Innovation to help future generations build sustainable growth

Dubai - The outbreak of Covid-19 and its impact certainly amplified the need to bring in faster digitisations in key economic sectors like education and health.

The UAE is among the leading countries in the Middle East to have undertaken the digital transformation with a clear vision to bring in innovation that will drive future generations to build sustainable growth, said Maurits Tichelman VP, Sales, Marketing, and Communications Group and GM, Global Markets and Partners EMEA Territory, Intel.

Tichelman said: “The outbreak of Covid-19 and its impact certainly amplified the need to bring in faster digitisations in key economic sectors like education and health among key industries. The global superpowers and Intel’s strong pillars like cloud, connectivity through 5G, artificial intelligence are accelerating digitisation trends.”

Intel’s Project Mustakbal has rapidly established a sound IT ecosystem and a shared goal with its partners, including Etisalat Digital, Honeywell, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA) and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) among others of bringing the Intel advantage to the Middle East.

Project Mustakbal is dedicated to supporting the governments and ecosystems in the region as they harness the world of data and diversify their economies beyond oil dependency. Through this unique project, Intel lends its technical, sales, and marketing resources and creates partnerships with key ecosystem players including OEMs, ISVs, and Sis who offer end-to-end solutions, scaling from edge computing to the network, the cloud, and the emerging field of AI and autonomous driving.

Additionally, the One Intel Team have collaborated with some of the biggest brands such as HPC in Saudi Aramco, Smart Cities with Moro in Dubai, and RAN Virtualisation with Saudi Telecom to deliver new transformational deals in the region. Meanwhile, the company also entered into new partnership agreements with Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA), Sharjah Research and Technology Innovation Park (SRTIP), Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), and more.

Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA), responsible for leading the digital transformation of the Abu Dhabi government, has signed an MoU with Intel. The agreement aims at expanding the strategic partnership and cooperation between the two parties, especially in the field of accelerating digital transformation In Abu Dhabi.

Intel is working out strategies to deal with the global chip shortage that is expected to stretch until 2022. Tichelman said: “The demand for chips has been unprecedented globally and we are closely collaborating with the ecosystem to supply products. We expect the shortage to continue and a strong supply chain management is becoming supercritical.”

The ongoing chip shortage is expected to cost the global automotive industry $110 billion in revenue in 2021, as per the consulting firm AlixPartners. In line with this, Intel’s recent plans on expanding their advanced chip manufacturing capacity by spending up to $20 billion to build two factories in Arizona, has come in a timely manner, given the fact that Intel is the only company with the depth and breadth of software, silicon and platforms, packaging, and process, which can certainly help bridge the shortage gap under the new strategy.

Recently Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger outlined the company’s path forward to manufacture, design, and deliver leadership products and create long-term value for stakeholders. During the company’s global “Intel Unleashed: Engineering the Future” webcast, Gelsinger shared his vision for “IDM 2.0,” a major evolution of Intel’s Integrated Device Manufacturing (IDM) model. Gelsinger announced significant manufacturing expansion plans, starting with an estimated $20 billion investment to build two new factories (or fabs) in Arizona. He also announced Intel’s plans to become a major provider of foundry capacity in the US and Europe to serve customers globally. This build-out is expected to create over 3,000 permanent high-tech, high-wage jobs; over 3,000 construction jobs; and approximately 15,000 local long-term jobs.

— sandhya@khaleejtimes.com