The United Arab Emirates (UAE) University participated in the Leading Educational Practices Forum, organized by the Ministry of Education at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, on Monday, October 24, 2022. Prof. Ahmed Ali Murad - Associate Provost for Research, attended the event and presented a scientific paper: "Promoting Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education Institutions".

Dr. Ahmed Murad explained the difference between innovation and entrepreneurship and its relationship to sustainable development goals. He pointed out that there is a close relationship between innovation and the ninth goal of the sustainable development goals, building a resilient infrastructure, promoting, enabling and sustaining the industry and supporting innovation, by supporting research and development, modernizing the technological capabilities, and encouraging innovation and sustainability.

Prof. Ahmed presented  a number of the best practices and models in innovation and entrepreneurship, such as the National University of Singapore model that provides an environment to support education, research and entrepreneurial activities. It comprises three sections: External Colleges, Industry Liaison Office and National University of Singapore Entrepreneurship Center that targets graduate students. Another example is the European Institute for Innovation and Technology initiative, which aims to build capacity for innovation and teach innovation and entrepreneurship. On the other hand,  the Taiwan model  is based on educational curricula.

Prof. Ahmed presented the UAE University experience in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship as a model. This model is represented through the College of Business and Economics academic programs in entrepreneurship, which offers a number of courses such as innovation and creativity, entrepreneurship, social and international entrepreneurship and others. It is also represented in supporting research environment through various student programs, Chancellor Innovation Award, My Idea and patent and production awards. The UAEU Science and Innovation Park has played a role in supporting innovation through various initiatives that provide training programs in supporting and developing innovative ideas through Google platform and Al Bayt Mitwahid. The UAE University model is also based on the District 4.0 model, which links the academic and industrial aspects to enhance the skills related to the fourth industrial revolution for the students.

Prof. Ahmed also mentioned that there are four components of innovation and entrepreneurship in educational institutions: entrepreneurship education and awareness programs, startup incubators, industrial cooperation, financing and development of enterprises. Finally, he stressed the need to develop opportunities for teaching entrepreneurship at all levels of higher education, and to provide entrepreneurship education as a lifelong education. He also emphasized  the importance of developing doctoral programs in entrepreneurship and building capacity of employees to support entrepreneurship agenda and build cooperation networks to transfer knowledge between various universities and institutions.