Jul23121 UAE Business Awards 2026 13 Most Innovative Entrepreneurship Centre 2026 Founded in 1998, Zayed University is a national and regional leader in educational innovation dedicated to contributing towards the social, cultural, and economic advancement of the UAE and beyond. Today, we celebrate the University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, an agent of transformation empowering students by growing businesses from concept to profit. We spoke with Dr. Wasseem Abaza below, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, as the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center receives recognition in the UAE Business Awards 2026. he Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Zayed University was established in 2018 with a mandate to develop student entrepreneurs and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across the University. The Center is committed to aiding students in achieving their full potential through personal and entrepreneurial development, in addition to opening new opportunities for future growth. As a University-wide Social Innovation institute, the Center strives to serve as a catalyst of change, combining innovative ideas with entrepreneurial spirit before translating those concepts into real action. It achieves this mission through a number of programmes and partnerships, helping students to progress from idea into implementation before eventually advancing into the on-campus innovator, in which they are licensed and operated for growth and profitability. Across its projects, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center follows a positive organisational development approach, which means that its staff aims to refocus entrepreneurs on the opportunities within their business rather than the problem. One of the first steps in the development process is to have the entrepreneur consider the personal long-term outcomes of the project, and how it connects to their business success. This allows them to explore their own motivations for starting a business, while also leveraging their passion as a fuel for success. “We emphasise both positive thinking and taking action, so that they are not stuck worrying about whether they can or cannot start a business,” Dr. Abaza told us. “Rather, they learn confidence through taking small steps while remaining positive about the approach. It is our philosophy that knowledge through action will keep them motivated and build their confidence, as long as they keep an eye on their ultimate goal.” “Our students make up a strong group of budding entrepreneurs who have tremendous potential and only need an opportunity to capitalise on it.” This is precisely what makes the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center so unique: it takes a holistic perspective when approaching entrepreneurship. The Center works to develop both the business and the entrepreneur, adopting its distinctively positive organisational development methodology to direct their focus. This is an especially strategic approach for the University; its students hail from an array of diverse backgrounds and majors, so it is important to understand their specific perspectives and work with them as individuals. Being based within the UAE also offers its own unique advantages, as the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to grow at pace. Currently, the UAE stands as a business and logistics hub for the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, making it the ideal centre for growth and development. The Center has participated in national initiatives such as the Hult Prize and Injaz’s entrepreneurial development programmes, providing its students with access to professional mentors and an international stage upon which they can develop their ideas from the very beginning. Last year, one of the Center’s student groups won the National Hult Prize competition in the UAE and made it to the international virtual incubator programme. From this, the group were selected to be among just 20 companies to participate in the in-person accelerator programme provided by Hult International in the UK and even went as far as the semifinals of the Hult International Competition. This was a groundbreaking moment for the team, positioning them as the first UAE company to achieve this feat in ten years. “Things like this make the UAE an ideal hub for business development,” explained Dr. Abaza, “one where we can learn from other organisations and they can learn from us. The competition for incubators is not seen as competition, but rather a collaboration where all the organisations working on entrepreneurship development like to work with one another, sharing ideas and strengths. This is a unique feature of the UAE culture.” “The UAE has found the ideal mix of new and old, innovation and tradition, that work together to build and grow.” Contact: Wasseem Abaza Company: Zayed University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Web Address: www.zu.ac.ae T
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