Entrepreneurship in the UAE Private Space Sector: The Geotech Innovation Program

摘要

The UAE Space Agency (UAESA) promotes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) to inspire the UAE youth about space ever since its foundation. This resulted in the UAE receiving enormous number of applicants for the UAE astronaut program. With an unparalleled foresight in the MENA region, the UAESA believes that the private sector will progress the space industry on the global scale. The UAESA partnered with a global virtual incubator, Krypto Labs to execute the GeoTech Innovation Program. This program aimed to introduce a new paradigm of entrepreneurship catering to the knowledge-based economy of the UAE. Several examples exist where the space sector greatly progressed from the entrepreneurs in the private sector outside the UAE. Famous examples include private entities such as SpaceX, Planet, Virgin Galactic, and Amazon, all of which incrementally contribute to the new space race. It is always the private profit-driven sector which pushes the frontiers of technology. Therefore, the UAESA is venturing into tapping the entrepreneurial mindset of the UAE citizens in a nationwide program which is the first of its kind. This given, the UAESA encourages the private sector to develop innovative solutions in the field of satellite-based data analytics. The Geotech Innovation Program is aimed at encouraging and engaging entrepreneurs and key government entities in the UAE to start business startups catering to the growing demand of big data analytics and Earth observation using satellite data, particularly in the following areas: 1.Urban and Rural Land Management (URM) 2.Disaster and Crisis Management (DCM) 3.Coastal Border Security (CBS) This paper delineates the objectives, phases, and outcomes of executing this program. Two Emirati companies were incubated through this program, where a successful incubation program was marked by investments made by angel investors and including key government entities as their advisory board members.