Emirates NBD launches first of its kind ‘National Digital Talent Programme’

Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Teleworking Applications, and Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) region, have launched a first of its kind "National Digital Talent Programme".

This comes as part of ongoing efforts to support UAE government’s National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, which aims at developing a world-class national workforce proficient in AI and related technologies.

With the aim to nurture a pool of UAE interns over the course of the next four years, the banking group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Teleworking Applications Office, as well as the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) and University of Sharjah (UoS).

The joint initiative will contribute to building and growing local digital talent by providing the necessary resources and equipping young UAE nationals with critical skills and practical knowledge needed to flourish in the field of digital and information technologies including Artificial Intelligence, ultimately contributing to priority sectors of the national digital economy.

A high percentage of the UAE student population is pursuing core STEM areas including Information Communication Technology (ICT), Engineering, and Natural Sciences. This presents a good opportunity to upskill STEM graduates by applying the skills they have learned, into real-life work experiences with experts in the industry, providing a stronger pool of UAE talent able to build the next era of technology solutions primarily, Artificial Intelligence.

Emirates NBD, through its new talent programme, aims to nurture and develop young Emiratis, making them future-ready to support the digital economy, while bridging academia and industry.

Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Teleworking Applications, affirmed the UAE’s keenness to prepare future generations, building their capabilities, and equipping them with advanced knowledge, enabling them to contribute un the UAE Government mission in building an innovative future, enhancing its global status, noting that ensuring qualified digital talent is a responsibility that falls on all sectors in the UAE, which will support national efforts in building a strong digital economy.

He added that UAE government is committed to supporting programmes and initiatives that develop national talent akin to the industry level. Emirates NBD sets a great example of developing local skills to the industry standard and leading positive efforts in the banking sector to develop talented nationals by enabling them to learn, train and enhance their readiness to work in various industries and raise the level of our digital economy.

Al Olama further said that providing the necessary resources and equipping young nationals’ digital talents with the critical skills and practical knowledge is a key priority to flourish in the field of digital and information technologies, especially; Artificial Intelligence, ultimately contributing to priority sectors of the national digital economy.

Commenting on the launch, Abdulla Qassem, Group Chief Operating Officer, Emirates NBD, said,

"We are extremely pleased to support the UAE’s mission to become one of the world leaders in Artificial Intelligence by 2031. As a bank that has always championed innovation and is a leader in digital banking, we are committed to catalysing the digital capabilities of our future workforce and will continue to invest in building the national digital economy."

Through its partnership with Higher Colleges of Technology and UoS, Emirates NBD will offer internship opportunities for UAE national students to shape their future and create a stronger talent pipeline to support the bank’s Digital and Information Technology departments.

The paid internships will provide undergraduate students an exposure to the latest technologies and innovations in the financial services industry and directly learn from its digital transformation leaders in Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, Open Banking, Robotics, Platforms, FinTech and Security. They would also have an opportunity to gain valuable experience in solving financial technology challenges as capstone projects, which they would showcase at internal and external platforms such as Coders HQ, part of the National Programme for Coders initiatives.

Emirates NBD will also support the Coders HQ’s mission to create the highest number of coders per capita and attract global talent to set up their base in the UAE. For this mission, the bank will provide more than 20 real-world business challenges through structured events including coding hackathons, design and test hacks, and deliver at least 40 curated learning interventions through their best-in-class Digital and Information Technology leaders.

News Source: Emirates News Agency