‘UAE INDUSTRY 4.0’ SET TO BOOST ECONOMY BY Dh25bn
▶ Adnoc and Edge agree to join Champions 4.0 Network to assist thousands of companies
Microsoft and Siemens are among the first dozen companies to join the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology’s new programme to accelerate the digital capabilities of thousands of local manufacturers.
UAE Industry 4.0, announced yesterday, aims to increase productivity and the development of innovative products, boosting manufacturing in the country by 30 per cent and adding Dh25 billion ($6.8bn) to the economy by 2031.
“In line with our leadership’s vision, the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology focuses on increasing the industrial sector’s contribution to the national GDP, enabling economic diversification and transforming to a knowledgebased economy,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. “As the UAE embarks on the next 50 years, UAE Industry 4.0 will be crucial to the nation’s continued competitiveness on the global stage, and its standing as an incubator of pioneering ideas and new industries.”
Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology, said the initiative was “a first of its kind in the Middle East” and “a cornerstone of the Projects of the 50”.
The Projects of the 50 and the Principles of the 50 are part of the government’s plan to ensure the UAE economy remains dynamic and robust over the next five decades.
Ms Al Amiri said harnessing the potential of technology such as automation, additive manufacturing and blockchain would help to lower the carbon footprint of UAE industry.
It will also allow small and medium-size companies to become “more innovative and inventive” and give UAE consumers a wider array of available products and services, she said.
Preliminary agreements were signed with the departments of economic development of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ajman, as well as with 12 multinational companies including Adnoc, Abu Dhabi defence conglomerate Edge, German
energy company Siemens, US tech company Microsoft and UAE aluminium manufacturer Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA).
The companies will form the Champions 4.0 Network, showcasing applications of Fourth Industrial Revolution technology and sharing knowledge and automation packages for small to medium-size enterprises, of which there are about 13,000 in the UAE’s industrial sector.
The network will begin by identifying, assessing and assisting 200 companies ripe for Industry 4.0 transformation.
Automation will reduce costs and carbon emissions, and improve worker safety, EGA’s chief executive Abdulnasser bin Kalban told The National.
He said he looked forward to sharing best practices with the wider industrial sector in the UAE.
Telecoms company Ericsson, which has been operating in the UAE since the late 1970s, initially on a contract with Etisalat to install landlines for telephones, is now looking at how 5G can help industry. Its role will be to “show use cases” of 5G to industrial manufacturing companies, Wojciech Bajda, president of Gulf countries at Ericsson, told The National.
He said there was vast potential in smart industrial farming in Al Ain, with farmers there eager to digitalise and use Internet of Things sensors to monitor soil, water and weather.
Robotics could be used to automate planting and harvesting, he said.
Helmut von Struve, chief executive of Siemens UAE and Middle East, said the aim was to work out what made sense for each company that took part in the digitisation drive and tailor recommendations to those needs.
Much is being learnt at Expo 2020 Dubai, he said, describing the site as “a blueprint for future smart cities”.
The UAE Industry 4.0 programme falls under the country’s Operation 300bn initiative, which aims to increase the industrial sector’s contribution to national gross domestic product to Dh300bn over the next decade.