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UAE’s First AI Centre of Excellence Launched Through Hub71 and e& Partnership

A new artificial intelligence (AI) centre of excellence (CoE) has been launched in Abu Dhabi, aiming to progress the amount of AI solutions being built and scaled within the region. 

As the UAE’s first hub to be entirely dedicated to AI, the AI CoE forms an ecosystem of talent and partners by consolidating startups, companies and investment firms in the development of Abu Dhabi-built AI solutions.

The hub was launched through a partnership between Hub71 and e& enterprise in a move that underlined the importance of pursuing partnerships and collaborations with businesses, governments, investors and startups to create a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through the co-creation of industry-specific and use case-driven AI solutions.

The partnership was signed at Hub71’s Abu Dhabi headquarters, with both Badr Al-Olama, Hub71’s acting CEO, and Salvador Anglada, CEO of e& enterprise, in attendance.

Speaking on the focus of the Centre, Al-Olama identified how “AI could unlock $5.5trillion to $12.6trillion in value globally by 2030 and offer immense potential in sectors that are of strategic importance to Abu Dhabi’s socio-economic growth,” he said in an official statement.

Advocating the objectives of the UAE Centennial 2071 strategy, Al-Olama adds that “Hub71 [is] committed to further developing technologies that act as a catalyst in progressing a dynamic and diversified economy.”

By opening access to the relevant resources and expertise, the launch of the AI CoE is poised to transform the future of AI while supporting the innovation ecosystem, fostering local talent and boosting the country’s socio-economic growth.

Also speaking at the launch, Anglada recognised how, with the support of its partner the AI platform provider DataRobot, the CoE “will further progress our vision to be the…digital enabler for our enterprise and government clients as we empower them to become data-driven and highly automated organisations,” adding that the company was “looking forward to driving the digital transformation conversation by leveraging the expertise of disruptive scale-ups and AI companies.”

Just recently, e& enterprise entered a strategic three-year alliance with the AI platform provider to launch the first AI-as-a-Service (AlaaS) offering in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with the hope of accelerating the adoption of AI in the region’s organisations.

The DataRobot AI cloud platform brings together disparate data and users, including expert data scientists, IT operators and business analysts, to enable AI-driven insights at speed and scale.

In addition to such global partnerships in AI, e& enterprise is set to build new ventures and incubate pioneering business models at the AI Centre of Excellence. Scale-ups that participate in its innovation-led programmes will also gain access to participate in Hub71’s value-add programmes. Additionally, startups will benefit from Hub71’s community of venture capitalists with assets under management of $1.72billion.

Author

  • Tyler is a fintech journalist with specific interests in online banking and emerging AI technologies. He began his career writing with a plethora of national and international publications.

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