The Embassy of Italy to the UAE launches a new initiative titled InnovItalyUAE,\u00a0focused on exploring opportunities to enhance bilateral cooperation in innovation between Italy and UAE, starting on\u00a0September 30th.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0initiative, organized with the Khalifa University of Science and\u00a0Technology and in collaboration with the Dubai Future Foundation<\/a>, will be on the following sectors: cybersecurity<\/a>, space research, smart cities, life sciences, food technologies, renewable energy and circular economy. It will feature two sets of events:<\/p>\n 1)\u00a0<\/span>Six\u00a0online forums\u00a0(one per sector) to take place between September and December 2020 with\u00a0speakers 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;<\/p>\n 2) Six<\/span> 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.<\/p>\n His Excellency Nicola Lener, Ambassador of Italy to the UAE,<\/strong> said: \u201cItaly and the UAE are longstanding political, economic and cultural partners.\u00a0Italy is proud to have contributed with its technology to the development of this country and to see that the quality of its consumer goods is highly appreciated here, just as we are happy to know that the \u2018Belpaese\u2019 is one of the privileged destinations for our Emirates friends, as the UAE are more and more for our compatriots.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s participation in EXPO2020 Dubai, which has received the baton from the EXPO2015 in Milan and to which we therefore feel particularly attached.<\/p>\n We are pleased to begin this journey together with Khalifa University and in collaboration with the Dubai Future Foundation<\/a>, 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.”<\/p>\n InnovItalyUAE<\/strong> will put a spotlight on cybersecurity<\/a> in its the inaugural forum, scheduled on September 30th at 2pm.\u00a0 Cybersecurity has become a major\u00a0concern for all technological domains, including telecommunication, energy, manufacturing, space travel, tackling critical diseases or analyzing the climate.\u00a0\u00a0With the ongoing digital transformation, everything is connected and vulnerable at the same time, and waves of dangerous attacks like ransomware have increased in severity and scale.\u00a0New cybersecurity<\/a> challenges include the emerging role of Artificial Intelligence in cyber-attack prevention, but also as a target of coordinated attacks, especially when implemented on the in Internet-of-Things and cloud infrastructure.<\/p>\n Attendees will have a chance to join in the conversation as the speakers\u2019 present the two countries\u2019 national strategies, discussing governance challenges and analyzing of the main technological issues in each sector,\u00a0paving the way to\u00a0the solutions and ideas presented by innovative start-ups.<\/p>\n The schedule of the free-to-attend online forums are as follows:<\/p>\nInnovItalyUAE:\u00a0\u00a0Cybersecurity forum on September 30<\/h4>\n