Marking the UAE Innovation Month, the 10th Abu Dhabi Science Festival is hosting the sixth edition of the INNOVATOR flag ship event, organised by Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) at A’l Bahar on Abu Dhabi Corniche, to showcase a total of 100 innovations from diverse government entities and talented individual innovators, aimed at engaging visitors and stimulating an environment that encourages creativity and innovation.
INNOVATOR 2020 is a key annual event that showcases creative ideas and projects in various scientific disciplines from talented individuals in the UAE community. Through organizing this event annually, ADEK aims at fostering a culture of innovation that contributes to supporting UAE’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index in line with the National Strategy for Innovation.
The event encourages innovators to pursue their aspirations and offers them a platform to showcase their innovative creations in various science categories, including Automotive, Mechanics and Digital Fabrication, Aerospace and Space Exploration, Robotics, Electronics and Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability and Life Sciences, and Arts and Design. General members of the public also get inspired by exploring these innovations while enjoying a variety of interactive and scientific workshops and educational live shows.
This year, INNOVATOR 2020 featured 20 innovations from Government entities in Abu Dhabi, including Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, General Command of Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi Ports, Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (QCC), Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority, Department of Economic Development, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, Family Development Foundation, Tawzea Distribution and Logistics Services, Emirates Foundation, Abu Dhabi Retirement Pension and Benefits Fund, United Arab Emirates University, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi University, Rize Enrichment Programs, and Krypto Labs. Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation was also a main participant, as part of their UAE Innovation Month tour starting from Abu Dhabi, the Capital.
Abu Dhabi Government entities showcased a variety of unique innovations. For example, Abu Dhabi Police presented their ‘Smart Driving Test’ project, which aims to foster road safety sustainability by adopting state-of-the-art smart systems to evaluate driver performance and issue driving licenses.
Also, Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism presented their project ‘Mission to Mars’, which aims to launch a UAE Astronaut Programme in cooperation with “Rnano”, a UAE-based entity that combines 21st century academic education training with robotics programming, to develop a national team of space explorers, contributing to achieving Emirati ambitions in scientific exploration and participating in future manned space exploration missions.
Another example is The Department of Economic Development’s ‘Takamul’ project, which supports the innovation life-cycle by offering advice and financial support to start-ups and guides them through the patent application processes.
In addition to Government entities’ participations, INNOVATOR 2020 featured 80 innovations from individuals in different age groups. One of the innovative projects presented this year was the ‘Robot Tour Guide’, which uses smart technology to contribute to promoting the country’s tourism sector, as the robot is able to provide tourists with information about tourist attractions, such as location and their opening times, with the ability of being updated remotely.
The ‘Life-Saving Window’ is a domestic survival resource at INNOVATOR 2020. The project aims to reduce or eliminate instances of children falling from windows in high residential towers, as the windows will only unlock using fingerprint recognition.
An additional automotive innovation is the ‘Airbag Cooler’, a project designed to protect the faces of car passengers and drivers from the damaging effect of the high temperatures of vehicle airbags when they deploy in an accident.
These are only some examples of some of the unique innovations presented at INNOVATOR 2020, which offers innovators the opportunity to win cash prizes up to AED60,000, which can be used by the winners to invest in, promote and upgrade their innovations to the next level. A jury of experts will select the most distinctive projects according to clearly defined criteria that is based on quality, authenticity, innovation, and social impact.
The winning projects and innovations will be announced during the closing ceremony of the Abu Dhabi Science Festival, which will be held on Saturday, 8th February, 2020, at 6 pm. Accordingly, the Department of Education and Knowledge invites the general public to attend the ceremony, providing encouragement to innovators and motivating them to continue developing their ideas.
