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Partnership Mandates both Parties to Develop a Comprehensive Institutional Happiness Framework
World's First Corporate Happiness Program Delivered by Gallup and RIT Dubai, in conjunction with Smart Dubai
Dubai-UAE: 05 December, 2016
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), the regulatory body for Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO), the integrated free zone technology park, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Smart Dubai Office (SDO), which aims to transform Dubai into the smartest and happiest city on earth.
The partnership is an opportunity for both parties to collaborate on developing a fully comprehensive framework for institutional happiness, as well as to raise the bar for current and future projects and initiatives that contribute to the emirate’s happiness. In addition, it facilitates joint efforts to find ideal solutions that help achieve the Happiness Agenda and the most appropriate ways of their implementation across Dubai.
Dr Mohammed Alzarooni, DSOA Vice Chairman and CEO, and Dr Aisha Butti Bin Bishr, SDO Director General, signed the MoU during Dr Bin Bishr’s visit to Dubai Silicon Oasis.
Commenting on the collaboration, Dr Alzarooni said: “In the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, happiness and positivity in the UAE are a lifestyle, a government commitment, and a spirit uniting the UAE community. At DSOA, we aim to put the concept of happiness into practice by partnering with all the relevant parties in order to actively exchange knowledge and expertise.”
He added: “We are proud to have been the first entity to shape a comprehensive Happiest People Strategy as a pillar of the DSOA 2021 Strategy. We are actively working on exchanging knowledge and expertise with various partners, to reach a practical implementation of the concept of happiness. DSO is keen on setting a real-life example of the role happiness plays in Dubai and the wider UAE.”
On her part, Dr Bin Bishr expressed her delight in partnering with DSOA and commended the authority’s relentless drive in contributing to the vision of transforming Dubai into the smartest and happiest city worldwide.
She said: “The strategy we follow in transforming Dubai into a smart city prioritizes happiness over technology. Smart Dubai is based on the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to focus the city’s unified efforts towards its most valued asset - its people - and make their happiness the highest indicator of success. Therefore, happiness holds a top priority among our objectives.”
During her visit, Dr Bin Bishr witnessed the launch of the world’s first-of-its-kind Corporate Happiness Program. Delivered by Gallup and RIT Dubai in conjunction with Smart Dubai, it aims to educate senior professionals on the key aspects of corporate happiness and provide them with the tools to put the concept into practice in their respective organizations.
Through six modules over the course of three months, the program offers better understanding of the scientific notions of happiness, combining theoretical and practical methods of learning through lectures, research, case studies, and project work. It covers a variety of topics from how to assess an organization in terms of individual and corporate happiness, how to apply the corporate happiness concept, how to develop and implement a Corporate Happiness Strategic Plan, as well as best practices of corporate happiness measures.
On her tour of Dubai Silicon Oasis premises, Dr Bin Bishr familiarized herself with the high-tech park’s projects and initiatives, such as the Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Centre (Dtec), which supports start-ups in the fields of technology, digital Islamic economy, and Arabic content. The largest centre of its kind in the Middle East provides budding entrepreneurs with a chance to establish their businesses, as well as consultation support, workspace, and networking opportunities.
Dr Bin Bishr also visited Intelak, a joint initiative between The Emirates Group, General Electric, Etisalat, and DSOA, which serves as an incubator for travel, technology, and aviation start-ups. She admired a model of Silicon Park, one of the prominent large-scale developments at DSO and the first fully integrated smart city project in Dubai that will span across an area of 150,000 square meters. Upon conclusion of the visit, she was also presented with a list of smart projects and initiatives adopted at the high-tech park, such as the Smart Lamp Posts, Smart Weather Pole, Smart Sub-Surface Irrigation System, and Smart Waste Management System.
A wholly-owned entity of the government of Dubai, DSO operates as a free zone technology park for large enterprises, medium and small companies looking to set up their offices in Dubai.
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About Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), a 100% owned entity by the Government of Dubai is a free zone, strategically placed on SheikhMohammed Bin Zayed road. DSOA's urban master-planned community spans 7.2 square kilometers of state of the art office towers, R&D and industrial zones, educational institutions, luxury apartments, villas, hotels, healthcare and a full range of lifestyle facilities which translate into a dynamic commercial and social environment. Businesses can flourish under the unrivalled package of incentives, including 100% ownership, and high end IT infrastructure that allows companies to begin operating immediately. DSOA is a technology park that provides both a living and working integrated community. For more information, please visit: www.dsoa.ae.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Mazen El Dirany
Corporate Communications
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority
Tel: +971 4 501 5102
E-mail: meldirany@dso.ae
Serine Srouji
APCO Worldwide
M: +971 52 9869852
Email: ssrouji@apcoworldwide.com
Mahmoud Kandil
APCO Worldwide
M: +971 55 302 7386
Email: mkandil@apcoworldwide.com
© Press Release 2016
