Dubai Knowledge Village and creating a knowledge economy in the United Arab Emirates Ali Ibrahim United Arab Emirates University
Development of Dubai Hubs: Transportation Business Tourism ICT Finance Strategies: Free Zones Clusters
Why the Knowledge Village? UNDP 2003 report – knowledge society Education in the Arab world Brain drain September 11 – study abroad Tuitions & cost of living Culture (female students)
Dubai Knowledge Village (2003) A meeting-point of three continents Incentives: 1. World class amenities and services, 2. Complete foreign ownership, 3. Total exemption from taxes, 4. Full repatriation of capital and profits, and 5. Smooth incorporation and visa issuance procedures Institutions: Training and development centers HR management and consultancy services Education providers (universities and institutes)
Dubai Knowledge Village (cont.) 15 international universities (within one year) Programs: create a new culture of online learning and exploit new technologies to disseminate knowledge Criteria: Highly ranked Branch campus (syllabi, teaching methods, degrees, and accreditation must be identical to the parent campus) Market-oriented fields: IT training, MBAs, Engineering, Media, Medicine, Accountancy
Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) (2007) International higher education 30 campuses from 13 countries (2010) Students share housing and recreational facilities MBA, MMC, CIT, Eng. Fashion, health, tourism, education, and environmental studies 15,000 students (2010) 40,000 (2015) 40 institutions (2015)
Concluding remarks First: Lack of rigorous research Effectiveness Creators, users, and/or disseminators Second: Market demands Science, Medicine, Research not emphasized, not likely to be Continue to rely on imported professionals
Third: Knowledge & Economy Knowledge economy: Production of knowledge Knowledge-based economy: Consumption of knowledge (tool for economic benefit)