Abu Dhabi Enhances Its Global R&D Position With New Ventures And AI Focus

H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, chaired a meeting of the Advanced Technology Research Council’s (ATRC) board of directors. During this meeting, His Highness reviewed the council’s plans to launch three new ventures and its achievements in research and development.

Sheikh Khaled emphasised the importance of continuing ATRC's initiatives to advance innovative technologies and AI solutions. He highlighted the UAE’s role as an innovation hub and encouraged the application of technology-based solutions across vital sectors.

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The council discussed its progress in shaping an innovative R&D ecosystem. This included VentureOne, ATRC's commercialisation arm, preparing to introduce three ventures focusing on data security in the quantum era, smart autonomous mobility, and Agritech with robotic technologies. These ventures align with Abu Dhabi’s economic priorities and are set for launch later this year.

Sheikh Khaled also stressed the need to prepare UAE National talent in STEM fields. He noted that these disciplines are crucial for enhancing the UAE’s research landscape and developing advanced innovations that impact key sectors such as education, healthcare, agriculture, environment, robotics, and new technologies.

The meeting reviewed ATRC’s UAE Research Map, a key resource for the research community since its launch in May 2024. The portal has attracted over 2,000 visits in its first two months and features 30 participating entities with more than 450 registered experts. Its success has led to additional entities expressing interest in joining.

ATRC is executing its mandate to shape Abu Dhabi’s R&D ecosystem and promote higher education and careers in STEM. This effort ensures that the UAE develops a dynamic talent pool that meets current and future demands, aligning with the UAE Centennial Plan 2071.

Advancements in Research Infrastructure

The council reviewed ATRC’s applied research pillar, the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), which continues to excel in alignment with national priorities. TII recently unveiled the new Abu Dhabi Quantum Optical Ground Station, representing the Arab World’s first and largest facility dedicated to secure free-space optical communications.

TII's Directed Energy Center received an award from the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP). This award supports critical environmental challenges and aligns with the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 agenda.

Global Collaborations

ATRC has attracted proposals from nations seeking access to its US$200 million Global Tech R&D Fund. The council is also accelerating the integration of the UAE’s Falcon large language model (LLM) into local and global technological infrastructure and government services.

TII's latest Falcon LLM was independently verified by Hugging Face's global LLM leaderboard. Since its launch in May 2024, it has seen 85,000 downloads with over 45 million downloads across all Falcon LLM models.

Strategic Projects

The progress of ASPIRE’s work was also discussed during the meeting. ASPIRE aims to execute significant projects supporting the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy 2051 through its partnership with XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion.

The meeting was attended by several prominent figures including Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology; Dr. Ahmed Mubarak Al Mazrouei; Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak; Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi; Faisal Abdulaziz Al Bannai; Mansoor Ibrahim Al Mansoori; and Ahmed Tamim Al Kuttab.

The council reaffirmed its commitment to advancing research cooperation efforts among relevant entities nationwide through initiatives like the UAE Research Map. This initiative supports UAE National talent in technological innovation and research development of large language models.

Sheikh Khaled highlighted that improving quality of life through technological innovations will support comprehensive socio-economic development across various sectors in the country.

With inputs from WAM