The importance of Dubai Future Accelerators (DFA) programme and its role in anticipating and planning for the future were highlighted during the recent visit of a high-level delegation from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises or SMEs.

The delegation, headed by Dr. Ghassan Ahmed Al-Sulaiman, Governor of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, was introduced to DFA’s approach to finding sustainable solutions to current and future challenges faced by the sectors of strategic priority in the UAE.

DFA has become the world’s most attractive business acceleration programme, attracting in its first round as many as 2,274 innovative projects from 73 countries in less than a month.

Saif Al Aleeli, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation, DFF, gave a detailed presentation, exploring the role of science and Fourth-Industrial-Revolution technologies in transforming current challenges into opportunities for future generations.

"The foundation is working to implement Dubai Future Agenda by adopting future-focussed initiatives that will cement Dubai’s position as a global platform to anticipate and plan for the future. This includes the Dubai Future Accelerators programme, which has witnessed tremendous success and is now the centre of regional and global attention," Al Aleeli said.

"We are honoured to be welcoming a delegation from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises as this resonates with our objectives and efforts to spread knowledge and encourage the exchange of insight and expertise between all relevant and influential institutions," he added.

"This is my first visit to Dubai Future Accelerators programme and I hope it will not be the last. I was very impressed with the quality of the companies in the programme, and the products and devices that they are working upon. I congratulate the management of the accelerators on developing such an innovative model that is built around the technological innovation needs of Dubai and on their desire to create sustainability for the programme through commercialising the business model of the accelerator," Al-Sulaiman said.

DFA is an intensive 12-week programme that connects top companies and cutting-edge entrepreneurs with powerful partners in Dubai to create breakthrough solutions together. It explores and develops technologies of the future and employs them to resolve problems and challenges facing the cities of the 21st century. The programme aims to create a global platform to attract the brightest minds from around the world to find creative solutions for the challenges of the future and implement those in the city of Dubai.