Italy to bolster innovation cooperation with UAE

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Design in Design Innovation | 0 Comments

ABU DHABI, 17th September, 2020 (WAM) — The Embassy of Italy in the UAE is launching a new initiative to explore opportunities for cooperation in innovation between Italy and the UAE.

Titled InnovItalyUAE, the initiative will launch September 30th and will cover sectors such as cybersecurity, space research, smart cities, life sciences, food technologies, renewable energy and circular economy.

The initiative is in cooperation with Khalifa University of Science and Technology and in collaboration with the Dubai Future Foundation and will feature two sets of events:

1) Six online forums (one per sector) to take place between September and December 2020 with speakers from the academic and business sectors of both countries, aimed at comparing the Italian and Emirati experiences in addressing the common challenges and setting the scope for an increased partnership in the above sectors

2) Six in-presence workshops, to take place in principle in the first half of 2021, with the participation of all the stakeholders, from governments to universities, research centres, companies, startups, incubators and financial entities, to explore more deeply the opportunities of bilateral cooperation and identify specific projects.

Nicola Lener, Ambassador of Italy to the UAE, said, “Italy and the UAE are longstanding political, economic and cultural partners. Italy is proud to have contributed with its technology to the development of this country.”

“However, also in light of the disruptive experience of the pandemic, we believe that the time has come to make a quantum leap in our relations, drawing on the depths of our cultural roots and our projection towards the future to focus more and more on a collaboration based on innovation, knowledge and connectivity. At the same time, this initiative aims to prepare Italy’s participation in Expo2020 Dubai, which has received the baton from the Expo2015 in Milan and to which we feel particularly attached,” the Ambassador added.

“We are pleased to begin this journey together with Khalifa University and in collaboration with the Dubai Future Foundation, two of the pillars of innovation in the UAE. For our part, we are ready to involve the best energies from Italian institutions, research and industry, with the view to further increase the quality of our relationships,” he concluded.