Cognit, Mubadala’s joint venture with IBM Watson, in coordination with Human Resources Authority, has teamed up with Mubadala to devise a system that will accurately map, manage and match Emirati job seekers with available positions within the Mubadala Group. This Takafo’ initiative, which means “equivalence” in Arabic, will ensure that Mubadala is staffed by the best and brightest talent in the local UAE market.
The agreement was signed by Mansour Al Ketbi, Chief Information Officer, Mubadala, and Amal Al Jabri, Chief Executive Officer, Cognit, at an official signing ceremony attended by Homaid Al Shimmari, Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer and Chief Human Capital & Corporate Officer, Mubadala, and Khaled Al Qubaisi, Chief Executive Officer, Aerospace, Renewables and ICT, Mubadala.
Using state-of-the art Artificial Intelligence (AI), Takafo’ provides hiring managers with better tools to identify and assess job seekers across a variety of assessment metrics, including educational qualifications, years of experience, degree of expertise, skills and abilities. The technology will improve Mubadala’s understanding of candidates available in the market, and help increase employment rates among UAE nationals within the country.
Highlighting the strategic benefits offered by Takafo’, Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, said: “Mubadala Group operates at the forefront of the rapidly growing knowledge-based economy. To continue leading the UAE’s development in new and innovative industries, we must ensure that we have the very best talent. The Takafo’ initiative is taking on that mission, and utilizing ground breaking technologies to strengthen Mubadala’s human capital, while also facilitating opportunities for local talent – in turn, supporting the people of the UAE as a whole.”
Commenting on behalf of the Human Resources Authority, Sharifa Saeed Al Jabri, Acting Director General, said: “At the Human Resources Authority, we aim to implement the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) across all systems and establish an intelligent electronic framework within the HRA portal that is capable of recruiting and matching processes between job seekers and organizations that have vacancies. The Takafo’ initiative enables succession planning across Mubadala and its subsidiaries through structured processes and procedures based on the use of the latest smart work technologies and international classifications.”
“We are very proud to be trusted by an organization like Mubadala to be the Artificial Intelligence technology enabler for such a great initiative like Emiratization which is considered one of the key pillars of UAE Vision 2021 and Abu Dhabi Vision 2030,” said Amal Al Jabri.
“At Cognit, providing our clients with the best of breed AI based solutions to extend and enrich decision support across multiple industries is a key element of our DNA. We believe this first block of our partnership with Mubadala marks a significant step ahead to create a positive impact on the employment rate of UAE nationals and we look forward to make it even more relevant through further development,” she added.
As a precursor to building the system, Mubadala and its subsidiaries have carried out an extensive job titles mapping exercise, which has included the identification of specific skills required for each job and mapping to the International Standard Classification of Occupations-08 (ISCO-08). As detailed in UAE Vision 2021, ISCO-08 is also utilized to report labor information and is recognized as industry best practice by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Strategic governmental authorities’ that are participating in the Takafo’ initiative include the Human Resources Authority, Abu Dhabi; the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization, Abu Dhabi; the Ministry of Education. Key collaboration also includes many of Mubadala’s UAE- based subsidiaries such as Du Telecommunications, Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA), Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Healthpoint Hospital, Imperial College London Diabetes Centre, Capital Medical Health Screening Centre, Yahsat, Injazat Data Systems, Masdar, Turbine Services & Solutions, Mubadala Petroleum, Dolphin Energy, Rosewood Hotel, Abu Dhabi Entertainment Company, Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi and Mubadala Business Management Services. These partners will act in a governance structure with specific roles, infused with several working committees, and will oversee the project, ensuring that milestones are successfully met.
This initiative was formulated to create an integrated, industry driven and stakeholder-supported approach to accelerate home grown talent. The first phase of the solution will be officially launched later this year.
