Knowledge experts and influencers from the region and around the world discussed the role of innovation and education in developing innovative future generations in the Arab world, during the first day of the Knowledge Summit 2015 currently being held in Dubai.

Speaking at a session on Innovation in Education Future Outlook, His Excellency Eng. Hussain Al Hammadi, UAE Minister of Education, said: Innovation in education is the key to resolving challenges by finding new solutions to old problems. The UAE Vision focuses on education as a main pillar, in order to transition our nation from an economy based on oil to one based on knowledge. The first step in achieving this is to improve the curriculum, and we are collaborating with ministers, universities and various sectors, such as the industrial sector to develop a curriculum that empowers students.

HE Eng. Al Hammadi added: The second step is to create a programme that will improve the skills of students, while enhancing the curriculum to be aligned with international standards. This will enable students studying in the UAE to smoothly transition to any educational establishment across the world.

HE Eng. Al Hammadi said the UAE is also focusing on investing in teachers, considering they are the key to improving education. By investing in developing their talents, we will enable steps one and two to be realized in the most efficient manner.

HE Elias Bou Saab, Minister of Education and Higher Education, Lebanon, said: His Highness Mohammed bin Rashid taught us to remove the word impossible from our dictionary. Innovation is a key factor, and we must help students to be creative thinkers. We should encourage them to be innovative throughout their education and career.

HE Saab said the education sector in Lebanon is facing several challenges and these must be addressed by developing laws that enable education to improve at the same speed as innovation.

HE Lahcen Daoudi, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Management Training, Morocco, said: Science and knowledge aim to discover the laws of the universe, and both are developing at a fast rate. However, in order to implement these discoveries in real life, we have to have the ability to understand. Knowledge must evolve as quickly as science. It is imperative that we create a culture of knowledge before we can implement a culture of innovation. Our focus should be on enabling a society that is both innovative and creative, by giving youth the means to innovate.

Speaking at the session, Poonam Bhojani, CEO of Innoventures Education, said: Technology is a key factor in ensuring innovation in everything we do. We have implemented several technology-based innovations in our schools, including introducing robotics using simple tools, such as Lego. Harnessing the Bring Your Own Device trend and technologies such as Apple TV and tables enables us to empower students to drive their own learning experience. Virtual labs enable students to experience using their tablets to explore experiments such as DNA replication. Even social media can be used, in order to engage parents more in their childs learning.

Addressing an exclusive session, Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the UK, discussed the role of education in not only securing childrens futures, but in ensuring an innovative society on day one of The Knowledge Summit 2015, the leading platform to discuss the most innovative solutions in the transfer, dissemination and localization of knowledge in Arab Communities.

Even in the most hopeless of situations, we can create hope, said Brown. When it comes to the refugee problem in this region, where young people are without hope, we have got to give them that hope by making sure that they have education. Its said that you can survive for 40 days without food, you can survive for 8 days without water, you can survive for 8 minutes without air, but you cannot survive for one second without hope. Education is about hope.

He said the key to innovation is critical to the success of education, and pointed out that the countries that hold the potential of being successful in the global economy would not be the biggest countries but rather those that specialize in innovation. Companies in these countries will be innovative, adaptable and flexible, and new technologies, particularly information technologies, will be exploited to make the goods of the future, Brown said.
Speaking at a panel discussion on Innovation and Information Technology, Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said Dubai has become one of the fastest growing cities in the world driven by the quest to become smart and sustainable.

Dubai has achieved massive development in recent years as various departments competed with one another to become more innovative. The entities in Dubai have adopted the innovation path inspired by the call by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to aim for the number one position in every field, said HE Lootah.

Speaking at the session, Stephen Wozniak, Co-founder of Apple Inc. and inventor of Apple II computers, said youngsters in the 18 to 23 age group are best capable of achieving innovation and should therefore be targeted with innovation initiatives. He also called for a new approach to education focused on creativity rather than academic excellence to achieve an innovative future.

Patrick Baudry, Retired Lieutenant Colonel of the French Air Force and former astronaut, said the focus of education should be to encourage creativity and imagination in young people, with the aim of solving the problems facing the world.

Anousheh Ansari, co-founder and chairperson of Prodea Systems, said personalization and augmentation are the distinguishing traits of current technological developments.

At present personalization of technology is focused on collection of data. However, soon personalization will be all about augmentation of abilities, Ansari said. She said information technology in future will not be a separate field but it will be part of every area of activity.

The Knowledge Summit 2015 is organized by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF), under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The Summit is being held from December 7 to 9 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai.