Toward building a national innovation system in UAE

United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the developing countries that depend on hydrocarbon products in supporting its economy, where oil activities counted for 49.38% of its total GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2009. Therefore, Abu Dhabi (AD), the capital of the UAE, has a vision where in 2030 the country will decrease its dependency on fossil fuel to 36% in order to stabilize the economy. Through AD strategy, a number of new industries have been planned to enter in order to diversify the economy. Some of the investments are believed to be a very high tech and innovation driven industries, such as the aerospace manufacturing industry. The aim of this paper is to analyze different countries´ national systems of innovation, which have been selected based on literature where innovation is measured through number of KPIs (Key Performance Indices; R&D expenditures, number of research institutions, patents, number of engineers, new companies established, exports, etc). KPIs will be mapped from an innovation system perspective including the ones from UAE. Then a gap analysis will be conducted to determine where the country lags in terms of establishing a healthy national innovation system. A number of strategies will be suggested to enhance the UAE national innovation system.