As part of the United Arab Emirates University’s mission to promote the UAE’s National Innovation, the Innovation Support Team from the Research and Graduate Studies Sector organized a lecture entitled “The Japanese Experience of Innovation and Foreseeing the Future”, on Sunday, April 3^rd, 2016 in the Business Center of the Crescent Building. The lecture was delivered by Dr. Maryam Sulaiman, an organizational development consultant and the CEO of the Kaizen Training Center. Many of the university community, faculty and staff were in attendance as part of the university’s role to transfer knowledge and skills to the community.

Dr. Sulaiman gave a comprehensive description of the Japanese experience of innovation and creativity through their ‘Kaizen’ approach. This is based on creating harmony between the visions and goals of an organizations and individuals in order to change for the better. She said that ‘Kaizen’ is composed of two characters which mean “change” and “better”. It is a philosophy created by Taiichi Ohno for industrial, financial and educational institutions. It can be applied to all aspects of life. She stressed that this philosophy avoids wasting effort, energy and time and it has been applied in Japan in various fields of business.

The attendees participated in numerous practical exercises to apply ‘Kaizen’ to improve businesses, achieve leadership and promote excellence through innovation.