The ICT Fund, dedicated to the mission of creating homegrown technology innovations for the UAE, has funded scholarships amounting to a total of 115 million AED through its Be’tha Program. The Fund is furthering its scholarship agenda this year with 58 million AED available for deserving UAE National students.
“Through its mandate the ICT Fund continues to deliver on its scholarship agenda. We look forward to ensuring that the Be’tha Program will create a skilled workforce in ICT on par with globally competitive industries. We are extremely proud of our UAE Nationals who are representing our country abroad, and equally as proud of those who are studying in our local universities. Together these students will become a diverse and well educated force in developing our knowledge-based economy in the UAE,” commented H.E. Dr. Abdulqadar Al Khayat, Chairman, ICT Fund.
Students who received the scholarships have been placed in prestigious universities locally and abroad as far as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan. The ICT Fund has plans to open 100 more scholarship seats to students in the coming academic year. The scholarship applications are evaluated by the ICT Fund and/or the academic institutions themselves.
“We are creating our competitive edge in the ICT sector every day for these students who learn and compete in their local and international academic environments. A scholarship provided by the ICT Fund today can graduate talents and inspire innovation for tomorrow, which can turn into revolutionary new ideas, one that the UAE can use to compete with the world market. One of the ways we build this ICT ‘value chain’ is supporting educational funding,” added Dr. Eesa Bastaki, CEO ICT Fund.
Recently the ICT Fund announced a 22 million AED fund allotment to Research & Development when it held a workshop informing research circles, academic institutions, and industry professionals of the opportunity available to them from the ICT Fund and how to apply to gain access to such funds.
The ICT Fund is tasked with the initiative to develop homegrown innovative technology solutions; the ICT Fund aims to foster a self-reliant knowledge-based economy in the UAE. ICT Fund provides generous grants to research projects, which results in the development of applied R&D, and the generation of related patents and research papers. In addition, it is actively supporting the commercialization of applied R&D, leading to the establishment of start-ups in the ICT sector.
