The United Arab Emirates University's Science and Innovation Park (UAEU-SIP) was launched in November 2016 with the aim to become a global hub for innovation and entrepreneurship and ensure the UAE's smooth transition into a knowledge economy.
The UAEU-SIP is an ecosystem for innovation that offers programs using a design thinking approach that leads to translating academic knowledge and scientific research into commercially viable applications. Moreover, the Park has recently announced the establishment of a hub of design thinking called 'The HPI Middle East Hub of Design Thinking', with the aim to become the first design thinking school (D-School) in the region, in partnership with the Hasso Plattner Institute Academy (HPIA).
The Science and Innovation Park is spearheading the UAEU pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai to pioneer a new role of education by offering a new model of higher education that is currently incubated in the UAEU-SIP, which aims at graduating job creators instead of job seekers. The Curriculum of the Future, which was designed using Design Thinking, is currently piloted through the ‘Pathfinders Program 1.0’, a pre-pilot of the ’University of the Future’- and will continue to be tested during Expo 2020.
The UAEU-SIP facilities exclusively include the Innovation Hub powered by Google, Expo Hub and private designated offices for tenants where the community can meet to co-create, discuss, and innovate.
The UAEU-SIP steadily grew and afforded the startups with securing funding from both national and international organizations. Not before long, the startups based in the UAEU-SIP won grant prizes including a trip to Silicon Valley, grants from ICT fund – Seeds for the Future Competition, and AjmanX Competition.
