The UAE’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) has added e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group) to its Champions 4.0 Network, the ecosystem of leading local and international companies supporting digital transformation across the UAE’s industrial sector.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two parties was signed today by Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi, Under-Secretary of MoIAT, and Masood M Sharif, CEO of Etisalat UAE, on the sidelines of the eighth edition of Dubai’s World Government Summit.
The MoU signing was witnessed by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology, Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO, e&, and Khalifa Al Shamsi, CEO of e& life.
In addition to delivering a series of events and workshops as part of the Champions Network, e& has pledged to build a platform providing best-in-class telecoms and digital solutions for manufacturers across the UAE. The platform shall cater to a wide range of sectors such as food & beverages, chemicals, metals, machinery, rubber, electrical equipment, pharma and advanced manufacturing.
Following a separate MoU signing between the Ministry and IBM earlier this week, e& is the second major conglomerate at the World Government Summit to join the Champions Network, which sees leading local and international companies unite to share best-practice in the deployment of 4IR technologies. The Champions 4.0 Network will also support the creation of 100 "lighthouses" by 2031, while also cultivating the optimum business environment to establish or attract 500 tech companies by the same year.
Dr. Al Jaber commented, "We welcome e& to MoIAT’s Champions 4.0 Network, and are confident their advanced technological capabilities and extensive experience in will provide an invaluable contribution to the Industry 4.0 program. e& is one of the most important national companies and has added considerably to the development of the country’s technological infrastructure over the past decades, and has also made a permanent contribution to the empowerment of the people of the Emirates in the scientific and technical fields.
"In line with our leadership’s direction, our goal is to advance the industrial sector as a whole, and we have utilised a partnership approach with leading technology companies to expedite it. Through the Champions 4.0 Network, our industry-leading knowledge partners will help our industrial companies adopt the technologies and solutions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In doing so, they will enhance production capabilities, global competitiveness and stimulate investment into priority industries and the industries of the future."
Al Amiri said, "The Champions 4.0 Network supports small and medium-sized companies in their efforts to adopt advanced technologies into their operations. Through a series of workshops and other sessions, our champions will showcase successful uses and best practices of 4IR and also advise on the optimum strategies for deployment, and will accelerate the technological transformation of the national industrial sector.
"The success of our partner-based approach has seen two champions of industry sign up for our network during World Government Summit, adding to an esteemed panel of Emirati entities including Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), EDGE and Emirates Global Aluminium.
"These 4IR-focused initiatives are laying the groundwork for an enabling industrial ecosystem that can boost the capabilities critical to the sustainable socio-economic development of our country."
Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Al Zaabi, Chairman, e&, said, "We are constantly identifying new collaborative opportunities and seeking strategic partnerships in line with our commitment to enhance value for all our stakeholders and make a positive difference in the community. We are proud to be active contributors to ‘Operation 300bn’, a significant strategic project that will accelerate the UAE’s reputation as a digital transformation hub and boost the country’s socio-economic growth. Through our collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, businesses will benefit from the value we are delivering through an engaging business environment that thrives on innovation.
"I would like to thank the UAE leadership for their continuous support in encouraging the adoption of advanced technology in industrial ecosystems, progressing next-generation connectivity and introducing cutting-edge technologies. By joining the Industry 4.0 Champions Network and leveraging our advanced capabilities in 5G and IoT, we are collectively accelerating digital transformation in the industrial sector and creating a rich SME ecosystem that will drive continued growth and success for businesses.
In signing up for the Champions 4.0 Network, e& will be joining the likes of ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company), EDGE, Honeywell, Unilever, Ericsson, Schneider Electric, Emirates Global Aluminium, Microsoft, CISCO, SAP, AVEVA and Siemens.
Launched as part of Projects of the 50 last year, "UAE Industry 4.0" is designed to accelerate the integration of 4IR solutions and applications across the UAE’s industrial sector, enhancing the UAE’s overall industrial competitiveness, driving down costs, increasing productivity and efficiency, enhancing quality, improving safety and creating new jobs.
As a key pillar of the UAE’s National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology, which aims to transform the industrial sector into a long-term engine of economic growth, UAE Industry 4.0 aims to increase industrial productivity by 30 percent and add AED25 billion to the national GDP.