MBRF helps students transform tech business ideas into reality

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF)، in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), hosted a day-long event for students that included interactive sessions and workshops titled ‘Elevate with Data: An Entrepreneur’s Guide’. These sessions are part of the intensive training programme organised by Huawei, Purpose in Motion (PIM), and Seed for the Future to support university students under a development programme designed for young entrepreneurs.

Within the framework of MBRF’s knowledge vision, this programme aims to empower young entrepreneurs by enhancing their technological entrepreneurship spirit and equipping them with skills and tools to transform their ideas into successful projects. The week-long programme in Dubai, from 11 to 15 September 2023, provides rigorous training in technical entrepreneurship opportunities to 40 outstanding undergraduates from the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan.

These students were chosen from a group of 120 nominees. Jamal Bin Huwaireb, CEO of the MBRF, emphasised the Foundation’s desire to empower young people to know and establish knowledge societies and economies by continuing to support the younger generation and making educational and training content available to them, in order to develop their skills, improve their prospects for success, and expand their engagement as the driving force for transforming development aspirations into reality.

According to him, the young entrepreneurs’ programme has the potential to enhance the capacity of university students from all over the world by providing intensive training in technical entrepreneurship. He further underlined the necessity of partnering with premier universities throughout the world in the implementation of this programme, which can assist in enabling and motivating a new generation of Arab technology entrepreneurs.

He stated that the MBRF’s collaboration with leading technology companies such as Huawei in the implementation of this programme offers a unique input to the technology industry and contributes to raising awareness of the importance of technology entrepreneurship, pointing out that such cooperation also underscores the Foundation’s commitment to promoting innovation, education, and entrepreneurship.

He highlighted that the entities in collaboration with the MBRF are leaders in their professions. Huawei has been a significant global provider of ICT and smart infrastructure, and its Seed for the Future initiative is a global corporate social responsibility programme aimed at developing young talent and encouraging participation in the development of digital communities. PIM, on the other hand, is a prestigious organisation that develops youth into leaders, visionaries, and mission owners.

In turn, Dr. Hany Torky, Chief Technical Adviser of the UNDP’s Knowledge Project, said, “The UNDP’s role extends beyond the issue of young entrepreneurship and the development of their creative capacities,” further emphasizing the necessity of establishing knowledge societies. “Our collaboration with the MBRF, Huawei, PIM, and Seed for the Future is part of this initiative to pool resources to support and nurture the youth segment’s innovation and entrepreneurship, allowing them to develop ideas that can be transformed into successful projects and equipping them with the skills and knowledge required to develop and manage these projects, allowing them to start their own businesses and achieve success and prosperity in their professional and personal lives.”

On 12 September, the MBRF organised a full-day event in Dubai, which featured a presentation by Anthony Isai, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Podeo, organised by the UNDP-MBRF’s Knowledge Project, as well as providing free exclusive licences to participants in the skills programme of the MBRF and the UNDP.