Successful edition features 319 research papers and 23 presentations from 49 countries
Mansoor Al Awar: “Innovation Arabia 10 has succeeded in laying the foundation for developing sustainable economies in the Arab World”
UAE, March 8, 2017 – Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) has concluded the 10th edition of the Innovation Arabia congress under the theme ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The Engines of Sustainability’ which was held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of the university. The event made significant progress in developing a clear roadmap for taking advantage of the previous successes of the Arab World. It harnessed existing potentials and paved the way for unleashing and accelerating knowledge transformation, strengthening the culture of entrepreneurship, upholding environmental protection, and advancing education and health in line with the requirements of the digital age. The conference was attended by high-level international decision-makers, policy-makers, senior government officials, experts and leaders from the educational, environmental, health and economic fields.
The final day saw the University’s women leaders been honored by Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor of HBMSU, in celebration of International Women’s Day. Dr. Awar emphasized the significant and effective roles that women play in achieving continuous success at the local, regional and international levels. He expressed appreciation for the efforts and contributions made by women leaders in HBMSU which he said have been integral to the University’s ongoing path to excellence as the University of Choice in the whole Arab World and its string of international achievements in the fields of smart and distance learning.
Innovation Arabia 10 provided a strategic platform for establishing strong foundations for stimulating creative energies and optimally employing research potentials to facilitate the transformation of Arab economies to rely heavily on knowledge and innovation. It also supported the achievement of the region’s sustainable economic and social development goals. Research papers met expectations, with the unique conference witnessing the broad participation of masters and doctoral learners from 49 countries to find out the results of 319 research papers and 23 poster presentations.
The 142 research papers presented during the Quality and Business Management Conference themed ‘Unleashing Innovation, Empowering Entrepreneurship’ focused on procedures for developing corporate governance policies and frameworks designed to empower entrepreneurship and nurture innovation according to four main themes: ‘Business, Management and Entrepreneurship,’ ‘Quality Management and Sustainability,’ ‘Islamic Banking, Finance,’ and ‘Public Management and Government Service Excellence.’
The Smart Learning Conference held under the theme ‘Build Knowledge Based Communities’ successfully drew the support of prominent researchers in spurring change, innovation and excellence in smart education through 79 research papers that dealt with modern concepts on ‘Unleashing Leaders through the Creation of Knowledge Communities,’ ‘A New Wave of Schools as Knowledge-Building Communities,’ and ‘Smart Learning through Sustaining Knowledge Building.’
The Health and Environment Conference centering on ‘Changing Minds, Protecting the Environment,’ on the other hand, gathered high-level participants involved in health and the environment who reviewed leading experiments and new knowledge for addressing health and environmental challenges to achieve a better quality of life in the Arab World through 98 research papers.
The annual congress also honored winning research papers during the simultaneous conferences. Dr. David Cropley from the University of South Australia won for Best Research Paper on the sidelines of the Quality and Business Management Conference for his work on ‘Individual Creativity: Four Building Blocks of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Amal Hussein from HBMSU received the same award during the Health and Environment Conference for her distinguished research paper on ‘Impact of Traffic Congestion on Drivers Commuting Between Sharjah and Dubai Emirates.’ The paper entitled ‘The Impact of Interface Characteristics on the Intention to Use Mobile Digital Library Technology’ co-prepared by Sumayyah Al Faresi from the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training in Kuwait and Kate Hone from Brunel University in the UK was chosen as the Best Research Paper during the Smart Learning Conference.
Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor of HBMSU, said: “Once again, Innovation Arabia has succeeded in laying the foundation for developing innovative solutions for driving the development of sustainable economies in the Arab World. It provided an appropriate environment for stimulating innovation and directing creativity to facilitate the transformation to knowledge-based economies capable of keeping pace with the rapid changes characterizing the 21st century.”
“The success of the Congress is in line with the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of HBMSU. We are proud of the achievements of Innovation Arabia, particularly in terms of developing creative ideas for supporting the overall goal of education in the post-2015 development plan, namely ‘Ensure equitable and inclusive quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030.’ This objective complements the global educational targets set by the UNESCO and intersects with our aspirations to bring about a knowledge revolution via the region’s improved ability to bring about sustainable development,” he added.
Al Awar concluded: “At Innovation Arabia, we focused on the theme of ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The Engines of Sustainability’ in order to highlight the increasing need to achieve sustainability via global models that combine innovation, entrepreneurship and economic sectors affecting the present and future of the Arab World – particularly education, health, the environment, and entrepreneurship. We are confident that Innovation Arabia will continue to make us proud and cement its pivotal role as the first and leading platform in the Middle East that anticipates the future of education, business, the environment, healthcare and Islamic banking and finance, in line with the objectives of UAE Vision 2021 and the targets of Dubai Plan 2021.”
The second and third days of the Quality and Business Management Conference included extensive discussions headed by Dr. Tarek Abdel Fattah, Assistant Professor of HBMSU’s School of Business and Quality Management. Among the senior speakers were by Dr. Timothy Mascon, Senior Vice President and Chief Officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) of AACSB International, who discussed ‘United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The Critical Interface between Business Schools and Business,’ and Dr. Ahmed Al-Nuseirat, who provided a comprehensive vision of ‘The Fourth Generation of Government Excellence in Dubai – A New Approach.’
The conference agenda concluded with a discussion of the main components for achieving success and excellence in the business community, highlighting the ability to anticipate the future based on economic, technological, social, demographic and environmental factors. Training workshops were conducted over the course of three days under the theme ‘Planning by Scenarios – Shaping the Future.’
The outstandingly organized Smart Learning Conference was moderated by Dr. Khadeegha Al Zouebi, Assistant Professor of HBMSU’s School of e-Education. It featured two keynote speakers: Gard Titlestad, Secretary-General of the International Council for Distance Education, who spoke about ‘Learning – Now is the Future,’ and Steven Duggan, Board Member of the UNESCO Institute for Education Information Technology, who presented innovative strategies for ‘Bridging the Next Digital Divide’. The training workshop on ‘Empowering Technology Tools for Education’ was commended for providing an important opportunity to learn more about advanced technologies for improving the learning process by focusing on the skills required for achieving success in the Age of Knowledge.
Dr. Moetaz El Sergany, Environmental Studies Department Chair of HBMSU’s School of Health and Environmental Studies, led the second and third days of the Health and Environment Conference. Professor Hillary Godwin discussed the topic of ‘How can we design and effectively implement programs and policies that benefit both people and the environment?.’ Eng. Aisha Al Abdooli, on the other hand, talked about ‘Glimpse at the Innovation Journey in Ministry of Climate Change and Environment’.
The Congress included a program for improving corporate performance through innovation in designing corporate social responsibility and sustainability programs. It was presented via a workshop on ‘Innovation in Social Responsibility and Sustainability’ which highlighted distinctive corporate experiments in the application of social responsibility and innovation.