The Role of Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government in Capacity Building Towards Making Dubai a Leading Innovative City of the Future—Case-Study

Abstract

Dubai has consistently improved its ranking to be the most innovative city in the world. The Dubai Innovation Index 2018 has ranked Dubai as the 14th city out of 30 on the index (Sutten in Dubai rises up Dubai innovation index 2018, [1]). The top performing cities were Hong Kong, followed by New York, London, Singapore, and Seoul. The Global Innovative Index 2018 placed the UAE at the top of all Arab countries, reflecting its status as one of the world’s most innovative countries (Dutta et al. in Global innovation index 2018: energizing the world with innovation, [2]). Innovation is also part of the UAE Vision 2021, which focuses on innovative Emiratis building a competitive economy. Several steps and initiatives have been undertaken to promote and encourage innovation across all sectors such as Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation, Government Innovation Labs, CEO of Innovation, Year of Innovation, National Innovation Strategy, Free Zones, and many more (United Arab Emirates Government Portal in Innovation, [3]). Education is one of the key pillars of the UAE National Innovation Strategy 2015, which demonstrates the government’s commitment to enhance the nation’s capacity to innovate and create (United Arab Emirates Government Portal in Innovation, [3]). By realizing the need and potential, Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government launched the first-of-its-kind Master’s degree program in innovation management. The program aims to empower professionals to develop their creative expertise within the context of innovation management in public and private sectors in the UAE. The program was designed to help students improve their ability to analyze and solve problems with the help of contemporary innovation management perspectives and innovation strategies. The MIM is an executive master’s degree program accredited by the Ministry of Education and is offered on weekends. The program is into its 2nd year and 28 students are currently enrolled. There are six core modules concluding with a dissertation and all students need to apply the acquired innovation knowledge learnt during the MIM to produce papers that address real innovation issues.