The Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) to ensure bilateral support on various issues from the agile government to good governance and education research, and executive training.

His Excellency Abdulla Bin Zayed Alfalasi, Chairman of the MBRSG Board of Trustees Chairman and Director General of the Dubai Government Human Resources Department (DGHR); Dr. Aman Puri, Consul General of India in Dubai, and, H.E. Dr. Ali  Bin Sebaa AL Marri, Executive President of MBRSG attended the signing event, along with Mr. Sumanta Roy Vice President & Regional Head for the Middle East Africa (MEA) at TCS; Mr. Ajay Singh, Region Head for the UAE, Kuwait, and Oman at TCS; Prof. Raed Awamleh, Dean of MBRSG; Dr.Supriya Kummamuru, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at TCS; and Prof. Melodena Stephens, Professor of Innovation Management, and Master of Innovation Management (MIM) Programme Coordinator at MBRSG.

The agreement was signed on February 7, 2022, at the India Pavilion Multi-Purpose Hall at Expo 2020 Dubai, by MBRSG’s Executive President His Excellency Dr Ali bin Sebaa Al Marri and Mr. Ajay Singh, Region Head for the UAE, Kuwait, and Oman at TCS. 

“As the top institution focusing on governance and public policy in the Arab world, the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government has rolled out a commendable portfolio of programmes and initiatives to train and empower forward-thinking leaders, and enable governments to be more agile and better equipped to not only face future challenges, but also seize promising opportunities,” said H.E. Dr Al Marri.

“This new partnership we are establishing with Tata Consultancy Services Limited reflects our commitment to our leadership’s directives to collaborate with leading institutions in both the government and private sectors in order to achieve our goals, which are aligned with the UAE’s ambitious strategic objectives,” H.E. Al Marri added. “MBRSG and Tata Consulting Services have extensive expertise in their respective fields; we have a lot to offer one another.”

“We at TCS believe in pushing the boundaries when it comes to innovation and knowledge building,” commented Sumanta Roy, Vice President & Regional Head, Middle East & Africa, Tata Consultancy Services. “Through our MoU with the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, we have jointly pledged to provide rewarding scholarships for candidates from both organisations, alongside a mutual commitment to create opportunities for knowledge sharing between our entities. Today, TCS has 500,000 of the world's best-trained consultants in 46 countries. Our scholarship will build on this by promoting an innovative culture among students in the UAE. We hope this collaboration makes sure that learning is a lifelong pursuit”

For her part, Melodena Stephens, Professor of Innovation Management at MBRSG, noted:  “The Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government has developed a series of courses and programmes to train and empower the leaders of tomorrow and promote innovation as a core value in government work environments. To that end, the School is always looking to expand its network of partners and collaborators. We look forward to using our knowledge and innovation-forward programmes, combined with TCS’s extensive insight and capabilities, to offer talented aspiring leaders the opportunity to hone their skills and embrace innovation.”

Unmissable opportunities for UAE students

Through the agreement, MBRSG will be part of the TCS Academic Co-Innovation Network (COIN). TCS COIN’s main purpose is to support its stakeholders through open innovation. COIN operates on two fronts: Academic (research collaborations) and Emerging Technology (technology collaborations).

As part of the collaboration, MBSRG and TCS are also offering scholarships to enable knowledge sharing between the government and private sector. TCS will sponsor one scholarship for a deserving Emirati student of MBRSG — known as the ‘TCS UAE Innovation Scholarship’, with MBRSG offering a scholarship of its own for one deserving TCS employee. 

Alongside the scholarship, TCS will apply its expertise to support the school’s Master of Innovation Management (MIM) Programme and the Agile Government System Initiative. TCS will provide research and academic guidance while also conducting courses that leverage its Design Thinking capabilities and other related innovation models applied today across the group’s ecosystem. 

To help prepare students for the future of industries in an increasingly digitized world, and in line with the transformation of government services, the opportunities will introduce MBRSG students to various global government innovation models, spotlighting real-world examples of how institutions and nations can drive innovation. 

Partnering to advance policy

Beyond the various advantages for students, under the Agile Government Systems Initiative, TCS and MBRSG will collaborate to develop a Policy Sandbox for Good Governance. The pair will also work to produce joint policy reports, with TCS contributing to the training of external stakeholders.  

Tata Consultancy Services is an Indian multinational information technology services and consulting company – a subsidiary of the Tata Group – headquartered in Mumbai. As of February 2021, TCS is the largest IT services company in the world by market capitalisation and operates in 149 locations across 46 countries, including a regional office in Dubai, UAE.

The Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government is the first research and teaching institution focusing on governance and public policy in the Arab world, offering academic and training programmes that aim to train future leaders and prepare them to meet public administration and policy challenges across the region. Courses are developed and delivered by a diverse group of scholars, academics, and researchers.