In a lengthy interview in the recently-published 'Emerging Abu Dhabi 2006' business guide, produced by the Oxford Business Group in association with the Mubadala Development Company, Sheikh Nahyan noted: "Ensuring the UAE has a successful education system is key to the future of our country. We know that our public schools are not performing to international standards. As a result, our children are not being prepared for higher education, for work, or for the roles they will play in the future of their country."

"About a third of our budget for higher education is spent on teaching students the knowledge and skills they should have already learned in secondary schools." "This," he said, "is a terrible waste of money and time. Our main priority is, therefore, preparing students to meet world standards of learning.

We will require a modern curriculum, greater use of technology, well- stocked libraries and well-trained teachers, as well as modern buildings that are well-equipped to provide a comfortable learning environment and a place where students are motivated to do their best. When we are successful, our students can enter higher education without a need for remediation. Our graduates can enter the workplace ready to make significant contributions in the private sector as well as in the public sector."

That changes need to be made is not only a concern for policy-makers, however. One area of the economy particularly hard-hit by the poor educational system is that relating to science and technology. Academics and the leaders of the UAE's leading universities have not failed to take note of this fact. Consider, for example, this talk given last week in our Department of Computer Science and the Engineering Systems Management by Professor Rafic Makki, Dean of the College of IT at UAE University.

Title: The role of academia in the production on technology in the Arab world.

Abstract: In a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Arab World has been described as a "scientific desert". The UNDP Arab Human Development Reports have shocked the Arab nations by revealing quantitatively the degree to which the Arab region lags the developed nations of the world in economic, human and technology development. This talk will focus on the role of academia in helping to address the issues that are working against the production of knowledge and technology in the Arab region. Concrete examples will be provided on how universities can marshal resources towards that end.

While I regret that I did not attend this lecture, it is good to know that the conversation is underway and that solutions are in the making. More importantly, I have come to realize that those conservations around the water cooler are not so inconsequential as I had first supposed. Rather, they are literally a microcosm of discussions being held at higher pay grades and are metaphorically the source of water that I can pour out onto that small patch of sand where I stand and deliver.

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