Make A Difference: Dubai Launches Humanitarian Accelerator To Support Social Enterprises For the entrepreneurs among you striving to make imaginative use of technology and other resources to make a difference to the society, know that the Dubai government wants to help you.
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For the entrepreneurs among you striving to make imaginative use of technology and other resources to make a difference to the society, know that the Dubai government wants to help you. UAE's Vice President and Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Humanitarian Accelerators last week, "a first-of-its kind initiative in the Arab World," which aims to support the humanitarian sector by attracting skilled and passionate entrepreneurs to it. Established in collaboration with Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiative, and Dubai Future Accelerators, the program aims to "accelerate the process of giving, consolidate efficiency, and leapfrog conventional technology approaches in humanitarian work."
Launching the initiative at Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed said that with the Humanitarian Accelerator, Dubai wishes "to harness the potential of advanced technology" to transform communities. "We are facing many humanitarian challenges, and must think innovatively in order to accelerate philanthropic work and achieve high results – this cannot wait," he added. Accordingly, the Accelerator seeks to apply futuristic technologies such as robotics, Artificial Intelligence, etc. to improve the efficiency of humanitarian institutions, and thus better serve humanity.
The Humanitarian Accelerators will bring the world's best minds to bear in meeting challenges in education, knowledge and helping refugees pic.twitter.com/7eHeZWSqkq
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) June 23, 2017
In this regard, the four regional humanitarian challenges taken up by the Accelerator are access to quality education to all children, access to clean water in underprivileged countries, increasing number of refugees living in poverty, and "the below-average" reading material and content in Arabic online. Accordingly, the program is being designed to identify emerging technologies, and help create partnerships between participants and humanitarian institutions, similar to the way other entrepreneurship accelerators work.
Related: Innovation For Impact: MENA Startups Are Taking On The Refugee Crisis
