Inspired by the vision of His Majesty Haitham bin Tarik Al Said in his continuous keenness at enhancing the national capacities, Occidental Oman and the Emerging Technologies Company (ETCO) signed an agreement to launch the OXY Program for Entrepreneurial Development in Frontier Technology, exclusively sponsored by Occidental Oman. Stephen Kelly, the President and General Manager of Occidental Oman, represented the company at the agreement signing, and Eng. Azzan bin Abdullah Al-Mamari, Acting CEO represented ETCO.
The OXY Program for Entrepreneurial Development in Frontier Technology is designed to contribute to supplying the labor market with high-level capabilities that take into account future requirements. Engineer Azzan Al-Maamari said: “ETCO will work based on this agreement to provide advisory, technical and development services for the program in addition to following all stages of implementation, in partnership with a number of local and international institutions and companies. ” it is worth noting that some local and international consultants participated in the support of this program, and a number of local firms will process the implantation”
The program aims at building the Sultanate’s technical talent base and innovation capacity to drive success in the future economy and to deliver training and educational programs to enhance knowledge and skills in science, technology and entrepreneurship.
It also aims at creating new technology-based businesses and jobs to grow the economy and address strategic challenges, and to attract and nurture innovative projects nationally and internationally that will benefit the Sultanate
The program will provide the knowledge and support necessary to give the projects the best opportunity for success, and guide successful projects to the next stage of commercialization and private funding.
The program is divided into three main phases and follows two paths. The first path aims to provide higher education technical students with increased skills in advanced technology and entrepreneurship, through short workshops and structured on-line learning held throughout the year with an intensive summer program. It is targeted for engineering and ICT undergraduates, as well as physical science, bioscience and students from related technical disciplines.
The second path is designed specifically for recent technical graduates, in order to build their soft and technical skills, and it is based on the needs and opportunities in the global race towards the adoption of advanced and future technologies. This will be done through skill building workshops and on-line technical courses.