R&D & Innovation Portfolios · Dubai 2027
R&D Portfolio Summit Dubai 2027
Research and development turns ideas into products. Project Economy Forum Dubai brings R&D portfolio leaders together with the executives who fund innovation and the leaders who run the rest of the organisation’s projects.
Project Economy Forum Dubai · 27–28 January 2027 · Dubai, UAE
Deciding which ideas deserve to become products.
R&D portfolio management is the discipline of choosing, funding and governing an organisation’s research and development projects as a portfolio. It applies wherever an organisation invests in new products, processes or capabilities: medicines, engineered products, software, energy technologies and more.
R&D portfolios behave differently from other project portfolios. Outcomes are uncertain by design, many projects are expected to stop, and the value of a project can change sharply as each stage produces new evidence. The skill is funding the right options and stopping the rest early.
Project Economy Forum places R&D alongside capital projects, technology and transformation. The disciplines differ, but they meet in the same boardroom, compete for the same capital and face the same question: which ideas deserve to become products?
What R&D portfolio leaders are responsible for.
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01
Portfolio strategy
Setting where the organisation invests in innovation, and the balance between near-term and long-term bets.
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02
Stage decisions
Advancing, pausing or stopping projects as evidence arrives.
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03
Resource allocation
Moving scientists, engineers and budget to the most promising work.
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04
Uncertainty
Managing technical, regulatory and market uncertainty across the portfolio, not only project by project.
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05
Partnering
Deciding what to develop in-house and what to license, acquire or develop with partners.
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06
Value
Showing what the portfolio returns as a whole, even when individual projects stop.
The questions on R&D portfolios.
- 01
Which ideas deserve to become products?
Portfolios usually hold more candidates than they can fund well. Choosing is the core of the job.
- 02
How do we stop projects earlier?
Late stops are the most expensive. Leaders want clearer stopping rules, and the culture to use them.
- 03
How should R&D compete with other investments?
Innovation competes with capital and technology spending for the same funds, on very different timescales.
- 04
What can AI change in R&D decisions?
Data and AI are changing how candidates are screened and how portfolios are modelled. Leaders are deciding how far to rely on them.
- 05
How do we measure R&D productivity?
Counting projects says little. Leaders need measures of the value the portfolio creates.
R&D across the life of a project.
Every Forum follows a project from first decision to final proof. An R&D project passes through each stage, and most of its value is decided at the gates between them. Decide, Fund, Deliver, Prove
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01Decide
Choosing the bets
Which ideas enter the portfolio, and which the organisation declines.
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02Fund
Funding by evidence
Stage gates that release money as uncertainty falls.
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03Deliver
Moving to market
Development, scale-up and the hand-over from research to operations.
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04Prove
Measuring the return
The value created by the portfolio as a whole, including what was learned from the projects that stopped.
R&D at Project Economy Forum Dubai.
27–28 January 2027 · Dubai, UAE. Day One is the Executive Dialogue, a private working session for CEOs, COOs, CFOs and strategy leaders. Day Two is the Forum: one stage following a project from first decision to final proof.
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Decide
Are we doing the right projects?
Ending the wrong projects early, and one view of capital, technology and R&D.
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Fund
Who decides, and on what evidence?
Holding the business case to account, and governance that speeds delivery up.
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Lunch
The Leaders’ Tables
A hosted table for Research & Innovation, one of eight.
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Prove
Did we get what we paid for?
Measuring value delivered, and what the board must be able to prove.
Heads of R&D and innovation take part alongside CEOs, COOs and CFOs, and peers who run capital, technology, transformation and portfolio functions, across life sciences, energy, technology and the Forum’s other sectors.
Head of function and above. Every place reviewed. Indicative programme.
Questions.
What is R&D portfolio management?
The discipline of choosing, funding and governing research and development projects as a portfolio: deciding which ideas to pursue, advancing or stopping them as evidence arrives, and balancing risk and return across the whole.
What is an R&D portfolio summit?
A gathering of the leaders who decide which research and development projects to fund, advance or stop. At Project Economy Forum Dubai, they meet the executives who fund innovation, and peers who run capital, technology and transformation portfolios.
Which industries does this cover?
Any industry that invests in new products or capabilities. The Forum convenes leaders from energy, infrastructure, real estate, life sciences, technology, financial services and the public sector.
Who attends?
Heads of R&D and innovation, with CEOs, COOs and CFOs. Places are for heads of function and above, and every request is reviewed.