The ICT Fund Board of Trustees held a meeting at the ICT Fund’s headquarters in Dubai on 17th November 2011. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Abdulqader Al Khayat, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and attended by H.E. Dr. Eesa Bastaki, CEO, ICT Fund, and the board members H.E. Dr. Khalifa H. Harib, H.E. Eng. Majed Almesmar, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Alkous, H.E. Dr. Mohammed Al-Mualla, H.E. Dr. Mohamed N. Alahbabi, and H.E. Dr. Sabri Al-Azazi.

The meeting, which is the seventh since the formation of the present ICT Fund Board of Trustees, and the fifth meeting in 2011, discussed a wide range of issues that were outlined by the ICT Fund’s 2012 budget, the development of the Fund’s on-going strategic plan, and next year’s agenda. The topics discussed were in line with the ICT Fund’s objective to provide targeted funding to organizations, companies, and individuals empowering them to develop innovation and knowledge capital for the UAE ICT sector. The ICT Fund enables applied research and development, education, and entrepreneurship through providing required funding.

Dr. Al Khayat commended the ICT Fund for its sincere efforts to support technological development in the UAE in terms of research, technology, and governmental aspects related to participation in projects financed by the ICT Fund, in addition to supporting research projects related to the technological development of the Fund.  Prior to 2011, the ICT Fund reviewed a total of seven research and development proposals; six from Khalifa University of Science, Technology, and Research (KUSTAR) and one from United Arab Emirates University (UAEU).  In 2011 alone, the ICT Fund reviewed a total of nine proposals which came from a wider variety of universities, including four from UAEU, three from Etisalat BT Innovation Center (EBTIC) KUSTAR, in addition to the University of Wollongong Dubai (UOWD) and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Dubai. 

Moreover, the ICT Fund is planning to receive at least 15 more research proposals amounting to a total funding disbursal of AED 30 million over the next two years.

The number of scholarships given to UAE Nationals in 2011 totaled 156 in local universities with 50  students in the American University of Sharjah, 30 students in the Bachelor’s degree program at University of Sharjah with an additional 26 pursuing a Master’s degree at the same university, and a total 50 in KUSTAR.  The ICT Fund has placed through the Scholarship Coordination Office (SCO) 100 students in international universities in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia.  

The ICT Fund has plans to award 140 additional scholarships to more universities in the UAE aside from the institutions that are already receiving these scholarship students. 

“Since the recent ICT Fund Workshop, we have set ambitious goals for ourselves to promote the culture of entrepreneurship in the UAE ICT sector by improving the linkage between industry and academia. We are keen while discussing the budget to quantify the objectives and vision to help us achieve our goals and develop our long-term strategic plans along with our short and mid-term tactical plans for advancing the ICT sector in the UAE, and fueling innovation in the local industry,” Dr. Al Khayat said commenting on the meeting. “This meeting and other periodical meetings are of great importance in evaluating the progress achieved, and in setting the path towards our aim.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Bastaki remarked: “Stressing the ICT Fund’s goal ‘Made in the UAE, Sold Globally’ is of great importance to us; it is the reason behind our discussions today on the budget, strategic plan, and interim plans for next year. These points will enable us to create a self-reliant ‘eco-system’ in the UAE ICT sector, promoting UAE nationals in scientific and technological research in order to make the ICT sector a main pillar of our economy following the oil sector, and equally important to trade and tourism sectors.”

“We in the ICT Fund focus on the vital human element that we consider as one of our main goals, because success can only be achieved through human power as ‘the construction of human power is the element that constructs factories.’ Hence the ICT Fund is focusing on supporting education and universities adhering to its belief that projects can only be fruitful if they have qualified and trained manpower able to reflect these ideas, innovations, and projects into reality,” he added.

The board members stressed during the meeting the importance of supporting results-based national projects by the ICT Fund, referring to the fact that this is one of the primary objectives of the Fund. They also noted that detailed careful revision should be performed on projects’ proposals received, and projects with innovative ideas and capabilities should be approved in order to benefit the ICT sector in the first place, and then benefit the UAE.

Dr. Harib, Head of the Education Commission said: “Further attention has to be paid to the parents of our young generations, who are the ones to discover the talents of their children; encourage them and refine their creativity so that the country can benefit from their contributions in the development process. The ICT Fund has to also keep the bridges with universities and institutes open, and encourage them to catalyze students to head towards technology related studies in order to create the human asset required for the UAE to keep pace with developed countries in economic and technical sectors. This will also lead to achieving our goals in the ICT sector.

Notably, the UAE is the second leading country in the ICT expenditure in the region. Its ICT sector has grown from $8.2 billion in 2005 to $13.6 billion in 2011, achieving a 20% annual growth rate.