Bill Gates and Al Gergawi sign strategic partnership between Microsoft and Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation

Bill Gates, founder and owner of Microsoft and His Excellency Mohammed Al Gergawi, Chairman of the Board of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, signed a strategic agreement in Dubai to launch the Arab Education and Research Network, a first-ever knowledge portal in the Arab world.

This technology will boost the region's capabilities and serve as a gateway to world-class knowledge, providing the right platform to encourage researchers and faculties contributing to the Arab knowledge development.

The agreement supports one of the strategic programmes announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, during his opening speech at the Knowledge Conference held in Dubai last October. In his speech, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed highlighted the knowledge network platform that will nurture and develop the region's talent pool.

The platform will facilitate communication and the exchange of information and knowledge among professors, researchers and academic institutions. It will also help construct a foundation for a data bank of digital Arabic research to provide a backbone for the Foundation's initiatives.

Al Gergawi, said: "Microsoft is recognized as a global information technology leader and its innovative solutions have significantly impacted the world. We are confident that the company's world-class platforms will be a major asset in fulfilling the Foundation's strategic objectives.
"Dubai has always valued partnerships between the private and public sector organisations as a key requirement for pursuing new growth and development avenues. The Foundation's aspirations to evolve the region's knowledge capabilities will be backed by the cutting-edge technology provided by Microsoft. The new platform will create an unprecedented network of scholars, researchers and students and will give unlimited access to a huge knowledge pool."

Microsoft will support the Foundation's objectives by designing and implementing a state-of-the-art technology platform that enables collaborative research and knowledge creation in the Arab world.

Launched with an endowment of $10bn, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation works on promoting human development and exploring development opportunities in the Arab world by investing in education and knowledge creation.
"We live in an age where information technology is providing people with powerful tools for creating new social and economic opportunities," said Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft Corporation. "We welcome this opportunity to work with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation to help accelerate the development of a knowledge-based society in the Gulf region, by fostering innovation and focusing on research and higher education."

In the first phase of its partnership with the foundation, Microsoft will build the critical communications capabilities required for effective collaboration. These will include the latest knowledge sharing solutions, which will help develop an Arab Research Database; and an extensive e-library. Microsoft's world leading communication platforms, online chat and discussion boards, newsletters, and sites for blogging and social networking will also form a core of the project.