Govt Partners Private Player To Launch New Innovation Challenge

Yesterday, Science and Advanced Global Innovation Technologies announced they will be partnering with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education to host the Atlas Convention.

The convention is an innovation challenge that is supposed to link industry and academia by helping expose innovators to players of industry. Whilst the challenge itself seems pretty exciting the messaging was a tad bit confusing.

Why do I say this? Whilst the challenge is supposed to link academia (students) and industry – even none students will be able to participate in the challenge once entries for innovations are open on the 25th of November.

The challenge will be open to all innovative ideas related to applied sciences, technology and non-technology innovations. The innovations submitted for entry should be within the scope of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Universities with innovation hubs will also be a part of the competition and will get to showcase their innovations to local companies who will be allowed to invest in these ideas.

One of the key requirements for innovators is that they must have working prototypes. These prototypes will be judged by an external committee and winning teams will get to exhibit at the Think Science World Fair in Dubai next year.

Atlas Innovation Index

Because SAGIT plans to host this challenge yearly, they also want to create an index which will look to capture outcomes of their yearly events and help with reforms in the innovation sector going forward.

Some of the objectives of the Atlas Index include:

• Creating an environment in which innovation factors are continually evaluated and providing key tools for decision-makers.
• Building a database of metrics refining innovation policies

Timelines

As aforementioned, the entry portal for the Atlas Convention will open on the 25th of November. The convention will be held a few months later from 31 March – 2 April. Winners of that competition will attend the Think Science World Fair from 18-23 April in Dubai.