The Emirates called for strengthening the international humanitarian response and providing urgent relief to those in need
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THE UAE is not new to innovations. From AI-assisted banking agents to solar-powered roof tops and health apps, the country is utilising the latest technological boom to its advantage in many sectors.
Moreover, in just two years, the country will witness a whole gamut of innovations from across the world at the much-awaited Dubai Expo 2020 which is themed 'Connecting Minds, Creating Future.'
But, is finding sustainable solutions to food, water, energy and health problems just a government priority and responsibility? Ask any Dutch, they will say, it is not. Interestingly, the Netherlands is so eager to share with the entire world its tested and proven method - the Dutch Triple Helix Approach that promotes nexus between government, private sector and knowledge institutes - for the benefit of humanity as natural resources are depleting everywhere in an alarming rate.
In the Middle East region, the UAE is far ahead of their counterparts in developing and implementing sustainable solutions and even seeking to broaden its horizon of the knowledge economy. All these make it compatible with the Dutch approach as revealed through the innovations happening across its universities and research centres there.
The Netherlands has successfully implemented its Helix approach to innovations in the water-energy-food nexus and healthcare. Of the innumerable innovations and research based on Triple Helix Approach, which were disclosed to a media delegation from the UAE recently, greenhouses seemed to be suitable for arid conditions of the UAE, which lacks arable land and water resources.
The UAE now has several homegrown crops thanks to the visionary leader and the founding father of the nation, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who played a big role in shaping an agriculture sector in the country.
As per the official data available online, the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has been increasing acreage under organic farming by five per cent annually. If there were 4,000 farms in 1971, it has risen to 35,704 in 2011, spanning an area of 105,257 hectares, comprising 54 organic vegetation farms, three animal production farms and one manufacturing facility. The organic production area in the UAE increased to 3,920 hectares by the end of 2013.
The positive side of the UAE is that it has already started thinking about collaboration between various entities inside and outside the country, to take this commendable progress to the next level. Hence the Dutch Helix Approach, which can easily be adopted, as the knowledge institutes in the UAE are getting immense support from the government for innovations.
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