A Tale of Two Indices: A Thorough Look at Innovation in the United Arab Emirates

Yet contradicting, the Laws of Court Politics[1] was influential to me. When I was asked about my favorite law, I answered:

“Never Be the Bearer of Bad News.”

Even though it may seem to some that constructive criticism is bad news, luckily, it can be considered as good news if it was brought to the attention of the person of interest before an unavoidable catastrophic aftermath. Therefore, it should be clearly stated that I have come to a conclusion that can be argued if the opposing view constructed their argument with intellectual, factual, and proper reasoning. Also, it should be noted that it is not my intention to downsize a group, firm, directory, employee or whoever contributed in the UAE’s innovation strategy since it was announced in October 2014[2]. That being said, there are a few points about the innovation in UAE that were not mentioned in the media coverage that was done recently. Moreover, even though these points require a minimum understanding of mathematical equations, I will simplify the results for a maximum understanding to obtain a thorough look at the innovation in the United Arab Emirates.

The World Economic Forum publishes a yearly index entitled the Global Competitive Index, which rates the countries participating under the categories of: Basic Requirements, Efficiency Enhancers, and Innovation and Sophistication Factors, respectively. On the other hand, the Global Innovation Index uses the Global Competitiveness Index as a reliable source in the rankings of its index. Fortunately, both reports are a public enquiry to anybody interested in the reports. Also, the focus of this report will be on the innovation category in both indices.

In addition, due to the differences in the categories of both reports, the shift of UAE’s place in the ranking is not debatable between the two indices. As it will be shown, the UAE was placed 41st in the latest Global Innovation Index [3, 4, 5]. On the other hand, it was placed 26th in the innovation category within the Global Competitiveness Index [6, 7, 8]. However, what is noteworthy of mentioning in this point is that even though the UAE moved up the ladder in the Global Innovation Index, it moved down the ladder in the innovation category of the Global Competitiveness Index, which raises the question of “why did this happen?” The answer is that both are calculated differently with different pools of analysis. Also, the weight of each pillar is different. Therefore, that ends the debate of which one is the right one. It is clear that both achieved the highest level of integrity and honesty in the rankings.

Furthermore, the innovation strategy was announced in October 2014, which means it will be fully effective by the year 2015. However, it is in this year that the UAE was pushed back in the innovation ranking of both indices. As shown in figures 1, 2, and 3, the UAE ranking was placed 36th, 47th, and 41st in the years 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively.

In other words, we were pushed back 11 places backwards in just one year, however, the new strategy picked up the paste one year after to push us forward by 6 places in the ranking. Therefore, we have not gotten anywhere with upgrading UAE’s innovation ranking. However, if that is not the case on the short-term, then we –as Emiratis- should be looking forward for more innovation projects that includes more funding to research and development.

Furthermore, the Global Innovation Index shows that the United Arab Emirates has a low efficiency ratio. By the year 2016, we are placed 117th in the ranking between 128 countries. In fact, we have not achieved the first place among Arab countries in our efficiency ratio in the last few years. Therefore, it should come as a fact that if an Arab country who achieved a higher efficiency ratio this year will be ahead of us in the next year or after. As shown in figure 4, the UAE inputs more in innovation than it outputs. Also, this has been repeated in the innovation strategy during the previous years. Hence, in order for the UAE to move upwards in the ranking categories, there has to be more output than inputs in innovation.

As a general example, a targeted sector will have all the initial institutions with man-power needed to startup in the field, however, once the funding, projects, and strategy for a particular sector is ready, it always lacks research and development. To elaborate, there seems to be a misunderstanding between research and development and importing development. In other words, some institutes lack the research and development factor, and other institutes outsource its development to another country, as stated in the Abu Dhabi Innovation Index [9].

On the other hand, in the Global Competitiveness Index published by the World Economic Forum, shows the UAE moving backwards in innovation. To illustrate, figures 5 and 6 will show the UAE ranking in the innovation category of the Global Competitiveness Index.

As a conclusion to upgrade innovation in UAE, the World Economic Forum stated in the 2014–2015 GCI report:

“Last but not least, further promoting the use of ICTs and a stronger focus on R&D and business innovation will be necessary to diversify the economy and ensure that economic growth is sustainable going into the future.”

Also, they stated in the 2015–2016 GCI report:

“The UAE will also need to strengthen its capacity for innovation (26th), including by upgrading scientific research.”

Proudly, there is an acheivement in the availability of scientists and engineers. As shown in figure 7, the UAE is ranked 7th in that category. However, there is little effective impact on research and development once we look at UAE’s ranking in Global Innovation Index.

Either way, the UAE has stood up against bigger challenges before. The UAE has shown innovation in business, environmental changes, and infrastructural capability before and defeated what seemed to be impossible to defeat. However, when it comes to scientific research, we must ask ourselves, will there be more focus on upgrading R&D facilities in the UAE? will they be publicly used? And will there be a raise awareness campaign in private companies to stop outsourcing development overseas? The tale of these two indices show that the UAE needs to upgrade its scientific research methodology, if it wants top notch innovation outputs.

[1] Greene, Robert. The 48 Laws of Power. Vikings — Penguin (1998).

[2] http://uaecabinet.ae/en/the-national-strategy-for-innovation

[3] https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/gii-2016-report

[4] https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/userfiles/file/reportpdf/gii-full-report-2015-v6.pdf

[5] https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/userfiles/file/reportpdf/GII-2014-v5.pdf

[6] http://www3.weforum.org/docs/gcr/2015-2016/Global_Competitiveness_Report_2015-2016.pdf

[7] http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2015-2016/

[8]http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2013-14.pdf

[9] Department of Economic Development, INSEAD. Abu Dhabi Innovation Index. Print.