MBRF Launches ‘Digital Knowledge Hub’ to Promote Self-education
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) has unveiled the ‘Digital Knowledge Hub’ – a comprehensive online platform to facilitate self-education and promote development – following the directives of MBRF Chairman His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Launched on January 24, 2020, the day of the United Nations International Day of Education held at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation Hall at the H igher C olleges o f Technology (HCT) - Dubai Men’s College, the platform meets the needs of school and university students, as well as researchers and experts in all disciplines. It provides a wealth of high-quality, reliable and credible information that can be used for educational processes.
The seminar was addressed by His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb, CEO of MBRF, Dr Hany Torky, Chief Technical Advisor of the Knowledge Project at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Dr Khaled Mohamed, Director of Dubai Digital Library (DDL) & Digital Content. “Education is the leading accelerator for sustainable solutions... Providing comprehensive, high-quality and fair access to education for everyone, coupled with integrating sustainability principles into the curricula at academic institutions, allows us to more effectively address global challenges in
various sectors,” H.E bin Huwaireb asserted.
“Education i s a critical component in our Foundation’s strategies and plans, in line with the UAE’s vision and its wise leadership to prioritise education as a primary means to develop human capital and establish a robust knowledge economy.” Meanwhile, Dr Khaled Mohamed showcased the Digital Knowledge Hub platform which provides vast and diverse information resources, making it a fully-fledged integrated platform for knowledge.
Home to over 2.5 million digital content items and 250,000 titles in several languages, the platform promotes reading with an intuitive interface and 15 specialised digital libraries, offering wide range of materials on space, history and artificial intelligence, among other subjects. For his part, Dr Hany Torky discussed the education sector and its connection to knowledge and the Global Knowledge Index. “The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prioritise quality education for everyone,” he said. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), there are 617 million children and teenagers around the world who cannot read, write, or do simple mathematics. Furthermore, nearly 50% of school-aged children in conflict zones do not attend school, contributing to the global figure of 258 million children and youths out of school.
The Life of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed in a Lecture by Jamal Bin Huwaireb
The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature hosted a public lecture on the life and time of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, a man credited for transforming Dubai to a modern city and global commercial hub.
The lecture entitled, “Building Man and Making Tomorrow” was addressed by His Excellency Jamal Bin Huwaireb, CEO of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), and Dr. Rafia Ghubash, founder of the Women’s Museum (the Girls’ House). Jamal bin Huwaireb spoke about how Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed built modern Dubai in a period characterized by scarcity of resources and the collapse of the pearl market in the 1940s following Japanese invention of cultured pearls. Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed would attract competent people in various fields, which Bin Huwaireb hailed as a qualitative investment in human resources. Furthermore, MBRF’s CEO said, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed had the foresight for Dubai’s future, and with a limited budget, he set out to implement his plans that he achieved with great success. Bin Huwaireb also lauded Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed’s leadership qualities, especially how he took decisions without hesitation which enabled him to make accomplishments that contributed to the rise of Dubai. “Building the human being was the focus of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed and he saw in his esteemed sons the unique essence of a future Dubai, making sure that their upbringing was based on getting used to hardships of life, generosity, chivalry and to help the people.” “His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was seen as the future of Dubai. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid mentioned that in his book; “My Story”. Reading this book; you will find the spirit of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed present from the beginning to the end of the book,” he added. For her part, Dr. Ghubash expressed her happiness for being part of the generation that lived in the era of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed. She reminisced the days when Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed roamed the streets of Dubai every morning in a black car to follow-up on the implementation of key projects. “Whenever I search in history, I find a clear imprint of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, and the imprint of success he left behind is not only because he chose the best people or companies around him, but because he was working with great love for his emirate and his country,” Dr. Ghubash said. “A ruler who remains in the memory of his people is the leader who loves his people and chooses everything beautiful for them. This was evident in the character of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed,” she added. She further noted that Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed’s love was not limited to his people, but all Arabs and all humanity, and hailed him as a champion of women empowerment.
MBRF Concludes Knowledge Week Events in Egypt
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) held the Knowledge Week for Sustainable Development in Cairo, Egypt, as part of the Foundation’s drive to popularize findings of the Global Knowledge Index (GKI) report.
The four-day workshop which was held on February 10-13, 2020 was intended to facilitate a conversation between youths and decision-makers to explore innovative ideas to solve development and knowledge challenges.
It was organized under the patronage of Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Al Alfi Foundation for Human and Social Development.
It brought together representatives from ministries and government departments, journalists, researchers, representatives of the private sector and students.
Addressing the participants, Abdel Ghaffar said that Egypt had taken remarkable steps to improve its GKI rankings which saw the country perform better in the 2019 rankings as compared to the previous year.
“The continuous collaboration for a year between the Ministry of Higher Education and the Knowledge Project, in which the strengths and weaknesses of Egypt’s performance have been studied since the announcement of the results of the Global Knowledge Index 2018. This was followed by exploring solutions to address different challenges. The result was that Egypt moving up by 17 places in the Global Knowledge Index 2019, achieving remarkable progress in higher education, where it ranked 49th globally,” Abdel Ghaffar said.
MBRF’s CEO His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb noted that the Foundation and its partners at the UNDP seek to engage young people in leading the development process. “The Global Knowledge Index offers a roadmap for the sustainable development of societies,” Huwaireb said. Meanwhile, 72 youths from across Egypt were selected from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants to participate in a competition in which they will present their vision for the future of Egypt and how to improve the country’s position in the Global Knowledge Index rankings.
At the conclusion of the week, Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar announced the launching of a ‘Higher Council of Knowledge’ composed of deans of relevant universities, and from which a ‘Knowledge Committee’ will be formed, with the participants of the Knowledge Week forming its first members. The council and the committee will be responsible for developing a proposal for a strategy to build a knowledge society in Egypt.
