Announced at AI Everything Abu Dhabi, the three-phase initiative aims to build national talent, incubate domestic security start-ups, and export home-grown tech globally.
ABU DHABI —The UAE Cyber Security Council has entered into a strategic partnership with IT services provider SCC Middle East to establish a Centre of Excellence for Cyber Resilience and Trusted Technology in Abu Dhabi, aimed at strengthening critical digital infrastructure and advancing home-grown cybersecurity solutions.
Announced during the AI Everything summit in Abu Dhabi, the dedicated facility will serve as a collaborative proving ground for public institutions, private enterprises, technology developers, and domain specialists. Rather than serving purely as a conceptual testbed, the centre is mandated to help organisations stress-test emerging systems against real operational environments and deploy secure digital architectures at scale.
The joint initiative will roll out in three structured phases, beginning with national capability building. Under the initial phase, the centre will conduct executive training programmes, run specialized simulation labs, and train technical talent across artificial intelligence, cloud architectures, advanced data management, and critical national infrastructure protection. The core objective is to transition federal and commercial entities from passive technology trials to operational adoption under rigorous security standards.
The second phase introduces a dedicated technology incubator designed to identify, test, and scale domestic cyber innovations. Home-grown technologies created by UAE entrepreneurs and engineering teams will undergo continuous validation against enterprise-grade security benchmarks before public release.
During the third phase, the programme will establish commercial pathways to export mature UAE-developed cybersecurity solutions into international markets, linking local developers with enterprise clients, regulatory ecosystems, and venture networks worldwide.
Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government, noted that the initiative directly underpins the country’s national targets for secure digital transformation. The centre, he stated, bridges national digital ambitions and frontline operational capability by aligning regulatory priorities with industry technical execution.
Daniel Valle, Chief Executive Officer of SCC Middle East, stressed that the venture focuses on operational deployment rather than speculative display. The real technical challenge facing public and private sectors, Valle pointed out, is integrating diverse platforms and proving they perform under active operational strain before full-scale deployment.
Both entities will oversee program delivery, allocating technical resources and operational expertise based on each implementation phase. The hub will support the UAE’s broader push to shield critical infrastructure while transforming the country into an exporter of sovereign cyber and AI technologies.
