|
As part of its mission to contribute to the implementation of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, Abu Dhabi University (ADU) today announced the launch of a Centre of Excellence for Innovation and Entrepreneurship which is aimed at fostering innovation and entrepreneurship amount students to create a new generation of pioneers and innovators.
“Our main objective and mission is for this Centre to serve as a catalyst for realizing Vision 2030 and enabling innovative small and medium enterprises not just in Abu Dhabi and the UAE, but in the region as a whole. We see that as part of our responsibility as one of the leading private educational institutes in the region,” said His Excellency Ali Bin Harmal Al Dhaheri, Chairman of ADU’s Executive Board.
Al Dhaheri noted that the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 had emphasized a special focus on building a sustainable economy for the UAE, through the development of small and medium enterprises and fostering entrepreneurship among the Emirati society. “Our new centre of excellence will contribute to achieving this, together with our key partners the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development and other organizations whom we are bringing on board,” he said.
Speaking at the Abu Dhabi Forum on Entrepreneurship, which opened at the Fairmont Hotel Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi today, Dr. Nabil Ibrahim, Chancellor of ADU, said that the Centre’s mission is to create a culture of entrepreneurship among ADU faculty and students, who currently number more than 4000 students in both the Abu Dhabi and Al Ain campuses of ADU.
“We believe that small and medium enterprises increase the creation of better quality jobs, and open new opportunities by offering entrepreneurs, business owners and venture capitalists a thriving environment to grow,” he said, adding that the Center strives to provide the best entrepreneurship education in the region.
The Center serves as an incubator for Entrepreneurship that encourages potential entrepreneurs to commercialise academic innovations into the marketplace, exchange of ideas between academia and industry, as well as prepare technology students for the entrepreneurial workplace and support new ventures.
The Centre will encourage faculty and students to contribute “intellectual capital”, which covers research, patents, graduation projects, thesis, as well as attract technological inventions from community entrepreneurs. Out of these, start-up enterprises will be selected to receive seed funding through the Centre from partners such as the Khalifa Fund to turn them into “commercialized technology”
The Centre’s framework includes three main pillars, namely the Proof of Concept Centre, the Business and Technology Incubator, and the Innovation Park, which is a future element. The Proof of Concept grants seed funding to early stage research, facilitates the exchange of ideas between the university innovators and industry via various mentors associated with the Center as well as offers educational and training programs on entrepreneurship to enable start-ups.
“The second pillar is the Business and Technology incubator where the ideas are turned into prototypes. And the last pillar is a few years down the line with the creation of our ADU Innovation Park in Abu Dhabi which we hope will play a major role in the future development of the emirate,” Dr. Ibrahim added.
He pointed out that the Centre of Excellence will have five strategic technological clusters, all of which have been derived from the Abu Dhabi 2030 Vision. These are Energy, Health Sciences, ICT, Clean Technology and Water Desalination, as well as Micro Electronic Manufacturing.
The services offered by the Centre will be access to seed funding, prototype building, technology commercialization, entrepreneurship education, business plan training, mentoring and coaching, hosting and facilities, executive training and networking. “We will be working on providing these services with our key partners and stakeholders, the main one of which is the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development”, Dr. Ibrahim said.
He added that other potential partners and stakeholders could include educational institutes such as the Cisco Entrepreneurship Institute, UC Berkeley, Cambridge, National University of Singapore, and Nanyang Technological University. “Other partners could include the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Department of Economic Development and ADIRA,” he said.
“We have already started with some activities such as a series of forums organised by ADU and Khalifa Fund, such as the Abu Dhabi Innovation Forum which was held recently and the current Abu Dhabi Forum on Entrepreneurship. We are also organizing a series of innovation-triggering training activities such as the Khalifa Fund Innovation Master class,” Dr. Ibrahim explained.
The Centre of Excellence will be supported by the Abu Dhabi University Knowledge Group (ADUKG), the professional training and development arm of Abu Dhabi University, as well as other member companies of the Abu Dhabi University Holding Company such as AIM Events and Conferences and Summit Career Management Services.
|
New
Review
Abu Dhabi International Airport - 41°F
