Under the auspicious patronage of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Mubarak Juma, Minister of Education and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Higher Education Council, the inauguration of the Global Higher Education Exhibition (GHEDEX), first in Bahrain, took place at the Exhibition World Bahrain.

 

University of Technology Bahrain (UTB), led by Dr. Hasan Almulla, President, received the leadership development award from His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Mubarak Juma, Minister of Education and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Higher Education Council during the awards ceremony as part of the inauguration. The award is a recognition of UTB’s leadership development in various fields – offering relevant, unique and most affordable programme offerings; accelerating upgrade of campus facilities; implementing the most innovative educational approaches; and working together to build the leaders of tomorrow – all efforts towards excellence and quality in higher education in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

 

Added to the exhibition agenda were two-day conference and display of student enterprises that attracted a good number of visitors. Dr. Rania Nafea, UTB associate professor, was selected to be a panel speaker for the discussion of entrepreneurial ecosystem at schools, applied/vocational/technical education and universities. She commended the role of industries, business partners, economic sectors and the community in strengthening the entrepreneurial mindset among universities in Bahrain. Three alumni enterprises created by UTB budding inventors were accepted to be showcased – sterilization robot, smart bus system and telebot – all works are inspired by the future technology ecosystem driven by breakthroughs in frontier technologies and entrepreneurship opportunities.

 

It is worth noting that UTB rebranded to a university of technology in 2021, and it has been dedicating its collaborative efforts to enhancing the economic, social, and cultural prosperity of communities through high quality and excellent teaching and learning, research, dissemination of knowledge, fostering inclusiveness at a multicultural environment, and wise leadership management as evidenced by student successes, contributions and services to society, collaborations and innovation initiatives.

University of Technology Bahrain (UTB) hosted its international conference titled “Sustainable Innovations in Management in the Digital Transformation Era” (SIM DTE) in the InterContinental Regency Bahrain on May 2-3, 2023 bringing together keynote speakers from Poland, Canada, Turkey, Egypt and India. 

 

Dr. Hasan Almulla, President of UTB, welcomed the honorable excellencies, distinguished dignitaries, delegates and participants. He emphasized on two main objectives of the conference – promoting creative thinking in management and informatics and addressing business and technology problems that are faced by institutions and the industry scientifically through research, and panel discussions of experts to explore potential solutions. He thanked renowned organizations such as Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB) and Bahrain Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Society for their collaborative support in the realization of the conference initiatives. In the same way, he commended GFH Financial Group, Batelco, and Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB) for their initiative to be part of this conference and enthusiasm to join the deliberations to overcome sustainability challenges in the Kingdom of Bahrain and for their generous support and contribution to the success of SIMDTE 2023. 

 

Speaking on behalf of the College of Administrative and Financial Sciences (CAFS) of UTB as the Conference Chair, Dr. Rania Nafea affirmed that the college and the university are abreast of the trends through its continuous enhancement of academic programmes and the research efforts of its faculty in the areas of digital transformation and sustainability and that they are aware of the opportunities and challenges in artificial intelligence and digitalization pose for businesses and customers, hence spearheading its first international conference in Bahrain that combines both academics, subject matter experts and business executives for in-depth discussions and networking. 

 

As UTB aspires to be a hub of knowledge dissemination and multidisciplinary exchange in the country, the SIMDTE conference provided high-calibre academicians, participants and partner industries with innovative ideas towards further discovery and application of knowledge across different fields of excellence. 

 

UTB is immensely grateful for everyone’s collaborative efforts to make the conference happen. It looks forward to hosting more events as an avenue to connect with other individuals, groups, and networks to create and strengthen community partnerships and shared goals.