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ICT Fund awarded 115 million AED to date in scholarship funding to UAE National students through its Be'tha Program

Fund plans 58 million AED in scholarships for 2011
United Arab Emirates, 13^th July 2011(ME NewsWire): The ICT Fund, dedicated to the mission of creating homegrown technology innovations for the UAE, has funded scholarships amounting to a total of 115 million AED through its Be'tha Program. The Fund is furthering its scholarship agenda this year with 58 million AED available for deserving UAE National students.

"Through its mandate the ICT Fund continues to deliver on its scholarship agenda. We look forward to ensuring that the Be'tha Program will create a skilled workforce in ICT on par with globally competitive industries. We are extremely proud of our UAE Nationals who are representing our country abroad, and equally as proud of those who are studying in our local universities. Together these students will become a diverse and well educated force in developing our knowledge-based economy in the UAE," commented H.E. Dr. Abdulqadar Al Khayat, Chairman, ICT Fund.

Students who received the scholarships have been placed in prestigious universities locally and abroad as far as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan. The ICT Fund has plans to open 100 more scholarship seats to students in the coming academic year. The scholarship applications are evaluated by the ICT Fund and/or the academic institutions themselves.

"We are creating our competitive edge in the ICT sector every day for these students who learn and compete in their local and international academic environments. A scholarship provided by the ICT Fund today can graduate talents and inspire innovation for tomorrow, which can turn into revolutionary new ideas, one that the UAE can use to compete with the world market. One of the ways we build this ICT 'value chain' is supporting educational funding," added Dr. Eesa Bastaki, CEO ICT Fund.

Recently the ICT Fund announced a 22 million AED fund allotment to Research & Development when it held a workshop informing research circles, academic institutions, and industry professionals of the opportunity available to them from the ICT Fund and how to apply to gain access to such funds.

The ICT Fund is tasked with the initiative to develop homegrown innovative technology solutions; the ICT Fund aims to foster a self-reliant knowledge-based economy in the UAE. ICT Fund provides generous grants to research projects, which results in the development of applied R&D, and the generation of related patents and research papers. In addition, it is actively supporting the commercialization of applied R&D, leading to the establishment of start-ups in the ICT sector.

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About the ICT Fund:
The ICT Fund provides targeted funding services to companies, organizations, and individuals to empower them to develop the innovation and knowledge capital of the UAE ICT sector with their applied and basic research, education, and entrepreneurship.

The Fund strives to promote a culture of entrepreneurship in the UAE ICT sector and to improve linkage between industry and academia. Additionally, it promotes the involvement of UAE nationals in the realm of scientific and technology research in order to foster self-reliance of technology creation and development in the UAE.

The Fund is driven by a strong vision to make the ICT sector the leading sector in the Middle East through enabling and fostering progressive innovation in the field. Global leadership position for the UAE ICT sector can be attained by investing in innovative ideas that contribute to the intellectual growth of the sector, yielding measurable results.

For more information regarding the ICT Fund, please visit: www.ictfund.gov.ae.

Source: ME NewsWire

The release can be viewed online: http://www.me-newswire.net/news/3906/en

Contact:
Ms. Kholoud Al Abdullah
Communication & Marketing Manager, ICT Fund
Tel: +971505358772
comms@ictfund.gov.ae

© Press Release 2011