Research is very important in economic and social development of any particular country (Davidson 23). Arabic countries such UAE have made tremendous progress in research despite the many challenges that researchers in those countries face. Researchers in companies and those in universities make a significant contribution to the overall development of a nation (Davidson 23).
A good number of universities in UAE have introduced research based programs in order to improve the quality of research in the country. Researchers in the Arabic world face similar problems when it comes to research activities. In order for these countries to fully participate in the global knowledge economy, the countries need to come up with strategies that can enhance research activities in the region (Davidson 23).
Researchers have to find a favorable environment to conduct their research through funding and support from the governments concerned. The social and economic challenges in UAE and other Arabic countries can only be addressed if researchers in institutions of higher learning can focus on basic research. Government spending on research and development is still very low in the Arabic world compared to other regions (Davidson 23).
Researchers in UAE and other Arabic countries have always faced many challenges with some countries in this region not willing to make any effort towards addressing the plight of researchers (Davidson 54). Educational standards in the Arabic world are still very low because there is no much emphasis on both academic and socio-economic research (Davidson 54).
It is very difficult for a researcher who is not motivated to produce the desired results. This paper will highlight some of the challenges faced by researchers in UAE and the various initiatives being undertaken by UAE and other Arabic countries to boost research activities in the Arabic world.
Research in UAE is yet to be well structured and developed because the country is still a new state (Davidson 54). Despite researchers showing a great interest in research, the support for population research is yet to be fully developed. This poses a great challenge for researchers because the majority of socio-economic research activities involve the country’s population (Davidson 54).
It is difficult for researchers in UAE to conduct qualitative and quantitative research because the composition of the country’s population is very varied while its mobility is very unpredictable. Researchers in UAE have limited access to demographic records (Davidson 112).
Most of the people in UAE and other Arabic countries are always reluctant to act as respondents in field studies especially when the issues being studied are always very sensitive. This poses a great challenge to researchers because carrying out a particular research without a substantive research sample is not easy (Davidson 112). The credibility of research findings sometimes depends on the size of the sample population.
A communication breakdown between researchers and the study population is a great hindrance to population research. The other challenge that researchers in UAE face is lack of collaboration among researchers from different institutions (Davidson 112). Researchers depend on each other and therefore lack of collaboration and interaction among researchers is a great problem.
There are no clear laws in Arabic countries to protect researchers and give their activities some legitimacy. The life of researchers is always in danger in a case where their research activities are not protected by the law. The situation becomes more desperate in cases where the research involves citizens. There are no proper guidelines in place to align research finding with socio-economic needs in UAE (Davidson 112).
Lack of proper structures to apply research finding makes researchers feel as if their work is being taken for granted. Researchers feel very motivated if their findings are used to solve the challenges being faced by their country (Davidson 112).
The relationship between researchers and the local community is very important in field research (Davidson 156). Researchers in UAE are yet to be embedded with the local people and this makes it difficult for them to obtain research information from the local population. Researchers can only be able to engage the local people if there is a good relationship between them (Davidson 156).
Lack of avenues to engage in the global community research is another problem that researchers in UAE and other Arabic countries face. The quality of research can not be high if researchers rely on local information alone (Davidson 156). The global research community facilitates knowledge exchange and in the process improving the quality of research findings.
The constant hostile reception from the local community always discourages many researchers and at the same time changes their perception about research (Davidson 156). The researchers lose interest in research in a case where the community fails to cooperate with them. Plagiarism is another challenge that researchers in UAE encounter because there are no clear laws to guard against the vice (Davidson 156).
The plagiarism problem discourages researchers because most of their research findings are copied by other people but they are unable to sue them because there are no clear laws to guard against plagiarism. Many researchers in UAE do not have adequate training in research methodologies because many institutions do not take into account the importance of training researchers on research methodologies (Davidson 156).
Access to relevant literature is very important for researchers in order for them to come up with the desired findings. Access to government records is a great challenge for researchers in UAE. Accessing government documents sometimes takes a lot of time due to the lengthy processes that researchers have to go through (Davidson 156). This is a big problem because the time taken to conduct a particular study is prolonged.
Researchers in UAE find it difficult to access some specific research centers due to security reasons (Shaw 76). Some centers also charge visiting researchers high entry fees before they are allowed to conduct their research within the centers. This is a great challenge for researchers with limited funding (Shaw 76). Publishing expenses are very high in many countries across the world and UAE is not exempted.
Researchers in UAE find it difficult to publish their research findings because of the high costs of publishing. The situation is worse in UAE because the country has very few publishers. It is very expensive to publish research finding in international journals and magazines. Student researchers are the most affected because they have limited resources to publish their works (Shaw 76).
Researchers require a lot of funds in order to conduct conclusive and quality research. Research expenses include travelling expenses, paying of respondents, paying for research centers and publishing the research findings. The costs involved in conducting research are very high and researchers desperately need sponsors in order to fund their research activities.
Researchers in UAE have been facing funding problems for a long time with very limited support from the government (Shaw 76). Presenting research findings in international conferences is the dream of every researcher because it presents them with a perfect opportunity to progress in their careers. UAE is not yet fully committed to facilitate international travels for its researchers (Abed 212).
Conducting social research in the volatile Arabic region is very risky because the participants may be harmed by the rest of the people due to their involvement in research (Shaw 76). The knowledge base and professional relationships can be badly damaged in areas where participants feel that their lives may be in danger.
Conducting regional research in the Arabic world is still very risky because of the political instability in some Arabic countries. The recent unrest in Arabic countries such as Afghanistan and Syria makes it difficult for researchers to conduct their research especially if the research being conducted involves people (Shaw 76).
Researchers conducting their research in that kind of environment suffer a lot because wars and conflicts completely destroy the knowledge base of researchers. Although some countries such as UAE and Abu Dhabi enjoy some stability, it is still very difficult to conduct conclusive research if the neighboring countries are not peaceful.
It is sometimes a great challenge to get a travelling visa if a particular country faces international sanctions and such a situation is not good for researchers who are interested in international research (Shaw 91). The relative peace in UAE has made the country to make a significant improvement in research compared to other Arabic countries.
Despite the challenges mentioned earlier in this paper, UAE researchers are enjoying a significant advantage over researchers in other Arabic countries (Shaw 91). The social, political and economic situation in Arabic countries may not improve if the countries do not put much effort in promoting research activities and taking care of researchers (Shaw 91).
The UAE government has realized the importance of research in national development and has come up with quite a number of initiatives to boost research activities in the country (Shaw 105). These initiatives are aimed at making sure that researchers have the necessary financial and moral support when conducting their research activities (Shaw 105).
To begin with, the UAE government is trying its level best to promote interaction and collaboration beyond institutional boundaries. The legislative body in UAE has come up with various legislations to guide research studies and protect researchers (Shaw 105). The recent improvement in research activities in UAE is attributed to the legal protection that researchers are enjoying.
The other notable thing is that research conducted on behalf of the UAE is now aligned with the socio-economic needs of UAE (Brooks 16). This initiative enables researchers to conduct their research with some purpose. The UAE government has realized the importance of the local community in promoting research activities and has facilitated interaction between researchers and the local people (Brooks 16).
The UAE government has arranged for seminars across the country to educate the local community about the importance of research and the returns it can bring to the community. The National Research Foundation is one of the most successful initiatives by the UAE government aimed at promoting research activities (Brooks 16). The NRF foundation falls under the ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
This foundation was created to enhance research in universities and other institutions of higher learning. Research teams and companies in UAE have enhanced their research activities with great assistance from NRF (Brooks 16). The NRF foundation was created in 2008 to support initiatives through funding and leadership. The initiative coordinates all research activities in UAE.
All researchers in UAE are funded by the NRF on competitive basis. Research projects that contribute to socio-economic development in UAE are given the first priority by the foundation (Brooks 34). The vision of NRF is to promote and support competitive research and innovation in UAE through creation of a favorable research environment that can enable researchers conduct world-class research (Brooks 34).
The mission of NRF is to build a research capacity of international standards that can enhance socio-economic development in UAE (Brooks 67). UAE has been able to produce and retain good scientist because of the competitive research capacity that has been built in the country for the last four years (Brooks 67).
The lives of UAE citizens have improved because research has been able to generate wonderful business technological ideas in the country (Brooks 67). The foundation supports research in relevant disciplines that are of national importance. NRF has played a vital role in enhancing inter-institutional research among companies, universities and the government.
Inadequate research infrastructure is one of the major challenges that the UAE government has tried to solve through NRF (Brooks 67). Since its inception in 20008, the foundation embarked on improving standards of research infrastructure in the country. NRF has also played a major role in promoting competitive innovation and entrepreneurship through world-class research (Brooks 67).
The National Research Foundation has increased awareness about the benefits of research to both the government and the local community (Abed 221). The Foundation ensures that all the research projects that it funds deliver the expected results. The United Arab Emirates University signed collaboration deals with the Emirates Institution of Science and Technology to conduct applied research together (Brooks 70).
The collaboration between the two institutions has improved applied research in the country. Conducting joint research activities creates avenues for generation of new ideas and knowledge that are necessary for development (Brooks 70). Scientific and technological projects can now be executed through the joint initiatives by the main institutions of higher learning in UAE.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two institutions to conduct joint research activities has developed the culture of innovation in the country (Brooks 70).
Faculty members from different fields are now able to corporate through sharing of data and other important research information (Brooks 70). The two institutions organize research conferences and workshops that are very important in sharing research findings (Brooks 70).
Sustainable development in UAE is now a reality thanks to the positive results obtained from joint research initiatives by the two prime institutions of higher learning in UAE (Brooks 102). Research beyond institutional boundaries has brought to light the scientific and technological potential of UAE.
The Information and Communication Technology Fund is another initiative in UAE that has done a tremendous work in funding research involving ICT projects (Brooks 102). The main aim of the ICT Fund is to promote the ICT sector in UAE by sponsoring research and innovation activities in the ICT field.
The ICT fund is a global initiative that has focused on promoting ICT development in UAE and other Middle East countries because they have always lagged behind when it comes to technological research (Brooks 102). The ICT Fund also supports innovation and development projects in the ICT field.
The initiative offers scholarships for talented ICT students to enhance technological sustainability. UAE has invested over US $ 25 million in the improvement of ICT research and development (Brooks 102). Research institutes and centers receive funding from the UAE government to improve research capacity in ICT (Brooks 102).
The UAE government in partnership with the global ICT Fund plans to invest over US $ 50 million in promoting the ICT business in the next one year. Students in learning and research institutions have been encouraged to come up with new ICT ideas because of the prospect of receiving support from the ICT Fund (Brooks 109).
Research and scientific development are very important for any country because modern economy that is knowledge-based. The UAE government has realized this and that is why it continues to invest heavily in research activities. The ICT Funds supports an average of ten ICT projects in universities and companies every year (Brooks 109).
The ICT projects in public institution receive support of up to 75% of the total budget from the ICT Fund whereas the projects developed in companies receive half of the project budget (Abed 223). Some of the ICT projects funded by the ICT Fund include satellite communication systems, fiber optic and next generation wireless.
The Qatar Foundation is another initiative that has played a vital role in promoting scientific research in Qatar and other Arabic countries (Brooks 109). The initiative‘s mission is to encourage generation of new technological knowledge through scientific research. Conversion of applied research into a commercial reality is among the key priorities of Qatar Foundation (Brooks 116)).
UAE is among the privileged countries in the Middle East that have benefited in great way from the Qatar Foundation. The Foundation has managed to build regional research networks that encourage homegrown solutions to the social-economic problems facing Arabic countries (Brooks 116).
The research culture has grown in the Arabic world through various programs initiated by Qatar Foundation (Brooks 116). University Research Programs and Qatar Foundation programs are some of the categories of programs developed by Qatar Foundation to promote knowledge-based society (Brooks 116).
Qatar Foundation facilitates international research collaborations and funds scientific and development-based research in Qatar and other Middle East countries such as UAE (Brooks 116). Qatar Foundation has established its own research institutions which facilitate the exchange of scientific knowledge within the region and at the international stage (Brooks 178).
Qatar Foundation spends up to $ 3.5 billion every year in funding research projects both regionally and globally (Brooks 178). The Qatar Science and Technology Park is an example of research projects that have been commercialized. Increased awareness and funding has improved research activities in UAE and other countries in the Arabic world over the last five years (Brooks 178).
Initiatives such as NRF, the ICT Fund and Qatar foundation have really changed the concept of research in UAE and other Middle East countries. The perception of government and the local people about research has completely changed and research initiatives taken seriously (Brooks 178).
It is important to note that researchers in the Arabic world have enough motivation and support to inspire socio-economic development through scientific, technological, entrepreneurial and social research (Brooks 178).
Works Cited
Abed, Ibrahim. United Arab Emirates: A New Perspective, London: Trident Press Ltd, 2001. Print.
Brooks, Rachel. Changing Spaces of Education: New Perspectives of the Nature of Learning, New York: Routledge, 2012. Print.
Davidson, Christopher. Dubai: Vulnerability of Success, New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. Print.
Shaw, Ken. Higher Education in the Gulf: Problems and Prospects, London: University of Exeter Press, 1997. Print.