The Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA) recently announced the top 10 innovators of its ‘Digital Champions Program,’ which was launched in February 2019 in partnership with Cisco, during an awarding ceremony held at Park Rotana Hotel- Abu Dhabi Hotel. The event was attended by high-level officials led by Saeed Al Mansoori, ADDA’s Executive Director of shared government services and Samer Al-Lahham, Regional Manager, Cisco.
The program’s top innovators were Sabiha Shaik; Mouza Al Hammadi; Abdulaziz Al Mansoori; Noura Juma; Safiya Ahmed; Fahed Ali Naji; Bushra; Shaki Ali; Amir Abdella and Mohammad Al Ryatt. All of them showed strong performance and demonstrated high aptitude during the course of their rigorous, specialized training on Internet of Things (IoT), innovation, and research and development, among others.
This year, the program attracted a total of 1000 participants of different nationalities, 42 of whom were UAE citizens. The rest came from Jordan, India, Yemen, Egypt, Oman, Palestine, Pakistan, and Sudan. Majority of the participants were female at 55 per cent.
H.E. Rauda Al Saadi, Director General of ADDA stressed on the important role that the event plays, especially in the authority’s move to support the efforts to build a new generation of innovators equipped with advanced digital skills, making them more efficient across technological fields such as the Internet of Things (IoT).
H.E Al Saadi said: “The program follows the mandate and commitment of ADDA to develop the talents and build a generation of innovators and inventors in the country. Our top innovators are the pioneers of our future who are aware of the rapid changes being brought about by the mind-blowing digital innovations taking place worldwide. It is our hope that our innovators will soon take the lead in the UAE’s digital transformation journey, which supports the transition to a sustainable knowledge economy. We congratulate the winners and praise their achievements, perseverance, dedication, and hard work.”
Shukri Eid, Managing Director, East Region, Cisco Middle East, said: “Cisco is proud to continue its contribution towards talent development and capacity building in the UAE and across the region. We are delighted to have partnered with ADDA to support the Digital Champions Program, which prides itself upon empowering and upskilling local talent. Through the program, we have seen over 1000 participants benefit from the use of customized online learning solutions and interactive workshops. This will enable them to apply their newfound skills in IoT to a range of careers, where digital transformation is essential. In doing so, we believe they will help drive innovation forward and strengthen our knowledge-based economy.”
The program was launched to equip new graduates, university students, and government employees with advanced digital skills and make them more efficient in technological fields such as Internet of Things (IoT). It contains a set of courses offered by Cisco Net Academy that is designed to enhance the digital capacity and skills of innovators and inventors. The training will help them flourish in their careers, effectively meet the demands of future jobs, increase their competitiveness, become more technologically innovative, and be more prepared to successfully handle future functions.
