Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) signed an MOU with Imec, the world’s leading R&D organization in nano and microtechnology, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, as part of their ongoing collaboration with various government entities and organizations around the world in efforts to share knowledge and experience as well as provide individuals with opportunities to develop their skills and research capabilities.
The signing ceremony was attended by HE. Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and Deputy Managing Director of Dubai Future Foundation, HE. Khalfan Juma Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation, Abdulaziz Al Jaziri, Deputy CEO at the Dubai Future Foundation, Dr. Jo De Boeck, Chief Strategic Officer and EVP at Imec, and Prof. Dr. Romain Meeusen, Vice Rector at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium.
The agreement, signed in AREA 2071 at the Emirates Towers in Dubai, aims to encourage R&D in the field of robotics by stimulating industrial interest in it and demonstrating its potential impact on competitiveness. Towards that end, the agreement foresaw the organization of joint living labs, R&D projects and capacity building activities in close partnership with industrial partners.
DFF will work closely with Imec and Vrije Universiteit Brussel to explore the creation of best suited formal mechanisms for knowledge exchange, development and transfer in the setting up of R&D facilities and related infrastructure, as well as the managing of R&D programs.
Imec is a world-leading research and innovation organization in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. The combination of their widely acclaimed leadership in microchip technology and profound software and ICT expertise is what makes them unique. By leveraging on their world-class infrastructure and local and global ecosystem of partners across a multitude of industries, they create groundbreaking innovation in application domains such as healthcare, smart cities, and mobility, logistics and manufacturing, energy and education.
Headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, Imec brings together more than 4,000 brilliant minds from over 85 nationalities and has distributed R&D groups at a number of Flemish universities, in the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China, and offices in India and Japan. In 2017, Imec’s revenue totaled 546 million euros.
Vrije Universiteit Brussel is one of Belgium’s largest universities. It is known for its high research activity, with its research teams internationally recognized in many disciplines of fundamental and applied research, especially in the fields of AI and robotics. In 1983, it was the first university in Europe to set up an AI lab.