Dubai Future Foundation recruits more universities to entrepreneurship programme

The programme will encourage development of university-linked free zones by commercialising research

The latest programme launched by DFF will include incubation and acceleration phases designed to allow students to start their entrepreneurial journey by equipping them with skills and services. Pawan Singh / The NationalShow less

Dubai Future Foundation is widening the scope of its University Entrepreneurship Programme by doubling the number of institutions involved.

The foundation is launching its second round of partnerships, bringing on six new local and international schools.

“The University Entrepreneurship Programme focuses on employing modern technologies to accelerate the application of entrepreneurial ideas and eases the path for youth to enter the national and global economic system based on solid foundations,” said the UAE's economy minister Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri.

The programme will help to develop the Dubai University Free Zones Strategy launched by Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed last year, according to Dubai Future Foundation's chief executive Khalfan Belhoul.

It encourages the commercialisation of ideas and research developed within universities, encouraging students through incubation and acceleration programmes to develop them into viable businesses.

The British University in Dubai, Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation and the local branches of Heriot-Watt University, University of Wollongong, Amity University and Rochester Institute of Technology are the six new institutes to join the programme.

The first six universities to sign up last year were Zayed University, Higher Colleges of Technology, University of Dubai, Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, American University in Dubai and the College of Fashion and Design in Dubai.

The UAE's Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications Omar Al Olama described the programme as "a unique initiative to build a strong infrastructure in higher education institutions across the country, in partnership with international and local universities".

"Its goal is to gainfully employ young talent and enable them to benefit from productive government and private sector partnerships through offering them business incubation opportunities to enter the world of entrepreneurship."

In July, Sheikh Hamdan also launched a search for the UAE’s next generation of economic experts.

Through the Federal Youth Authority, he set up the Young Economist Programme, a three-month scheme that will help to shape a new generation of thinkers capable of developing the nation's economic ambitions.