UAE-UK tech partnership could make world a better place – News

The UK will work through global forums such as the OECD and will appoint technology envoys to create the world’s largest technology diplomacy network – promoting UK industry overseas and leading global conversations

Technology is one of the key pathways to global prosperity and security. From climate to health, from financial services to agriculture, technology is creating exciting new opportunities.

The UK is already a world leader in research and development, innovation and cybersecurity. Our tech sector is booming – we’re Europe’s largest tech investment destination and home to the world’s fourth largest tech unicorns.

But we want to do more. The UK’s new international technology strategy shows us the way to technology superpower status. But it’s not just our own national ambitions. It’s about addressing the fragmentation of the global tech marketplace, providing leadership and shaping the global tech marketplace – with the right principles, in the right domain and with the right partners. To solve our common challenges and increase global opportunities, we need to work together.

Therefore, our strategy establishes our four guiding principles – openness, accountability, security and resilience. These are the pillars that shape the future of technology and enable the UK to build partnerships with the international community.

The strategy focuses on five key technologies – artificial intelligence, quantum, engineered biology, semiconductors and telecommunications, all of which are powered by data.

Outreach is at the heart of the strategy. The UK will work through global forums such as the OECD, and will appoint technology envoys to create the world’s largest technology diplomacy network – promoting UK industry overseas and leading global conversations. They will be supported by a new Center of Technological Expertise, bringing together the best tech minds from government, the private sector and academia.

The UAE has embarked on the same journey. I have seen firsthand how Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week can bring together these types of expertise to tackle the global challenge of climate change. Both the UK and the UAE aspire to become knowledge-driven creative economies and use technology to help developing economies meet today’s and future challenges.

There are already many exciting examples of UK and UAE collaborations on technology:

· The University of Manchester’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Center is working with Khalifa University to pioneer innovative applications of 2D materials such as graphene in areas such as clean water and decarbonisation.

· The University of Birmingham’s Health Data Science team is working with the newly formed Dubai Health to focus on two grand health-related challenges: type 2 diabetes and rare genetic diseases, using advanced machine learning algorithms and methods to develop more targeted and more effective treatments.

· UK start-up Oxford Immune Algorithmics is partnering with MBZUAI in Abu Dhabi, the world’s first artificial intelligence university, to leverage the best of human and machine intelligence to have a revolutionary and sustainable impact on global health.

· Fera Science works extensively throughout the Middle East, supporting government and industry in food safety and plant health services and innovative research. They are currently working with TP Bennett, an internationally renowned architectural design firm, and WAGTech Projects, an award-winning manufacturer and supplier of specialist water and environmental equipment and services, to support the UAE’s Silal Food and technology research and development activities to help the country’s horticultural and agricultural sectors growth of.

· British company Winnow is helping the food service and hospitality industry in the UAE reduce food waste by making kitchens smarter. Winnow’s artificial intelligence tool can detect the type and amount of food thrown away. This data enables commercial kitchens to pinpoint where waste is occurring. Typically, kitchens using Winnow cut food waste in half.

But there is so much more the UK can and wants to do in partnership with the UAE, as we share a shared vision to use technology to make the world a better place.

– Patrick Moody is the British Ambassador to the UAE.