Dubai has embarked on countless ambitious projects, including building the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, an indoor ski slope in the middle of a desert nation and it’s latest innovation: 3D printed buildings. Dubai competes with cities on a global scale, with the government’s competitiveness being reflected in the private sector. Dubai has used it’s unique position and significant achievements as an attractive platform through which to attract and encourage innovation. It must continue to do so, while also focusing on increasing the costs of redundancy dismissal, as employees are more likely to innovate in an environment in which job security isn’t a constant fear. Additionally, removing bureaucracy involved in starting a business will also further encourage creative people to become entrepreneurs, start companies and try new concepts and business ideas.

8. Lack of creative outputs and poor growth and revenue generation brings down the tangible outcome score and in turn affects the performance score of Dubai

While innovation enablers are a good sign of the environment being created for future innovation, innovation output measures the performance that is being seen today. Dubai ranks well for new products and services, due to a high level of manufacturing and services value added, as well as in terms of technology readiness, however Dubai fares extremely poorly on indices such as market capitalization and stocks traded that leads to poor growth and revenue generation. Additionally, the city does not export a large number of creative goods and has a low global entertainment and media output, resulting in low creative output scores.

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Government Initiatives Museum of the Future Set to open in 2017, the $140M Museum of the Future  is a technological museum that will actively produce futuristic inventions, in addition to housing an incubation centre to help position the UAE as a global innovation hub. It aims to boost the state’s innovation environment to keep pace with the requirements of the new generation to build Smart future cities. Mohammed bin Rashid Fund for SME The $163.3M fund aims at maximising financing solutions for innovative businesses and developing Emirati entrepreneurs The fund will offer between AED50,000 to AED5 million to start-ups and existing businesses in Dubai.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Fund The ICT Fund is designed to fuel innovative research & development projects within the UAE ICT sector and support education and training in the field as well as create a culture of entrepreneurship in this sector. RTA – Innovation Lab The Lab includes cutting-edge training halls fitted with latest technologies, work areas for holding brainstorming workshops, and an innovation club offering a hospitable environment conducive to innovation. The facility also includes a library offering knowledge resources in various fields and majors and is also fitted with interactive monitors enabling members to exchange visual contents which are also supported by smartphones & portable gadgets used by participants in workshops enabling the display of visual contents through wireless connectivity. UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science Initiative Developed by The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology, aims to expand global water security through a first of its kind grant programme investing in research to identify sustainably implemental methods of enhancing precipitation to increase rainfall in the UAE, as well as other arid and semi-arid regions spanning the globe. Masdar launched a pilot programme to test and develop advanced energy-efficient seawater desalination technologies suitable to be powered by renewable energy sources. The long-term goal of the program is to implement renewable energy-powered desalination plants in the United Arab Emirates and the MENA region.

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Dubai Electricity and Water Authority

Dubai Innovation Partners – An initiative by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Earlier this year, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) launched a 10-year plan to upgrade Dubai’s utilities’ infrastructure and launch new initiatives to promote the use of electronic vehicles to reduce pollution. It aims to boost its generating and distribution capacity, increase the use of advanced ‘smart’ technologies and introduce a network of electric vehicle charging stations to boost the use of electric vehicles and help cut environmental pollution.

TECOM Investments

TECOM Investments’ new innovation focused initiatives to make Dubai an innovation hub for global technology businesses and entrepreneurs (worth approximately AED 4.5 billion) will fund the development of infrastructure for d3’s Creative Community, Dubai Internet City’s Innovation Hub, incubator and creative spaces in all of the company’s communities, and will stimulate start-ups and entrepreneurs through the creation of a start-up fund and competition.

This initiative aims to boost cooperation with a number of leading international companies and is expected to develop and introduce creative ideas and innovative solutions to enhance quality of life in the emirate.

Dubai Chamber Innovation Lab

Dubai Chamber Innovation Lab is based on two stages. The first stage features a process of receiving and compiling innovative ideas internally from employees, and externally from customers and the business community. This phase also includes the development of skills training for Dubai Chamber employees in the field of creativity and innovation, and providing incentives to owners of innovative ideas. The second stage aims to achieve “Pioneers of Innovation” status through digital platform and research centre activities to transform ideas into concepts. It will then move towards the implementation phase and management of project ideas.

Dubai Internet City’s Innovation Hub

This will focus on innovation across technology, new media, smart education and sciences. The main aim is to nurture talent and creativity, and foster the continued growth of the region’s start-up and entrepreneurial landscape.

D3 Creative Community (in Dubai Design District)

This will act as an incubator for emerging local designers and artists, as well as providing a natural home for art galleries and studios looking to engage directly with the region. The Creative Community is expected to evolve organically with adaptability providing one of its key attributes, enabling year round use of the built environment to cater for an active place management programme and flexible working spaces allowing businesses to grow and develop.

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Key recommendations: Dubai government, the private sector and Dubai Chamber should collectively lead the initiatives to progress Dubai’s innovation “Private sector’s focus on immediate performance”

DUBAI GOVERNMENT 1. Collaborate: Encourage public sector collaboration with the private sector to create tangible and intangible innovation outputs 2. Policy: Develop clear policies for sound innovation governance such as intellectual property management 3. Investment: Government needs to invest in R&D institutions, education and skills development for innovation. Incentivise private sector for investments in skills development, retention of talent and R&D

Private Sector Initiatives Innovation Lab – Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) and Intel

DSOA and Intel have signed an MoU to jointly set up first of a kind IOT Lab Facility in the Middle East that will support the development of a smart city centre of excellence and innovation within Dubai Technology Entrepreneurship Center (DTEC), DSOA’s wholly owned technology incubation center which is expected to be launched soon.

PRIVATE SECTOR 1. Engage: Recognize the challenge with retention of talent and actively engage with the right talent to cultivate innovation 2. Investment: Make investments in development of skills and R&D activities to develop a sound foundation for the future and creation of intellectual property 3. Collaboration: Actively seek collaboration with public sector and other industry peers for innovation

Design Thinker: Biz-group and Dubai SME

In line with the UAE’s vision to become the most innovative nation by 2021, biz-group, a leading UAE-based business consultancy, has partnered with Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, to facilitate creative thinking among the emirate’s top small and medium enterprises. This partnership strives to inject creativity and originality into the SME sector, helping companies uncover inventive ideas and approaches to today’s business challenges.

DUBAI CHAMBER 1. Policy Advocacy: Work closely with government organizations and private sector firms to develop policies to support and enable innovation 2. Diagnostic Tools: Develop and offer the private sector diagnostic tools for them to regularly evaluate their position in terms of innovation and actively help them improve 3. Initiatives: Launch and run innovation initiates such as an innovation institute and workshops/seminars hosted by world class experts with the goal of reducing hindrances to innovation in Dubai’s private sector.

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Dubai Innovation Strategy and MasterCard Co-operative Agreement

This agreement forms part of the Dubai Innovation Partners’ initiative previously announced by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. According to the terms of the agreement, MasterCard will launch numerous innovative and qualitative programmes to enhance innovation in the UAW. The new technologies to be launches will aim at providing a better lifestyle and upgrading the levels of services offered by a number of strategic sectors who coalesce with MasterCard’s services within the Dubai Innovation Strategy.

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