Dubai - MENA Herald: As part of the UAE Innovation Week, GE (NYSE: GE) today underlined its commitment to supporting the nation in achieving its Vision 2021 to be among the most innovative nations in the world. GE supports National Innovation Strategy to build an innovation-enabling environment, promoting innovation champions & strengthening innovation priority sectors.
Among key activities, GE will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Economy to strengthen localized innovation. GE opens doors to the innovative ‘GE Garage’ experience at the Dubai Design District (d3), and is also participating in the DEWA Innovation Week by highlighting its digital industrial solutions for a sustainable, productive and efficient energy sector.
“GE is working hard with partners to build an innovation ecosystem in the UAE through concerted approach,” said Rania Rostom, Chief Innovation Officer of GE in the Middle East, North Africa & Turkey. “An innovation leader and a long-term player in supporting the nation’s growth through our advanced technologies, GE is taking our commitment to localized innovation to the next level in the UAE.”
She added: “As we transform into a digital industrial company by integrating software with heavy machinery, we are even more inspired by the UAE, which is focused on building a culture of localized innovation. Through the GE Ecomagination Innovation Center that serves as an industrial innovation incubator, led by our partnerships with government and private sector entities, we will continue to embark on new innovation initiatives”
MoU with the Ministry of Economy
The MoU between GE and the Ministry of Economy will be signed by H.E. Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Shalleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Trade & Industry, and Dalya Al Muthanna, CEO, GE Gulf, in the presence of H.E. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy. As per the MoU, GE will organize leadership speaker sessions to be led by experts at the GE Ecomagination Innovation Center in Masdar City, a regional hub that promotes collaborative research and innovation, for 30 government employees nominated by the Ministry of Economy.
The Speaker Series will specifically address the areas of FastWorks, GE’s new initiative to promote the ‘start-up’ culture, which emphasizes the disciplines of lean manufacturing and agile software development. GE will also organize a 3D Printing Workshop for government employees, centered on GE Garages – an open call for localized prototyping that brings together people from all walks of life to explore Advanced Manufacturing techniques. The audience will comprise 15 government employees recommended by the Ministry and most of the workshops will be held at GE’s Ecomagination Innovation Center in Masdar City.
A new innovation ecosystem
The unlimited possibilities that innovation opens up will be showcased at the GE Garage event in d3. At its dedicated pavilion, visitors will have the opportunity to embark on a journey through innovation across several zones. The ‘Develop & Discover’ zone provides real-world examples on how GE uses innovative technology and processes in its manufacturing and development with an interactive display of 3D printers and virtual reality experience.
GE will be screening the new exclusive series BREAKTHROUGH, in an unprecedented partnership with National Geographic Channels, produced by Imagine Entertainment and Asylum Entertainment.
BREAKTHROUGH explores remarkable scientific discoveries in brain science, longevity, water, energy, pandemics and cyborg technology. These are modern-day revolutions in how we live. Visitors will learn about the remarkable courage, imagination, passion and self-sacrifice of the scientists bringing these innovations to life.
GE will also provide visitors the opportunity to track and analyze how their brain waves change when eating spicy, savory and sweet flavors through our brain wave monitoring headbands.
Knowledge sharing
At the DEWA Innovation Week, GE is showcasing its advanced digital industrial solutions at a dedicated booth. GE is participating as a strategic partner highlighting innovations related to the Industrial Internet, water, energy, efficiency and latest technology.
GE is also working with key partners in promoting an innovation-enabling environment. This will feature a GE Garage workshop; a space where workshops are held in a fully equipped lab, to show how the future of manufacturing is changing the world.
Further, GE is nurturing innovation champions with GEMS Education through a five-session, four-week robot-building program for girls aged 9-11, teaching them about advanced manufacturing and coding.
The company has also partnered with entrepreneurship incubator Wamda for a mentorship program during which 10 MENA-based startups were paired with 20 GE employees to learn from each other.
