The owners of the tiny hands building robots from magnets or spraying graffiti with water guns will almost certainly not be aware of the significance of their child's play. But as they participate in the seventh Abu Dhabi Science Festival, engaging their interest from a young age is a key factor in addressing a critical need for more scientists and engineers across the region. It is a key focus, too, of the World Science Forum In Jordan, where high-level delegates and government officials from more than 120 countries are gathering over four days to solve a crucial issue in the Middle East, which is hosting the biannual event for the first time: how to encourage young minds to think of science as a way to look for solutions to pressing issues in the region, such as water scarcity, energy and food security, rather than seeing it as an agent of war?
Under the banner science for peace, Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, the brother of the late King Hussein, says there is a danger of conflict-ridden countries in the region witnessing drones fired from thousands of miles away and only experiencing science as an agent of destruction, with computers replacing humans. Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, the chairwoman of this year’s forum and the president of the Royal Scientific Society in Jordan, summed it up best when she said: “We feel the pressures on our planet more acutely than many and we know the solutions we seek are above politics and beyond fear.” Knowledge and homegrown scientific expertise and technology, she added, were vital to the security of the region.
The number of institutions offering scientific advancement and education in the UAE and beyond is burgeoning. The government's adoption of an artificial intelligence strategy and appointment of a cabinet minister is recognition of its role in the future of the country. The newly opened Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, with world-class facilities, will graduate its first batch of medics in 2022. The eager young faces gawping at the wonders of science and getting their hands dirty with more than 70 activities in Khalifa Park and Al Ain Zoo are still a long way from deciding their futures. But it's a good place to start persuading them how important their contribution could be one day.
Itcan profile
Founders: Mansour Althani and Abdullah Althani
Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India
Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce
Size: 70 employees
Revenue: On track to make Dh100 million in revenue this year since its 2015 launch
Funding: Self-funded to date
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
'Ashkal'
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
Company%20Profile
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
