What comes after the oil era? The American University of Sharjah (AUS) is laying the foundation for future challenges by positioning its educational programs in the field of innovation.
The objectives:
- Focus on innovation in services rather than production
- Support start-ups and scale-ups
Within the most important future trends and themes of innovation in the United Arab Emirates, clean-tech, environment and waste management are the most discussed topics. They will become significant for the society and the economy.
Therefore the first thing to do is to create the fertile soil to allow new ideas to grow, and then to support and accompany start-ups on their way to these new horizons.
This is exactly what the AUS did by creating the Sheraa Entrepreneurship Centre. Located next to the library of the AUS, Sheraa helps to create the next wave of entrepreneurs in the Emirates by teaching, preparing, inspiring, challenging and supporting young innovators to succeed with their own businesses. “We accompany newcomers over 3 months with workshops, mentorship, financial and legal support”, explains Sali Elagab, the space coordinator at the entrepreneurship centre. Since the beginning of this project, dozens of start-ups have already seen the light of day.
One of those start-ups for example is Pickup Bites. They provide a professional service for the social re-use of food that remains untouched from hotels, caterings, events in the UAE – 40% of food remains untouched in the UAE. Instead of finding its way to the garbage bin, this food is collected at the source, repackaged and then delivered to labour camps to fulfill a social responsibility.
Actions speak louder than words: real innovation in the UAE has already started.