His Excellency Dr. Ahmad bin Abdullah Humaid Belhoul Al Falasi was appointed as Minister of State for Higher Education in February 2016, to supervise the development of higher education and scientific research in the UAE.

In October 2017, His Excellency’s portfolio was expanded to include Advanced Skills to equip the UAE youth with the necessary skills for the future.

Al Falasi is currently the Chairman of the Federal Authority for Human Resources, and the Chairman UAE Space Agency since June 2017. His Excellency represents the space sector in the National Science, Technology and Innovation Committee.

Prior, His Excellency held the position of Chief Executive Officer at Masdar, Executive Director of Strategy and Tourism Sector Development at Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, and Vice President of Industry Unit of Mubadala Development Company.  His Excellency Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi had also worked with management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

His Excellency has a Ph.D. from Sir John Monash University, a Master’s from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and a Bachelor in Telecommunications Engineering from KUSTAR, UAE.

Moreover, The UAE Space Agency recently announced a collaboration with the Abu Dhabi-based global innovation hub Krypto Labs,  that it will be kicking off its virtual programs as part of the Global Space Industry Accelerator (GSIA) initiative, showing that despite the social distancing guidelines in the current COVID-19 situation, the Agency proves its readiness for digital transformation, highlighting its commitment to promoting innovation and ensuring the continuity and success of the GSIA project.

The UAE Space Agency and Krypto Labs will commence a series of webinars, with the first already held in April. The webinar covered the topic of space entrepreneurship, guiding participants on how to become successful entrepreneurs in the space sector and create their own space start-ups. The webinars offered participants lessons from successful start-ups like SpaceX and Blue Origin, giving young entrepreneurs the opportunity to transform their space ideas into a business.

As part of its digital transformation, the UAE Space Agency will also be holding a virtual roadshow for the NewSpace Innovation Program. Virtual activities will include a series of informative sessions online, as well as webinars that provide useful details about the program.

The NewSpace Innovation Program will include a competition, which will take place online for 1.5 days. Then, the Space Bootcamp will be held online for two weeks to engage a greater number of audience. Finally, the incubation program will be conducted online, as a virtual fully-integrated innovation hub. The evaluation of the applications will also be done through remote meetings of the committee.