Overview
- The president issued a decree establishing the National Program for Advanced Science and Technology and a supreme committee chaired by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, with an executive committee led by Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Quraqawi to set priorities, budgets and delivery.
- Dubai’s Department of Finance has begun using artificial intelligence and a digital-twin approach in drafting its 2027–2029 strategic plan to test scenarios, model policy options and improve fiscal decision making.
- The 2026–2027 school year opened with 1,180 public and private schools receiving more than 1.277 million students, schools reporting 80–90% initial student attendance and full staff presence as operational checks and transport plans were activated.
- The UAE and Lebanon moved to deepen private-sector ties after the Union of Chambers of the UAE signed a memorandum to form an Emirati‑Lebanese Business Council and backed four additional sectoral agreements at the Beirut forum.
- Government agencies intensified stakeholder outreach, with Dubai’s knowledge authority hosting virtual sessions for over 8,000 educators and launching a Dubai Educators Council while the Federal Tax Authority ran 91 awareness events in H1 2026 that reached about 34,000 participants to explain e‑invoicing and compliance changes.