UAE Government Technology Innovation Drives Public-Private Collaboration With BlackBerry At World Government Summit

BlackBerry Chief Executive Officer John Giamatteo said the company plans to deepen investment in the United Arab Emirates and expand cooperation with UAE Government entities, as BlackBerry positions itself around cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and secure communications for governments, banks and businesses across the Middle East and wider international markets.

Giamatteo explained that BlackBerry views the UAE as a priority partner because of the Government’s strong interest in technology, its open approach to collaboration with global companies and its focus on policies that encourage digital innovation while supporting security, resilience and long-term economic diversification across key strategic sectors.

Discussing a recent agreement, Giamatteo said the Memorandum of Understanding between BlackBerry and the UAE Cyber Security Council demonstrates how public and private sectors can jointly deploy advanced cybersecurity solutions in the UAE market; the MoU was signed during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to the UAE in November 2025.

He noted that BlackBerry’s end-to-end encrypted communication tools, emergency notification systems and mobile device management platform are already used by governments and financial institutions worldwide, and said these capabilities can support digital infrastructure, risk management and regulatory objectives as the Middle East strengthens regional and global connectivity.

On artificial intelligence, Giamatteo said BlackBerry is integrating AI "in a significant way" but underlined that the company follows a careful, structured framework because its products support mission-critical communication; AI is used in development to speed up innovation and in testing to raise quality, while BlackBerry limits how deeply AI is embedded in final products.

Giamatteo described the Middle East as central to current geopolitical and economic activity, highlighting trade routes, government cooperation and international financing, including banking, as areas where secure digital services are essential; he said BlackBerry aims to be part of this ecosystem by helping regional partners manage security, resilience and data protection.

Reflecting on the World Government Summit, Giamatteo said each edition becomes larger and more wide-ranging, bringing together heads of state and government, senior officials, ministers, specialists, global experts and technology companies, and he added that BlackBerry values its role at the gathering and intends to keep supporting its future programmes.

With inputs from WAM