الدكتور راي جونسون
الرئيس التنفيذي لـ"ASPIRE"
Dr. Ray O. Johnson
CEO, ASPIRE

Autonomous technologies key to drive UAE’s sustainability narrative

The past three years have proven that for humanity to prosper, it is crucial to embrace the new reality where communications and advanced technologies powering everything around us. Technology, which is being developed at a frenetic pace, has changed our lives and the world around us.

In the UAE, technology is powering the strategic growth sectors – from healthcare to life sciences to renewables. With a vision of becoming a global technology hub as part of its 50-year strategy, the country is backed by its sustainable mobility plan as well as the autonomous technologies and systems that drive this mission.

In line with this goal, technological advances are fast becoming embedded in our daily lives in the UAE. With its sustained initiatives, the UAE is well positioned to ride a surging technology wave, thanks to its future-readiness as it mobilizes investments in the technology infrastructure and research.

This focus on advanced and autonomous technologies in the UAE will help us fight global warming, pollution, resource depletion, and overcoming critical sustainability challenges. As the host of the COP28 – the United Nations Climate Change Conference this year – the UAE has reaffirmed its commitment to accelerate climate action globally.

The UAE has also declared 2023 as the Year of Sustainability, and it will showcase the nation’s longstanding commitment and deep-rooted values of sustainability. Through forward-looking national strategies, the UAE will focus on environmental sustainability by inspiring collective action towards sustainable practices using autonomous technologies.

ASPIRE, the program development pillar of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council, brought together universities, research institutions, and innovators from around the world to help adapt robotics innovations and autonomous technologies to real-world situations and needs through the MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge.

We at ASPIRE, exercise our responsibilities in digital transformation to bridge the existing gap between the current reality of robotic capabilities and real-world requirements. We do this by pushing technological boundaries and enabling robots to work more autonomously in dynamic, unstructured environments, while interacting and collaborating with us, and with one another.

The MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge serves as a platform to push technological boundaries with a view of achieving breakthrough solutions in the advanced technology space and establishing UAE’s pioneering role as a leader in autonomous technology at the global level.

The Grand Challenge shares synergies with the UAE’s vision for sustainability. We are well aligned with the UAE’s aspiration to embark on innovative solutions while charting successes in sustainability. Autonomous technologies have been instrumental in driving such innovative solutions and in enhancing climate action and environmental sustainability. Dubai’s Autonomous Transportation Strategy, for instance, is an initiative that aims to transform 25 per cent of the total transportation in Dubai to autonomous mode by 2030, saving AED 22 billion in annual economic costs.

Autonomous technology has impacted priority sectors and driven benefits such as data system efficiency and real-time data collection; sustainable farming and efficient agriculture; and improved recycling and waste management, among others.

The MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge marks a developmental step towards addressing real-world and complex challenges with tangible solutions that deliver measurable impact. The challenge will play a pivotal role in helping the world find solutions to some of its most pressing maritime challenges that will have transformative impact in the years to come.

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