DAVOS: The UAE is utilizing science and technology to “leapfrog” its way to becoming a global leader in various fields, including space travel and tackling climate change, Emirati ministers told a World Economic Forum panel in Davos on Wednesday.
Sarah Al-Amiri, the UAE minister for public education and future technology, and Omar Sultan Al-Olama, minister for artificial intelligence, discussed how, since its independence more than 50 years ago, the UAE has a proven record of design thinking in governance and what lessons it can teach the developing world.
Al-Amiri said the secret behind the UAE’s recent successes had been its skill at harnessing and combining individual human potential and institutional, governmental potential while instilling a sense of urgency among the population to achieve certain goals.
“What drove us? A real sense of urgency, knowing that science and technology is required and a fundamental part of the growth of the future of our economy and the future of our industrial sectors,” she said.
“We have a technology transformation program (in the UAE), developed with and embedded within our industrial strategy. How do you sustainably and effectively increase the impact of your economic sectors?
“We are working closely with key local players to do that, but also fostering more global partnerships so we can create the necessary relevance and impact.”
Al-Olama said that the spirit of advancement has been part of the psyche of Emiratis and the wider Gulf region for millennia.
“We see that there is a constant need to adapt, to reinvent ourselves, and to face all challenges and opportunities equally,” he said.
“With every single era, the people of the UAE choose an industry and they go all in into it. If you look at the (ancient) trade of pearls as an example, it became a key industry, but we did not focus on local markets, we wanted to become global players.
“Moving forward (to today), the UAE has taught 1 million people in the Arab world how to code, and as that program concluded last year, it has ended up creating tens of thousands of companies and business endeavors across the Arab world.”
Al-Olama said that attracting global talent is key and that globalization should be welcomed, not shunned, but added that should a globalized world collapse tomorrow and fall back into global blocs, the UAE would have the talent and “future thinking” required to face that challenge.
