Dubai government creates 'innovation fee' to fund Museum of the Future
In order to fund its planned AED500m (US$136.2m, €124.1m, £87.9m) Museum of the Future, Dubai’s government is imposing an ‘innovation fee’ on some of its agencies to support the museum and future projects.
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, issued a new law ruling that several government agencies would be charging a fee of AED10 (US$2.72, €2.48, £1.76) for each transaction with services supplied.
Details on when the fee will be introduced or which agencies will add the charge are still to be announced, with the museum scheduled to open in 2017.
Architect Shaun Killa of Dubai-based practice Killa Design, has imagined the ring-shaped Museum of the Future. The giant steel-clad structure will be covered in the poetry of Sheikh Mohammed, with light entering the building through the perforated text, casting interior patterns of Arabic script.
The museum is designed to act as a catalyst for innovation and change in the UAE, with Sheikh Mohammed calling it “an integrated environment, empowering creative minds to test, fund and market ideas for futuristic prototypes and services”, and a "destination for the best and brightest inventors and entrepreneurs”.
The attraction will continuously change exhibits every six months to keep pace with changing trends in technology, with the overarching aim to “always be 10 years ahead of today.”