Abu Dhabi Investment Office and Metal Park Investment unveiled plans to create a dedicated Industry 4.0 hub focused on accelerating digitalisation in the metal manufacturing sector.
The dedicated Industry 4.0 Competence Centre in Abu Dhabi is expected to be opened by the end of the year and span more than 5 million square feet.
In a joint statement, the partners indicated the centre would be shaped to serve the sector, including specialist infrastructure and digital technology to provide the ability to speed prototyping, testing and scale-up for applications.
Among the use cases expected to be trialled and scaled at the facility are robotics, industrial IoT, predictive maintenance, digital twins, autonomous logistics and AI-enhanced production optimisation.
Alongside practical testing, the facility will also serve as a training centre for related workforces.
The pair noted the move aligns with Abu Dhabi’s industrial strategy and is anticipated to play a “critical role” in an objective of doubling the manufacturing sector’s GDP contribution to AED172 billion (46.8 billion) by 2031.
Metal Park chair Saleh Shahrestani said the centre would “be a cornerstone of technological progress in the regional metal industry” adding it was “creating an enabling environment for industrial players of all sizes to develop, validate and implement cutting-edge solutions”.