The UAE is keen to promote science, technology and research through innovative projects that employ the capabilities of youth in the UAE and the Arab world as part of efforts to enhance the country’s contribution to develop these fields, said Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future, and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Managing Director of Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation.

Al Gergawi stated this on the occasion of the launch of ‘Mostaqbal Portal’, an innovative initiative of Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation to cover the latest findings of the technology and science sector on a daily basis by publishing studies, research findings, visual material and infographics in Arabic in simplified and easy-to-understand language.

Al Gergawi said: "This portal will contribute to strengthening the UAE’s position as one of the active players in supporting science and research. It will enhance the country’s efforts to promote Arabic as a language with the relevant vocabulary for modern usage at a time when the UAE is celebrating the Year of Reading, announced His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE."

Al Gergawi said the launch of the portal comes within the framework of implementing the vision of the UAE's leadership and directions of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to support scientific content presented in Arabic, especially in areas that have long faced a shortage of content for Arab readers and researchers.

The announcement of the launch was made at a press conference on Monday, March 28, in Dubai. The event also witnessed the signing of the agreements between Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation and the Ministry of Education, Dubai Smart Government, Al Bayan and Sky News Arabia to publish ‘Mostaqbal Portal’ content through their communication and media channels for readers and government employees in the UAE and abroad.

Saif Al Aleeli, CEO of Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation; Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi, Undersecretary of Quality and Support Services at UAE Ministry of Education; Wesam Lootah, CEO of Smart Dubai Government Establishment; Ahmad Al Hammadi, Executive Director of Publishing Sector at Al Bayan; and Nart Bouran, Head of Sky News Arabia, represented the entities during the signing of the agreement.

The ‘Mostaqbal Portal’ will publish studies, research findings, articles, visual materials and infographics in areas related to science and technology, including: space science, health, science, artificial intelligence, smart networks, and virtual reality and news related to Future Museum, public and scientific studies, and other specialised areas. "

Commenting on the occasion, Saif Al Aleeli, CEO of Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation, said: "The launch of this portal in Arabic is aimed at providing the latest research and articles in a professional manner to encourage people, especially youth, to explore these areas in their mother language, and promote scientific content in Arabic. It will also support innovation and scientific research process in the Arab world as this portal will serve as a unique content source for regional scientific and technical specialists."

Al Aleeli added: "The portal managed to attract great interest during its trial launch when the number of followers on social media channels reached more than 3 million thanks to a team of experts and analysts who are working to provide readers with the latest articles and research content in the these areas." Al Aleeli confirmed that as part of the development framework to ensure the widest possible reach of scientific content, there are plans to build more strategic partnerships with the Arab media entities.

He also stated that scientific content will be chosen based on their direct impact on innovation in strategic sectors through the adoption of an organized system that keeps pace with fast changing global developments. The portal features an attractive design and ease of navigation using simple Arabic language in an accurate and scientific manner. The content will be classified based on topics to facilitate the search process and simplify access to visitors. Readers will be able to read the scientific content of the portal in English as well.

During the trial launch, more than 500 scientific articles, 50 infographics and 60 visual content were published in addition to more than 800 posts on official page on Facebook, 350 tweets, and 70 Instagram posts.

Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi, Undersecretary of Quality and Support Services at UAE Ministry of Education, said: "The UAE is achieving huge steps towards world of knowledge, science and technology to build the next generation of scientists to achieve goals of UAE Vision 2021. This platform will add important knowledge in scientific sectors in Arabic language aiming to spread the culture of innovation and support the scientific research."

Wesam Lootah, CEO of Smart Dubai Government Establishment, said: "Signing this MoU with Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation comes as part of our support for the ‘Mostaqbal Portal’, which has become the largest incubator of ideas, knowledge and forward thinking. The signing is also part of the new generation of technology with the aim of fulfilling the requirements of Dubai - the smart city of the future; as well as in implementation of the strategy of Smart Dubai Government Establishment."

He added: "We at Smart Dubai Government Establishment are working on promoting knowledge and innovation-based ideas and initiatives in order to look to the future in light of the Smart Dubai initiative. Our aim is to firmly establish Dubai as the smartest city in the world by 2017 through the provision of world-class smart services and infrastructure in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. As Smart Dubai's technology arm, we pledge to support the innovative initiative of the ‘Mostaqbal Portal’ by employing all our technologies, enablers, infrastructure and sophisticated smart service systems to enable the UAE to fulfil its civilized and intellectual mission in the best possible way."

Nart Bouran, Head of Sky News Arabia, expressed his delight in signing the partnership with Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation to support the launch of ‘Mostaqbal Portal’ by publishing its content through Sky News Arabia’s diverse channels. "We will use the content to present it to our audience in attractive style to support the community and increase knowledge," Bouran said.

Source:WAM