UAE plans cyber resilience Centre of Excellence with SCC Middle East

Summary

• UAE Cyber Security Council and SCC Middle East will build a cyber resilience Centre of Excellence
• The three-phase plan covers national training, a startup incubator, and export routes for UAE technology
• It positions the UAE as a testing ground for securely deploying AI and cloud systems

The latest

A new Centre of Excellence for Cyber Resilience and Trusted Technology will be developed in the UAE under a partnership between the UAE Cyber Security Council and SCC Middle East, announced during AI Everything Abu Dhabi. According to the Emirates News Agency, the centre is intended to serve regional and global users, giving governments and enterprises a place to test emerging technologies before deploying them at scale.

Details

• The partners: The Emirates News Agency said the UAE Cyber Security Council and SCC Middle East will jointly lead integration and delivery at the centre, pooling expertise and resources according to the needs of each individual programme. No opening date, location or budget figure was announced alongside the plan.
• The purpose: According to WAM, the centre is designed as an environment where government bodies, enterprises, technology partners and specialists can explore emerging technologies, test real use cases, and work out how new solutions can be adopted securely and at scale rather than in isolated pilots.
• Phase one: The first phase focuses on building national capability through executive learning, practical labs and specialist development spanning artificial intelligence, cloud, data, cybersecurity and critical national infrastructure, with the stated aim of moving organisations from experimentation toward secure, practical adoption.
• Phase two: The second phase is a startup incubator programme intended to develop and scale cyber innovation made in the UAE, testing and validating locally developed technologies against real-world operating requirements instead of laboratory conditions alone. The number of startups to be admitted was not specified.
• Phase three: The third phase is built around export: helping selected UAE-developed technologies connect with international customers, ecosystems and commercial opportunities. WAM did not name target markets or the criteria by which technologies will be selected for that pathway.
• The official line: Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government, said the country has set ambitious goals around artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and a resilient digital economy, and that the centre will let government, industry and technology partners convert that ambition into practical capability.
• The vendor view: Daniel Valle, CEO of SCC Middle East, said the difficulty today is not the availability of technology but proving the right combinations work in a given environment. He described the intended result as "not a showroom," but a place to test ideas around real problems and build deployable solutions.
• The venue: The announcement was made during AI Everything Abu Dhabi 2026, an event framing artificial intelligence adoption across government and industry. Tying a cybersecurity centre to an AI showcase signals that securing AI deployment, rather than defending traditional networks alone, is the organising theme.

Between the lines

The three phases describe a full pipeline rather than a training facility: train operators, incubate domestic vendors, then push those vendors abroad. Phase three in particular reframes cybersecurity as an export sector for the UAE, not only a defensive requirement. Valle's distinction between availability of technology and proven deployment points at the same gap the centre is meant to close.

What's next

Watch for a launch date, a physical site, and the first intake of the phase-two startup incubator, along with any named international partners or customers attached to the export pathway.

Source: Emirates News Agency (WAM)