INSEAD – eLab to outline Middle East implications of skills & innovation study findings
Injazat Data Systems and INSEAD explore the Gulf’s ability to capitalize on human capital in a post-crisis world
Injazat Data Systems, the leading Information Technology and Business Process Managed Services provider in the region, has announced plans for a joint event with the INSEAD Centre for Executive Education and Research in Abu Dhabi. During the event, to be held on April 15 at the INSEAD Abu Dhabi Centre, INSEAD eLab Executive Director Dr. Bruno Lanvin will outline the findings of a new research study on skills and human capital.
Titled “Skills and Innovation: Fostering Human Capital,” the session will discuss the ability of Gulf states to capitalize on skills and innovation after the global financial crisis. eLab, INSEAD’s centre of excellence for research and learning on digital and knowledge economies, has been conducting pioneering research on the importance of skills. In particular, it has focused on how individual countries capitalize on the opportunities opened up by the emerging global knowledge economy. Recently, its work has gained increasing international attention due to the deepening of the economic downturn.
“Sustainable economic and business development cannot be achieved without skilled and motivated human resources. We at Injazat recognize this fact, which is why we value the implementation of effective employee development programs throughout our organization. The Middle East has
to prepare its workforce so that it gains a strategic position once the current crisis abates. We look forward to the valuable insights that Dr. Lanvin will share in this regard,” said Dr. Yousif Asfour, Director, The Injazat Institute.
Dr. Lanvin will also discuss a background report from the recently-held European Business Summit. Entitled “Who Cares? Who Dares? Providing the Skills for an Innovative and Sustainable Europe,” the report is based on INSEAD’s “skills pyramid.” This new model identifies the critical elements that countries should take action on in order to gain an advantageous position once the world attains pre-crisis levels.
According to Dr. Lanvin, “while most of the world is focusing on surviving the downturn, the Middle East and especially the Gulf may be in a more favorable position to be ‘ahead of the pack’ in a post-crisis knowledge economy. To do so, however, prority attention needs to be granted to the skills required. In partnership with Injazat and other local stakeholders, INSEAD is keen on bringing a thought leadership framework to the discussion on how to address these challenges.”
INSEAD is one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools. With two campuses in Singapore and France, an alliance with Wharton School in the US, and a Centre for Executive Education and Research in Abu Dhabi, INSEAD extends the reach of its business education and research across the Asian, European, and North American continents. Building on this global presence, the focus of the eLab research team’s activities has been on ICT-based value creation and outstanding business performance.
Injazat Data Systems is a joint venture between Mubadala Development Co. and EDS, an HP company with 46 years of global expertise in the IT managed services industry. Injazat holds more than 50 per cent of the UAE’s IT outsourcing market and will further raise the level of Managed Services in the Middle East through its Tier IV design-certified data centre, the first of its kind in the region to provide the highest level of performance and security. The company assists in preparing the UAE’s nationals and workforce in key management and operational roles through The Injazat Institute (TI²), its unique professional development initiative.
