Winners of the fourth annual Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award (MBRKA) are set to be announced at the upcoming Knowledge Summit 2017 in Dubai, UAE.

The event will be held on November 21-22 under the theme “Knowledge and the 4th Industrial Revolution”.

Recognising individuals and organisations with significant contributions to the knowledge sector and the knowledge economy, the Award ceremony is a key event of the Summit, which is organised by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, chairman of MBRF and chairman of MBRKA’s Board of Trustees.

The application deadline has been set for August 31 for candidates – including previous MBRKA winners –who meet the necessary criteria to register for consideration. Candidates can be individuals (in the UAE or abroad); government departments; or local, regional, and international companies and organisations; and the Award cannot be granted posthumously.

“The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award has added significant momentum to the Knowledge Summit and its activities,” said Jamal Bin Huwaireb, MBRF CEO and the Award’s Secretary-General. “It reflects the vision of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, who never fails to encourage creativity and innovation at the local and international levels with prestigious awards across various sectors.”

In 2016, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award was granted to Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for her role in expanding education opportunities and access to information technology, as well as in developing solutions that alleviate poverty and help individuals improve their living standards.

The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), was also recognised for its achievements in commercially viable renewable energy projects, which included training the sector’s human resource at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. The Arab Thought Foundation also won the award for its efforts to strengthen the Arab cultural identity and reinforce its openness to other cultures.

In 2015, the winners were National Geographic; Hiroshi Ishiguro, Professor at the Department of Innovation Systems in the Graduate School of Engineering Science at Osaka University; and Ahmed Alshugairi, presenter of the “Khawatir” television programme. Prior to that, in 2014, the inventor of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee took home the Award, as did Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia.

Applicants can submit a written application (in Arabic or English) to the Award’s website knowledgeaward.com, a statement said. – TradeArabia News Service