Dubai: Winners of the fourth annual Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award (MBRKA) are set to be announced at the Knowledge Summit 2017 to be held in Dubai on November 21-22 under the theme “Knowledge and the 4th Industrial Revolution”.
Recognising individuals and organisations with significant contributions to the knowledge sector and the knowledge economy, the award ceremony is a key event of the summit, which is organised by the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF).
The event is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of MBRF and Chairman of MBRKA’s Board of Trustees.
The application deadline for candidates is August 31, 2017 — including previous MBRKA winners — who meet the necessary criteria to register.
Candidates can be individuals in the UAE or abroad, government departments, or local, regional and international companies and organisations.
“The award has added significant momentum to the Knowledge Summit and its activities, and reflects [the vision] His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who never fails to encourage creativity and innovation at the local and international levels with prestigious awards across various sectors,” said Jamal Bin Huwaireb, MBRF CEO and the award’s secretary-general.
In 2016, the award was granted to Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for her role in expanding education opportunities and access to information technology, as well as in developing solutions that alleviate poverty and help individuals improve their living standards. The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) was also recognised for its achievements in commercially viable renewable energy projects, which included training the sector’s human resources at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. The Arab Thought Foundation also won the award for its efforts to strengthen the Arab cultural identity and reinforce its openness to other cultures.
In 2015, the winners were National Geographic; Hiroshi Ishiguro, professor at the Department of Innovation Systems in the Graduate School of Engineering Science at Osaka University; and Ahmed Alshugairi, presenter of the “Khawatir” television programme. Prior to that, in 2014, the inventor of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee took home the award, as did Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia.
Applicants can submit a written application (in Arabic or English) on the award’s website www.knowledgeaward.com
