It is the small steps towards innovation that make a nation and its citizens stand tall. Google Innovation Hub is a fair and innovative program that inspires the youth to transmute their tech obsessions into a successful business. Developed last year, the program is functional in the premises of the UAE University campus. Interestingly, this is one of the many endeavors undertaken by the UAE Government with focus on student well-being. With a special focus on STEM subjects and a “First-Rate Education” scheme to revamp education in curriculum & professional development, UAE gears to accomplish its Vision 2021.
Dr. Ali Al Nuaimi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Education Council and Chancellor of UAE University shared his perspective and aspirations about the Google Innovation Hub UAE.
“The excessive use of mobile devices by our children is clear, but is it the right kind of use? With this center we want it to become the right kind of use.
We are proud to have a platform that enables students to interact with the future technology, not only the existing one, and not only by learning at schools.”
Students in the age group 8-24 visit the innovation and development center to gain knowledge on building robots, developing Android apps, and more.
The Google translate and the search engine app Go Google are based on Machine Learning, one of the key tech trends that the innovation hub seeks to promote. The Maker Space section of the hub is to impart teaching of 3D printing, laser cutting, and robotics.
There’s a growing rage for Virtual Reality, to promote which, coding in virtual reality using Google Cardboard is taught in the App Factory. One of the fervent promoters of Virtual Reality (the choicest tech trend) Google brings Google Expeditions to the Middle East. In the preceding year, Google stroke a partnership deal to strengthen its hold in the MENA region, and to become a contributor to technological progress in the Gulf. VRXOne is the partner for Google Expedition in MENA. It is a program designed to transform education through convenient & innovative Virtual Reality solutions through rich, in-depth experiences.
As stated by Google, the innovation hub is a place for young innovators who must learn practical things in a fun and simple way. This grooms the future leaders for a competitive global market. With the same intent of encompassing critical thinking and practical abilities in students, VRXOne is transforming education in the region, one school at a time. It has initiated a ‘Go to School program’ aimed at demonstrating 1 million expeditions to students in the region.
Breaking the new ground, VRXOne showcases VR and demonstrates the benefits of field trips in the Google Innovation Hub, Dubai. The hub and the VRXOne program both emphasize on ‘methodical teaching by demonstration’. Schools who have already witnessed VR positively review the technology, claiming it to be highly immersive, engaging, and distraction-free. The technology that enables better retention levels is said to be the real investment for the future.
It is groundbreaking. Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, etc. are the 21st-century technologies safeguarding the frontiers of a bright future.
