Major innovation festival to fuel growth of knowledge economy
Published: 04:12 PM,Dec 29,2023 | EDITED : 08:12 PM,Dec 29,2023
The Global Innovation Index 2023 report shows Oman advancing 10 places to the 69th position on an index of 132 countries globally
MUSCAT: Seeking to harness the potential of innovation in spurring the growth of the knowledge-based economy in the Sultanate of Oman, a number of government and public sector organisations are coming together to host the first-ever Oman Innovation Festival during February 5 – 10, 2024.
Spearheading the initiative is the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MoHERI) in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Also backing the weeklong festival is EJAAD, a platform for research and innovation in Oman linking academic research to industry.
Featuring a week of workshops, dialogue sessions, panel discussions, hackathons and competitions, the festival seeks to build and entrench the growth of a national ecosystem around innovation that brings together all of the different public and private sector stakeholders in accelerating the development of a knowledge-based economy.
The Omani government is laying great stress on unlocking the country’s innovation and entrepreneurship potential to achieve its 2040 Vision. Exemplifying this commitment, the Global Innovation Index 2023 report, issued by WIPO in September, shows Oman advancing 10 places to the 69th position globally on an index of 132 countries.
Significantly, Oman was also ranked among the world’s Top 20 economies globally in five distinct sub-categories of the Global Innovation Index: 2nd place globally in “percentage of science and engineering graduates” (out of the total number of graduates); 9th place globally in “percentage of government spending per student”; 16th place globally in the “availability of information and communication systems technologies”; 19th place globally in the “business enabler policies”; and 19th place globally for “work productivity”.
A key goal of the festival, according to the organisers, is to achieve the following: Building a sustainable knowledge-based economy; Developing innovative products and services; Supporting innovation-based companies; and Fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors.
An entire session is dedicate to enabling innovation. Various presenters will deliberate on the challenges encountered by innovators and service providers in the field of innovation, with a focus on barriers and ways to overcome them. Experts will be invited to dwell on shortcoming in government policies and legislation that need to be addressed in enabling innovation.
Participants will also discuss the role of ‘Innovation Funds’ in financing innovative projects and promoting investment in this key domain. Omani startups and nascent innovations will be invited to showcase their fledgling, but commercially viable initiatives, to banks and investment funds for financial support.
Also set to be featured during the festival are ongoing efforts to roll out a National Innovation Platform - also known as the Oman Tabtakir Platform project. Although the brainchild of the Ministry of Higher Education Research and Innovation, the platform’s development and implementation is being overseen by a partnership of the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology (MTCIT) and ITHCA Group (Oman Information and Communication Technology Group) – part of Oman Investment Authority (OIA).
The platform initiative stems from an agreement reached by MTCIT and ITHCA in March to oversee the management of the Government Digital Transformation Programme. DTM, an entity created out of this strategic partnership, will not only provide executive management services in the delivery of the programme, but also serve as the investment arm of MTCIT with a commitment to delivering on all objectives by 2025.
Spearheading the initiative is the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MoHERI) in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Also backing the weeklong festival is EJAAD, a platform for research and innovation in Oman linking academic research to industry.
Featuring a week of workshops, dialogue sessions, panel discussions, hackathons and competitions, the festival seeks to build and entrench the growth of a national ecosystem around innovation that brings together all of the different public and private sector stakeholders in accelerating the development of a knowledge-based economy.
The Omani government is laying great stress on unlocking the country’s innovation and entrepreneurship potential to achieve its 2040 Vision. Exemplifying this commitment, the Global Innovation Index 2023 report, issued by WIPO in September, shows Oman advancing 10 places to the 69th position globally on an index of 132 countries.
Significantly, Oman was also ranked among the world’s Top 20 economies globally in five distinct sub-categories of the Global Innovation Index: 2nd place globally in “percentage of science and engineering graduates” (out of the total number of graduates); 9th place globally in “percentage of government spending per student”; 16th place globally in the “availability of information and communication systems technologies”; 19th place globally in the “business enabler policies”; and 19th place globally for “work productivity”.
A key goal of the festival, according to the organisers, is to achieve the following: Building a sustainable knowledge-based economy; Developing innovative products and services; Supporting innovation-based companies; and Fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors.
An entire session is dedicate to enabling innovation. Various presenters will deliberate on the challenges encountered by innovators and service providers in the field of innovation, with a focus on barriers and ways to overcome them. Experts will be invited to dwell on shortcoming in government policies and legislation that need to be addressed in enabling innovation.
Participants will also discuss the role of ‘Innovation Funds’ in financing innovative projects and promoting investment in this key domain. Omani startups and nascent innovations will be invited to showcase their fledgling, but commercially viable initiatives, to banks and investment funds for financial support.
Also set to be featured during the festival are ongoing efforts to roll out a National Innovation Platform - also known as the Oman Tabtakir Platform project. Although the brainchild of the Ministry of Higher Education Research and Innovation, the platform’s development and implementation is being overseen by a partnership of the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology (MTCIT) and ITHCA Group (Oman Information and Communication Technology Group) – part of Oman Investment Authority (OIA).
The platform initiative stems from an agreement reached by MTCIT and ITHCA in March to oversee the management of the Government Digital Transformation Programme. DTM, an entity created out of this strategic partnership, will not only provide executive management services in the delivery of the programme, but also serve as the investment arm of MTCIT with a commitment to delivering on all objectives by 2025.