GEM began in 1999 as a joint project between Babson College (USA) and London Business School (UK). The aim was to consider why some countries are more 'entrepreneurial' than others. Today, GEM is the richest resource of information on the subject, publishing a range of global, national and 'special topic' reports on an annual basis.
Our Mission
To support building a sustainable ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship by promoting public awareness, stakeholders engagement, and evidence based policy making.
GEM was present in the UAE in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011. Since 2016, GEM is active again in the UAE. Since 2017, GEM UAE started a cooperation with the Ministry of Economy.
United Arab Emirates University
Prof. Chabrak is the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) UAE national team leader and chairperson of its Chapter Steering Committee. She is the Chair of UAEU Committee for Dubai Expo 2020. She was the Programs Director at UAE University Science & Innovation Park.
She teaches Accounting, Corporate Governance, CSR, a Stanford preeminent course on Entrepreneurship & Innovation and a leadership course using ontological and phenomenological approaches.
After having been consultant, Assistant then Associate Professor at Institut Mines Telecom, France, and Professor at UAE University, She is now interested in creating values-driven startups and ecosystem conditions for a new quality of growth to eradicate poverty and to promote inclusiveness to fight radicalization. As member of the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt Responsible Leaders Network, she helps shaping a new form of dialogue and cooperation through innovation and entrepreneurship.
Since the European Project on entrepreneurship and innovation she led in Tunisia in 2007, where an entrepreneurship curriculum and incubator were developed and specialists were trained to sustain the outcomes of the project, she raised several success stories and youth role models. The impact of the programs she helped design and implement was largely recognized. The most recent recognition was the Mohamed Bin Rashed Award UAE University won in 2018 as best university supporting entrepreneurship. Many of the startups won international competitions such as the 2017 Global Pitch@Palace People Award, the 2017 jury special mention of the Falling Walls Venture competition, and the 2017 Singularity University MENA Global Impact Challenge.
She took up several visiting positions at University of Wisconsin, USA; University of Canterbury, New Zealand; Deakin University, University of South Australia, Australia and University of Sheffield, UK. She has been publishing and serving in reputable international journals’ editorial boards such as Critical perspectives on Accounting and Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. She is the co-founder and organizer of the International CSAF Conference (Tunisia, 2009; the UAE, 2013).
After her work on promoting alter accounting for emancipation, Prof. Chabrak current interest is in promoting new framework for economic coordination and governance for intergenerational wellbeing and inclusiveness. She led a research project on the design of sustainable financial systems using the UNEP framework with evidence from the UAE, Australia, Italy and Turkey. She is also engaged in a research project on promoting wellbeing and quality of life through entrepreneurship.
United Arab Emirates University
Dr. Chafik Bouhaddioui is an Associate Professor of Statistics at UAE University. He got his Ph.D in 2002 from University of Montreal in Canada. He worked as lecturer in Concordia University for 4 years. He has a rich experience in applied statistics in finance in private and public sectors. He worked as assistant researcher in Finance Ministry (Revenue Canada).
He worked as Senior Analyst in National Bank of Canada and developed statistical methods used in stock market forecasting. He joined in 2004 a team of researchers in finance group at CIRANO in Canada to develop statistical tools and modules in finance and risk analysis. He published several papers in well-known journals in the area of time series analysis and their applications in economics and finance.
Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (PSUAD)
Research Interests
Research focus on the dynamic process of building successful high growth firms, investigating on three interrelated areas: how firms develop their strategies and methods in order to increase their competitiveness, internal and external sources of capabilities and knowledge spillovers and issues related to intellectual property rights.
La Salle Universitat Ramon Llull
Dr. Llewellyn D W Thomas is an Associate Professor at LaSalle Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, a Visiting Professor at Imperial College Business School, London, and visiting faculty at Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government. Llewellyn’s research interests lie in the co-evolutionary processes that lead to successful innovation and entrepreneurship. He focuses on technology strategy with a particular interest in the digital economy and ecosystem creation, evolution and dynamics.
Before joining academia, Llewellyn was both an entrepreneur, founding a number of businesses, and management consultant specialising in information strategy, both for his own consultancy, and in the financial services group at the consultants BearingPoint UK. Previous to venturing into management consultancy he was Product Strategy Director EMEA at Hummingbird, a Canadian multinational software company, and Solutions Director at Valid Information Systems, an information management software company based in London, UK. He has a PhD from Imperial College London, an MBA with Distinction from Cass Business School London and Honours Degrees in Law and Arts from Sydney University, Australia.
United Arab Emirates University
Prof. Chabrak is the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) UAE national team leader and chairperson of its Chapter Steering Committee. She is the Chair of UAEU Committee for Dubai Expo 2020. She was the Programs Director at UAE University Science & Innovation Park.
She teaches Accounting, Corporate Governance, CSR, a Stanford preeminent course on Entrepreneurship & Innovation and a leadership course using ontological and phenomenological approaches.
After having been consultant, Assistant then Associate Professor at Institut Mines Telecom, France, and Professor at UAE University, She is now interested in creating values-driven startups and ecosystem conditions for a new quality of growth to eradicate poverty and to promote inclusiveness to fight radicalization. As member of the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt Responsible Leaders Network, she helps shaping a new form of dialogue and cooperation through innovation and entrepreneurship.
Since the European Project on entrepreneurship and innovation she led in Tunisia in 2007, where an entrepreneurship curriculum and incubator were developed and specialists were trained to sustain the outcomes of the project, she raised several success stories and youth role models. The impact of the programs she helped design and implement was largely recognized. The most recent recognition was the Mohamed Bin Rashed Award UAE University won in 2018 as best university supporting entrepreneurship. Many of the startups won international competitions such as the 2017 Global Pitch@Palace People Award, the 2017 jury special mention of the Falling Walls Venture competition, and the 2017 Singularity University MENA Global Impact Challenge.
She took up several visiting positions at University of Wisconsin, USA; University of Canterbury, New Zealand; Deakin University, University of South Australia, Australia and University of Sheffield, UK. She has been publishing and serving in reputable international journals’ editorial boards such as Critical perspectives on Accounting and Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. She is the co-founder and organizer of the International CSAF Conference (Tunisia, 2009; the UAE, 2013).
After her work on promoting alter accounting for emancipation, Prof. Chabrak current interest is in promoting new framework for economic coordination and governance for intergenerational wellbeing and inclusiveness. She led a research project on the design of sustainable financial systems using the UNEP framework with evidence from the UAE, Australia, Italy and Turkey. She is also engaged in a research project on promoting wellbeing and quality of life through entrepreneurship.
TAWAZUN
Dr. Yehya Al Marzouqi is currently with Tawazun in the capacity of Executive Director, Strategy. Before joining Tawazun in 2009, he was with major Oil and Gas Company in Abu Dhabi for over 16 years. Prior to that, he had worked in Resources Centre in a major bank in the USA. At Tawazun, he has led various people development initiatives such as:
He has co-authored articles that were published in the National HRD Journal and American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) publication. Dr. Yehya has participated as a keynote speaker in local and international conferences. Dr. Yehya has completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in the USA and has obtained his Doctorate Degree from the Bradford University in the UK.
Khalifa Fund
Mr. Al Shamsi is the Manager of Stakeholders Management in Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, a government organization that spearheads the development of SMEs and promotes entrepreneurship in the UAE. His role is integral to the strategic planning of the organization by leading the strategic direction of the Fund with regards to overall stakeholders’ management to ensure alignment with the organization’s vision.
With over 13 years of experience in different organizations in oil & gas, and public sectors, Mr. Al Shamsi’s current role includes establishing the Fund’s strategic partnerships with both public and private sectors, with the main objective of developing the SME ecosystem and supporting local entrepreneurs.
Mr. Al Shamsi obtained his BA in International Studies from the American University in Washington, DC in 2001, and a Masters of Entrepreneurial Leadership from INSEAD in 2010.
Dubai SME
Essam Disi is the Director of Strategy and Policy at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Est. for SME Development (Dubai SME), a government agency under the Department of Economic Development (DED) – Government of Dubai - tasked with the development of Entrepreneurship and Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Dubai.
In his present job, his main roles and responsibilities are to formulate long-term plans, strategies and policy support framework for SME development, in addition to executing strategic initiatives to support the SME sector and the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Dubai. Mr. Disi is a member of the Dubai 2021 plan team and the Dubai 2030 Industrial Strategy team.
Mr. Disi is also a member of the judging panel of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Award for Young Business Leaders since 2008 and has been involved in assessing and evaluating hundreds of SMEs from all over the Arab World. In addition, Mr Disi is a founding member of Dubai SME100 and RATE, the main two initiatives to support high growth SMEs in Dubai.
DED ABU DHABI
Faisal Abdulla AlHmoudi holds the position of Director of Takamul at Department of Economy Development (DED). In this role he is in charge of the design and execution of the innovation support initiatives run by DED, including the Takamul Program.
Faisal joined DED in 2016. Prior to this, Faisal was a Senior Manager at Abu Dhabi Technology Development Committee where he spent 6 years serving and developing innovation initiatives for Abu Dhabi across multiple sectors including oil & gas, energy, basic materials and aerospace. His areas of expertise include “innovation, corporate strategy and business development”. Faisal Abdulla AlHmoudi holds BSc in Civil & Environmental Engineering from UAE University (2001-2006) and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from UAE University (2011).
Faisal is the only UAE local who has a Master of IP law and Management and specialized in the Innovation and IP Management such as strategic innovation, design policies and processes to capture new inventions, patent valuation, IP management decision, Technology innovation, support creating intangible assets, IP process, IP controlling and Know how.
DED ABU DHABI
Ahmad is a Canadian attorney and engineer with 12 years of higher education studies in law and engineering and over 12 years of international and local experience in IP and commercial law. Prior to joining Al Tamimi in September 2013 as Head of Patents & Designs (R&D Innovations), he worked for reputable Canadian and International law firms.
He is particularly experienced and knowledgeable in high technology industries including ICT, computer/software, electrical/electronics, telecommunications, healthcare, aerospace & defence, optics, biomedical, mechanical, transport, education, energy and oil & gas. He represents a wide range of clients in these sectors, ranging from individual inventors and entrepreneurs to multinational companies and Universities, in the protection, management and enforcement of their innovations locally and internationally.
Ahmad regularly advises governmental entities and research institutions in a wide range of innovation related matters including, high level innovation strategies, legislative, regulatory, innovation policies, processes, innovation fostering, and setting legal frameworks for the implementation and deployment of innovation projects and organisations inside the country.
He also assists clients in the private sector in a wide range of IP and commercial-related matters, including advising on regional and international patent protection strategies, advising on the patentability, freedom- to-operate and the validity/infringement of inventions, conducting due diligences in the frame of technology transfer and rights acquisitions, negotiating and drafting technology transfer and other innovation related agreements, advising in dispute resolution matters involving IP conflicts including patent litigation, managing global patent portfolios, and drafting and prosecuting patent applications worldwide including, MENA, the US, Europe, Canada and the Far East.
Ahmad is one of the most experienced patent lawyers and innovation councils in the Middle East and is widely recognized for his strategic and visionary thinking and leadership. Ahmad sits on various committees and advisory panels including, the Global Advisory Panel of the UAEU Science & Innovation Park and the Innovation Advisory Board of the Dubai Healthcare Authority. He regularly mentors start-ups throughout their business cycles, from the incubation stage to advanced maturity stages. Ahmad is regularly invited to speak at innovation events and has been interviewed on various television channels, newspapers and magazines in relation to innovations, entrepreneurship and intellectual property, including Dubai TV, Emarat TV, the National, International Bar Association, Thomson Reuters and has an extensive library of publications.
Sandooq Al Watan
TBA
Below you will find the national, global and special reports available for download.
GEM data is a valuable source of information used by academicians to investigate entrepreneurship related issues at national, regional and global levels.
GEM UAE purpose is to support a sustainable ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship through developing competitive intelligence databases for “Regulatory Impact Assessment [RIA]” and evidence-based policy making. GEM UAE offers information, analyses and advice to ecosystem agents to build awareness and to develop innovation and sustainable competitive advantages.
