MoIAT, EDGE to establish UAE’s first Industry 4.0 Enablement Centre

The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) and EDGE have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the UAE’s first Industry 4.0 Enablement Centre.

The entities will explore how the Enablement Centre can benefit from what has been achieved by the EDGE Learning & Innovation Factory (LIF), a high-tech learning, innovation, and demonstration centre for Industry 4.0, operational excellence and advanced technology.

In line with the partnership, EDGE will conduct initiatives, training courses, and programmes at the facility from September with the aim of accelerating technology adoption in the industrial sector.

The Industry 4.0 Enablement Centre will carry out various activities, including raising awareness around Industry 4.0 technologies and practices, upskilling manufacturers’ capabilities with specialised training curricula, demonstrating 4IR technology benefits, supporting the development of Industry 4.0 strategies, and creating a testbed and an open-access environment to pilot and co-develop innovative technologies.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, commented: “Based on the vision of our leadership, the ministry’s strategy is committed to supporting local manufacturers to adopt advanced technologies and 4IR solutions. Advanced technologies help to enhance efficiency, productivity, safety, and quality while reducing costs, optimising supply chains, and creating jobs.

“The agreement signed is of great importance as it encourages technology adoption in the sector and will empower our industrial resilience, increase competitiveness, accelerate economic diversification and nurture a knowledge-based economy supported by advanced technology.”

Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology, added: “The centre will help to empower industry by supporting companies to adopt advanced technology and upskilling the workforce, thereby boosting productivity and efficiency. Ultimately, the establishment of this centre is in line with the UAE’s Industry 4.0 program and the objectives of our broader national strategy for industry and advanced technology.”

Faisal Al Bannai, chairman of the Board of Directors, EDGE, said: “The EDGE Learning & Innovation Factory is investing heavily in advanced technologies, innovation, and capacity building to provide a real-life testbed that offers a future-focused approach to digital transformation, operational excellence, and Industry 4.0, in order to be able to ignite data-driven organisations.”

The EDGE Learning & Innovation Factory provides trainees with experiential, gamified, and actionable learnings.

MoIAT, EDGE, and Emirates Development Bank signed a mutual agreement during the ‘Make it in the Emirates’ Forum in June this year to support the development of manufacturing at EDGE, one of the world’s top 25 advanced technology groups for defence.

Read: Make it in the Emirates Forum: UAE companies launch 300 products, allocate Dhs110bn to support manufacturing