The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has revealed the results of the first "Abu Dhabi Innovation Index" which was prepared in collaboration with INSEAD, one of the world s leading and largest graduate business schools. ADDED says the results confirm that Abu Dhabi is now in a position which qualifies it, according to international standards, to gain access to the knowledge necessary for innovation, and to localise and consolidate that knowledge.

ADDED said the outstanding status of Abu Dhabi was attributed to its ability to attract talents and international expertise, and to the outcomes of investment in information technologies, world class communications, and the modern infrastructure for transport; in addition to the wise policies of the prudent leadership of the Government of Abu Dhabi, the rational procurement processes, the strategic investments in other institutions for localisation of know-how, expertise, and high technical knowledge, such as that of "Masdar" "Strata" and "Advanced Technology Investment Company ATIC", the Cleveland Clinic and others.

The results of "Abu Dhabi Innovation Index" show that, when compared to other economies dependent on natural resources, the emirate of Abu Dhabi emerged as highly adept and very efficient in the adoption and positioning of knowledge, new technologies, products and services across its entire economy.

Rashid Ali Al Zaabi, the Acting Executive Director of Planning and Statistics Sector, at the Department of Economic Development, said, "The innovation policy is a government tool, designed to increase the pace of innovation in any economy; and the primary goal of this policy is to solve various social and economic problems, such as low levels of productivity, and economic issues related to energy, environment or health." Al Zaabi pointed out that in GCC countries, like the majority of other rich economies, the innovation policy gained place in action plans of economic diversification policies. In Abu Dhabi the Economic Vision 2030 for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, has set an ambitious plan to stimulate innovation, towards attaining the main goal of turning into a sustainable knowledge-based economy.

"Based on the mandate set out by the General Secretariat of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, on the development of the "Abu Dhabi Innovation Index", the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development contracted with INSEAD University to jointly build the Innovation Index for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Efforts continued for nearly two years, and upon the completion of the innovation survey stage, and the building of the index, a discussion panel was held to review the results of the Innovation Index with the relevant authorities; and all proposals were then included in the innovation index report." Mr. Al Zaabi indicated that the innovation report is aimed at evaluating the different factors that contribute to innovation in the emirate, comparing them with the performance of other economies, through the index itself, and analysing the performance of innovation in Abu Dhabi business community using innovation surveys.

Ms. Shorooq Abdullah Al Zaabi, Head of Development Indicators and Future Studies Section at ADDED, confirmed that based on the five functions of innovation, namely, knowledge accessing, consolidation, dissemination, creation and use; the Emirate of Abu Dhabi turned out to be having a strong ability to communicate and link with the global knowledge and innovation networks. This was evidenced by the emirate ranking 8th out of 23 countries in terms of ability regarding (Access to Knowledge), and acquiring the fifth place out of 23 in terms of performance.

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi showed a good ability in identifying and localisation of sources of external knowledge, where the Emirate captured the 15th place out of 23 countries in terms of ability for (the Consolidation of Knowledge Index), and won the seventh place in terms of performance. Abu Dhabi also achieved good performance, adopted new innovations, and disseminated the same in all fields of the entire economy. It was thus ranked sixth in terms of ability in the (Dissemination of Knowledge Index), and captured the third place in terms of performance.

The Abu Dhabi Index of Innovation confirmed that the emirate enjoys a strong innovative potential, based on its ability to access, consolidate and commercially use knowledge. The emirate was ranked eighth in terms of capacity for (Knowledge Creation), and came15th in terms of performance.

Abu Dhabi enjoys relatively strong capabilities with regard to five innovation parameters. The gap between its potential and real performance is narrow, as Abu Dhabi efficiently and successfully utilises its resources. The emirate came in the fourth place in terms of capacity in the (the Utilisation of Knowledge Index) and won the first place in terms of the performance out of a total of 23 countries.

Ms. Shorooq Al Zaabi said, "It is possible to determine the capabilities of innovation in any economic system by measuring the five basic functions, which often lead to the creation of innovation. This could be done individually or jointly. The five functions include "accessing, consolidation, dissemination, creation and utilisation of knowledge." Regarding the Abu Dhabi Community Innovation Survey-2012, Ms. Shorooq explained, "The approach taken in this survey was a standard model for measuring the performance of innovation in countries; as national surveys of this kind depend systematically on the Oslo Manual, Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data", issued by the "Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)" in 1992 and its revised versions of 1997 and 2005.

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