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As part of UAE Innovation Week, the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies at the United Arab Emirates University organized a workshop entitled ‘Business Incubators’ on Thursday 26^th of November 2015 in the Crescent building at the UAEU Science and Innovation Park.

Dr. Ghaleb Ali Al Hadrami, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies, said that the launch of a business start-up program is in line with UAEU’s vision of establishing an innovative approach to sustainable development. It also seeks to be a destination of choice for inventors and innovators from around the world. He stressed UAEU’s support for many such projects. UAEU prioritizes development of key areas as identified in the UAE’s National Innovation Strategy and as such pursues research and development in renewable energy, water resources, education, health, human resources, science and space technology.

The university aims to establish a supportive and nurturing environment that provides facilities for entrepreneurs and innovators through the UAEU Science and Innovation Park. It further offers funding opportunities for selected projects and provides guarantees to turn these ideas into products and services in accordance with certain criteria. This workshop enables innovators, entrepreneurs and experts to share experiences and expertise while exchanging ideas on the development of joint projects.

Dr. Nihal Shubrak explained how to apply to join the program, the evaluation of ideas, how project were selected, and also reviewed the 19 projects under current evaluation. There was a presentation by Willow Williamson, an entrepreneur and expert in multimedia and international communication strategies, who talked on the concept of entrepreneurship in innovative fileds, He simply called his talk, ‘Ideas’.

Mr. Tariq Hajjiri, Director of Legal Policy at the Dubai Economic Council; Dr. Nihel Chabrak, an expert in brainstorming techniques; Dr. Constance Van Horne from Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, and Dr. Yehya Al Marzouqi, Executive Director of the Project Management Office at Tawazun also participated in the workshop.