Today's Edition
SARA AL ZAABI (ABU DHABI)
Bringing autonomous technologies to roads and skies — and turning vision into real-world impact — requires strong collaboration, on top of cutting-edge innovation. In Abu Dhabi, the focus covers the entire value chain, bringing together policymakers, startups, and industry leaders to advance smart mobility, top experts said on Monday during Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week.
Badr Al-Olama, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, pointed to the emirate’s “innovation clusters” — such as the Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (SAVI) cluster — as a key driver of cross-border collaboration.
“We are trying to unite the policymaker, the private sector, and academia all in one environment to be able to push the boundaries of innovation,” Al-Olama said during the fireside chat titled From Vision to Impact: Accelerating Abu Dhabi’s Innovation Ecosystem.”
Abu Dhabi’s model, he stressed, differs from traditional approaches as it supports innovation across all levels of the ecosystem — not just large corporations, but also emerging startups and enablers that form the backbone of the autonomous mobility sector.
“We focus on the entire value chain, from looking at AI, looking at data centres, looking at technology, looking at digital twin, [and] the machinery and the hardware that actually adopts and integrates all this software into,” Al-Olama said.
That full-value investment philosophy bolsters the emirate’s competitiveness, he said. “You cannot become number one by becoming an end-user. You cannot become a number one by just becoming a procurer. You have to invest across the value chain.”
In Abu Dhabi, innovation is anchored in partnerships and teamwork. Al-Olama said: “It is a collaborative environment. We have to have a conversation where we understand and say, what is the risk? What are you trying to manage? How can we solve it? And essentially, we will become the first country in the world that will have commercial air taxi operations.”
With Abu Dhabi having started the deployment of autonomous vehicles in partnership with major players, the emirate is well-positioned to become a global hub for next-generation smart mobility.
Autonomous taxi services now cover about half of Abu Dhabi’s core areas, with the initiative’s expansion to Reem and Al Maryah islands earlier this year. WeRide and Uber are among the industry partners that have been tapped for the project.
“WeRide and Uber have already tested the driverless robo-taxi starting from the second quarter of this year, now pending the approval of ITC, we will actually deploy the full driverless robo-taxi in Abu Dhabi,” said Tony Han, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of WeRide.
Han said Abu Dhabi’s collaborative innovation model and strong government support set global benchmarks in advancing autonomous mobility.
“I have never seen any other government in the world being so supportive, being so determined to push forward for the robo-taxi and application of robotics. With this kind of strong support, with the strong technology … we are ready to scale,” Han said.
“Regulatory support is very important, and in this aspect, UAE and Abu Dhabi are unparalleled in the world.”
