Second EBTIC Innovation and Entrepreneurship Boot Camp and Innovative Co Space Robot Program Open at Al Ghurair University
Published: 19th of December, 2022
Under the patronage of His Excellency Eng. Hussain I. Al Hammadi, Minister of Education for the UAE, Al Ghurair University and the Emirates ICT Innovation Center (EBTIC), an ICT research and innovation center established by Etisalat, British Telecommunications (BT), and Al Ghurair University and supported by ICT Fund, opened today at the University’s campus the second EBTIC Innovation and Entrepreneurship Boot Camp and the first “CoSpace Robot” program.
The opening ceremony was attended by Dr. Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary for Care and Activities Sector at the UAE’s Ministry of Education, Dr. Tod Laursen, Al Ghurair University’s President, Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Al Ghurair University’s Executive Vice President, Dr. Nawaf Al Moosa, Acting Director for EBTIC and the 32 Emirati secondary school students, both male and female, chosen by the Ministry of Education to attend the event.
The innovative four day workshop, which was developed by BT , aims to bridge the gap between the worlds of education and business by teaching the next generation of young UAE innovators and entrepreneurs how to translate their innovative ideas into products and services which could impact both the economy and society.
The program has been designed to empower school students by providing a useful introduction to the latest business thinking and commercialization technologies and helping them cultivate a pro-active mindset and the key 'soft skills' necessary to make an impact on the business world.
The students will be tasked with a specific group project and required to outline a business strategy for a new start-up. Each team will work with a dedicated business mentor who will coach them in how to develop their business plans and presentation skills. They will also gain practical business knowledge through a series of workshops and master-classes on business planning, intellectual property management, design thinking, communications skills, and creative thinking.
Alongside the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, The “CoSpace Robot” program will be organized for the first time in the UAE and it is an exciting workshop that brings together 30 Emirati secondary school students, male and female, to Al Ghurair University’s campus for four days of innovative classes aimed at teaching the young students how to program a virtual robot.
Originally developed by the Advanced Robotics & Intelligent Control Centre (ARICC) of Singapore Polytechnic, The “CoSpace Robot” program allows students to create and program robots in a virtual environment using the same programming logic. It is designed to integrate information and communications technology and digital game based learning with educational robotics in order to interest, excite and engage young people and introduce them to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
The CoSpace program is delivered by a team from the UK who assist with the running of the program there. This includes British Telecommunication (BT) volunteers and volunteers from the RoboCup environment.
“The youth are really the key to the future success of the UAE as an international center for technology and knowledge,” said Dr. Al Moosa. “Providing our young innovators and entrepreneurs with the skills and experience they need to launch the next revolutionary tech start up is vitally important, both for their development, and for the UAE’s continued economic growth. EBTIC is proud to supply them with these opportunities and to use our international ties to provide them with a competitive, informative and interesting workshop that will give them the knowledge they need to succeed in their future endeavors.”
He also said: “We are also very delighted to bring the CoSpace program to the UAE for the first time. Our aim is to inspire the next generation of innovators to pursue careers in the fields of programming, robotics and engineering, which are at the center of the UAE’s development of a competitive knowledge based economy. CoSpace is truly an innovative programming that the students will greatly enjoy and learn a great deal from.”
On the final day of the EBTIC Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program, the students will present their business plans to a judging panel comprised of academics and senior business executives and professionals. The judges will represent industry, academia, government and media.
