The UAE’s ‘2017 Moonshot Apprenticeship Program’ invited elite graduates from distinguished universities, colleges, and academic institutions in the UAE and the world, to collaborate with the UAE in co-creating and piloting innovative solutions to the pressing challenges, the governments face. These solutions will be working prototypes that could be used to create radical changes in the UAE’s journey of development towards the next fifty years.

The programme was announced on 15 February 2021. It received 700 applications from young talents around the world. Only ten apprentices were selected. Through an interactive digital platform, the programme teamed up selected apprentices with a select group of UAE Government officials to work together on designing experimental models that include break-through ideas to address long-term challenges, which will then be adopted by the UAE Government.

The programme lasted for three months from June to August 2021. It resulted in launching the Moonshot Pilot Grant, which is a new public sector innovation fund that invites the international community to test piloting ideas in the UAE.

The grant aims to attract global experts to develop and implement innovative ideas to improve public sector initiatives and enhance the UAE’s readiness for the future. It offers up to 100,000 USD per pilot that will facilitate testing of potential government initiatives and accelerate their development and implementation in the public sector.

Watch this video about 2017 Moonshot Apprenticeship Program.