ABU DHABI, UAE. 16 June 2022: Representatives from 17 major national and global companies on Wednesday assembled alongside SMEs and government stakeholders to explore collaborative ways of accelerating the adoption of advanced technologies in the industrial sector.   
More than 200 stakeholders and partners came together for the Champions Network Assembly, an event hosted by the UAE’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) to gather industrial champions as part of its efforts to facilitate collaboration and exchanges to enhance the national industrial sector.
The network comprises ADNOC, EDGE, Honeywell, Unilever, Schneider Electric, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), Cisco, Siemens, Aveva, SAP, Etisalat, IBM, Huawei, Strata, Microsoft, PTC, and Ericsson. The event, which took place at ADNOC Business Center, was held in the presence of Her Excellency Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology. 
Her Excellency Sarah Al Amiri commented: “The Champions Network Assembly has a crucial role in the UAE’s industrial sector, bringing together the most influential organizations to engage in exchanges that will contribute to the sector’s technological transformation. As a result of this assembly of industrial champions, SMEs, and stakeholders, the sector will benefit from new partnerships and collaborations that support the UAE’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Program, Industry 4.0. The Champions Network Assembly, therefore, is a critical mechanism for achieving the objectives of the national industrial strategy.”
Her Excellency continued: “The network and the event are key to realizing the full potential of UAE Industry 4.0. By implementing advanced technologies, we can create more efficiencies, enhance quality, boost productivity, and increase competitiveness. 
She added: “The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology is committed to leveraging the strengths of each member of our industrial community in the UAE. Through initiatives like the Champions Network Assembly, we will continue to prioritise public and private sector collaborations that involve national and global organizations. Through the new partnerships forged by these projects, we will enhance the industrial sector’s digital maturity and support the objectives of the national industrial strategy.”
Champions Network Meets for First Time
For the first time since the Champions Network was established in 2021, its members met in a closed meeting. Her Excellency Sarah Al Amiri joined CEOs and other senior representatives from the 17 members of the Champions Network to discuss the progress and achievements of the network so far and deeper engagement in the future. Attendees also discussed the Ministry’s plans for the network moving forward and heard from Her Excellency about the next stages of the Industry 4.0 program and the importance of public-private partnerships in achieving its objectives.
Attendees included: His Excellency Omar Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology; Mohammed Al Qassim, Director of Technology Adoption and Development; Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of EGA; Mansour Mohamed AlMulla, Managing Director and CEO of EDGE; Mohammed Mohaisan, Regional President and CEO at Honeywell; Khalil Yassine, Vice President at Unilever Arabia; Ahmed Khashan, Gulf Cluster President at Schneider Electric; Abdelilah Nejjri, Managing Director for the Gulf Region at Cisco; Helmut Von Struve, Regional CEO at Siemens; Nayef Bou Chaaya, Vice President at AVEVA; Sergio Maccotta, Senior Vice President Middle East at SAP; Saad Toma, General Manager at IBM; Jiawei Liu, CEO of Huawei UAE; Ismail Ali Abdulla CEO of Strata; Abdullah Ebrahim Al Ahmed, SVP Government Sales at Etisalat; Stefano Rinaldi, Sr. VP & General Manager of PTC for EMEA & India; andTareq Hijazi, Regional Public Sector Director at Microsoft.

Training and Upskilling
During the assembly, stakeholders shared experiences and best-practices in the deployment of 4IR technologies. Delegates took part in networking, received insights during a session on the digital maturity of the UAE’s manufacturing sector, and joined panels on subjects including financing, sustainability and EDGE’s recently announced Learning and Innovation Factory – or LiF. 
MoIAT is working with EDGE to expand the LiF center and extend its services to the wider industrial base. The center provides an immersive and inspiring environment to learn about advanced technology. The first phase includes a fully-fledged curriculum to support in training and upskilling talent as well as support in industry 4.0 adoption. Together, MoIAT and EDGE will offer the Industry 4.0 Module for CEOs, which provides a high level yet immersive experience covering lean, six sigma, lean digital, IoT and analytics. The initiative also includes Mid-Management Training, an engaging training program with several modules on lean, six sigma, and IoT.
Key Announcements
During the assembly, Strata Manufacturing, Huawei, and PTC signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with MoIAT, becoming the latest members of the Champions Network. Under the MoUs, the companies will collaborate with the Ministry to raise awareness about the benefits of industry 4.0, showcase industry 4.0 use-cases and solutions, and promote skills development and R&D. 
During the event, 25 new technology pilots were launched as a result of the Champions Network’s mission to support the digitalization of the industrial sector through the deployment of pilots in companies that have the appetite and the potential to transform. The Champions Network supports companies to deploy specific solutions, free-of-charge, to demonstrate the value of these technologies to decision-makers.
Also, during the assembly, Emirates Development Bank (EDB) hosted a workshop of 48 companies that demonstrated interest in investing in technology following a recent survey. EDB works closely with MoIAT to empower companies to finance advanced technology projects. It provides tailored packages comprising a range of products such as asset-based financing, receivable financing, reverse factory, and long-term financing among others. 
The Champion’s Network is a core pillar of UAE Industry 4.0 designed to accelerate the integration of 4IR solutions and applications across the UAE’s industrial sector, enhancing the UAE’s overall industrial competitiveness, driving down costs, increasing productivity and efficiency, enhancing quality, improving safety and creating new jobs.