Great Arab Minds is the Arab world’s largest movement designed to search for exceptional talents, aiming to highlight and celebrate leading thinkers in the region and inspire young people with their example, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
On the 16th anniversary of his accession as Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE, has launched the Great Arab Minds initiative. The initiative will be driven by and headquartered at the Museum of the Future, the Emirates’ new global scientific landmark.
Great Arab Minds is the Arab world’s largest movement designed to search for exceptional talents among Arab scientists, thinkers, and innovators across key fields, aiming to highlight and celebrate leading thinkers in the region and inspire young people with their example.
It will work with regional and global partners to develop and maximise the positive impact of their ideas and work. The five-year initiative will focus on fields including physics and mathematics, software and data science, economics and higher education and research.
The initiative is backed by an AED100 million fund and will be administered from the Museum of the Future, with a committee of four Emirati Ministers who will develop a system to identify and highlight the extraordinary thinkers and talents that the initiative will support. The fund will support local and global partnerships in fostering research, development and innovation.
In a series of tweets, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said, “Today we launch a new project to search for 1,000 Great Arab Minds in the fields of physics and mathematics, software and data science, economics and higher education and research. Great minds built Arab civilization – today I believe we have the talent to build a better world.”
He added, “We will accelerate the Emirates’ role as an incubator for fostering Arab and global talent. We built the Museum of the Future as a global hub for scientists, thinkers and innovators – it is the ideal headquarters for a fund to develop the potential of our region’s finest minds.”
The Committee leading Great Arab Minds is chaired by Mohammad Al Gergawi, President of the Museum of the Future, and the membership of Shamma bint Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Youth Affairs; Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency; and Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications.
Great Arab Minds aims to search for leading Arab minds and creative talents, shed light on their achievements, and invest in their capabilities and ideas. It aims to celebrate their work and inspire young people with their example.
The fields of focus of Great Arab minds are selected based on the potential for future development in key areas of innovation to drive development and economic growth.
More details about the Great Arab Minds project will be announced over coming weeks, including information about each of the paths as well as processes for nomination and registration.
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Earlier this month, in his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, approved the Government of Dubai’s general budget for the fiscal cycle of 2022-2024, with a total expenditure of AED181 billion.
The three-year budget cycle focuses on increasing economic growth rates by activating the public-private partnership ecosystem and supporting the private sector to drive economic growth. It also addresses the social aspects of healthcare and education, as well as digital infrastructure development and financial sustainability programmes.
Through its 2022 budget, Dubai continues to place a high emphasis on developing social services, and its healthcare, education and cultural sectors. The budget also pays attention to citizens’ housing sector by raising the value of the housing loan to AED1 million and allocating more than 4,000 plots and houses with a total value of AED5.2 billion in the first phase of the housing programme for citizens in Dubai within a broader 20-year programme of AED65 billion.
The budget also focuses on developing the Social Benefits Fund by supporting families and people of determination, which is set to consolidate Dubai’s position as one of the best cities in the world to live and work in.
