Home Industry Education Dubai launches new educational institution for design and innovation Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation is designed to attract creative talent to the emirate by Staff Writer October 24, 2016 Dubai Holding and Dubai Creative Clusters Authority have officially launched a new educational institution designed to encourage innovation and creativity in the emirate’s design industry. Plans for Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI), which is being developed in collaboration with US univeristy Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Parsons School of Design, were announced today at an event in Dubai Design District where it will be based. The institute will offer a “first-of-its-kind curriculum” culminating in a first Bachelor of Design degree with cross concentrations in product design, strategic design management, media, visual art and fashion design, according to Dubai Media Office. The launch comes following a study by the Dubai Design & Fashion Council (DDFC) suggesting the Middle East and North Africa will require at least 30,000 design graduates by 2019. Read: UAE design market continues to boom despite economic slump “The establishment of DIDI is a natural next step following the launch of d3, which is now a regional hub for innovation and a preferred destination for the world’s leading fashion designers and artists. Students will be able to benefit from this unique location at the heart of the Creative Community at d3, which will provide them with the inspiration they need to innovate and create,” said Fadel Al Ali, chairman of the board, DIDI and CEO of Dubai Holding. The DIDI campus has been designed by Foster + Partners with a ‘mega’ studio setting to encourage collaboration between different design disciplines. Dr Amina Al Rustamani, chairperson, DDFC and CEO of TECOM Group, said students at the institute would get practical education by interacting directly with designers. The institute has been created as a not-for-profit with free zone operator TECOM Group, and Dubai Creative Clusters Authority as its main shareholders. The first students are expected to begin their four-year courses at DIDI in the Autumn of 2018 0 Comments