Connecting university training with employers
The initiative calls for coordination with universities to match training at leading free zone companies with priority sectors and future-focused specializations, according to WAM's account of the meeting. Students would gain workplace experience and learn from company expertise as they prepare for professional careers.
Employers would also be able to identify Emirati candidates suited to their needs and recruit them, creating routes from training into employment. In approving the initiative, the Council highlighted its contribution to Emiratisation, workforce readiness and the competitiveness of the national economy.
A separate regulatory framework already governs practical training for students enrolled at academic institutions based in Dubai's free zones. According to the Dubai Legislation Portal, Administrative Resolution No. (96) of 2025 requires training content to reflect labor market needs and institutions to report annually to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). The KHDA's Director General issued the resolution on December 30, 2025, and it is in force.
Employment services and worker protections
Work with relevant entities on the free zones' labor relations framework has helped complete development of the digital employment contract. The Council reviewed that progress, including services for issuing work permits and amending or canceling employment contracts. Work is still underway to activate residence permit renewals for employees of free zone companies and authorities.
The Council also considered a common framework to protect workers' rights and ensure that entitlements are paid on time. On unemployment insurance, it instructed the relevant technical teams to study how implementation would work and what its implications would be.
Another part of the agenda concerned shared government digital channels. The initiative is intended to make government services easier to access through integrated channels, improve delivery efficiency and simplify procedures.
Members discussed how free zone authorities' services could connect to those channels to improve investors' experience and make business operations smoother. The approach is intended to retain the free zones' competitive and regulatory advantages while advancing digital transformation and the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33).
Research cooperation and Dubai Future Week
The Council examined opportunities for free zone authorities to collaborate more closely on research, development and innovation. These included working with strategic partners to support research centers in the free zones and strengthen Dubai's position as an international destination for research and development.
Members also reviewed preparations for Dubai Future Week, scheduled for November 18-21, 2026. The event aims to draw approximately 10,000 participants to 75 events spanning five tracks and eight main platforms. Experts, innovators, investors, policymakers, entrepreneurs and technology leaders are expected to explore the future of key economic and vital sectors.
The Dubai Future Foundation is organizing the week at Emirates Towers and the Museum of the Future under the theme "For the Human of the Future," according to the Government of Dubai Media Office. The program has eight concepts: The Big Stage, The Prototype Floor, The Pitch, The Policy Room, The Challenge, Offstage, 500 Future Minds and The District.
Under directions from Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the 500 Future Minds strand will bring 500 professionals together for a one-day scenario exercise. The Media Office said each of five groups will contribute 100 participants: teachers, frontline responders, homegrown entrepreneurs, economy and finance professionals, and urban planners and architects.
AI and robotics competitions
Within The Challenge, 20 elite AI practitioners will compete live in the AI Grandmaster competition for AED 1 million and the title of Dubai AI Grandmaster. A press release carried by Zawya said the contest builds on the Global Prompt Engineering Championship 2025, which received more than 3,800 applications from 125 countries.
The Challenge will also stage the finals of the fourth Emirates Robotics Competition. Its organizer, Dubai Future Labs, is part of the Dubai Future Foundation. Partners are Rochester Institute of Technology, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Mohammed bin Rashid Library and the American University of Sharjah.
University teams taking part must develop an autonomous library assistant that can identify books, handle them and deliver them.
