Emirates Launches Aviation X-Lab To Ideate For The Future Of Transportation Sector As part of the UAE's efforts to achieve the UAE Centennial Plan 2071, the innovation lab named Aviation X-Lab plans to host airlines, manufacturers, ground logistics, regulators, engineers, academics, and startups under a single roof to propel the sector to the next level, according to an Emirates' statement.
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Emirates airlines along with a host of entities across sectors (remains undisclosed) are partnering to build a "sector-wide Experimental (X) Lab" at Dubai's Area 2071 to lead the nation into the next era of transportation. As part of the UAE's efforts to achieve the UAE Centennial Plan 2071, the innovation lab named Aviation X-Lab plans to host airlines, manufacturers, ground logistics, regulators, engineers, academics, and startups under a single roof to propel the sector to the next level, according to an Emirates' statement. The various stakeholders are set to come together to firstly, chart a vision for the next generation of global transportation, and then to develop solutions that "no single organization or program has had the resources to deliver on their own."
In a statement, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and CEO, Emirates airline and Group, said: "We look forward to the Aviation X-Lab initiative, which will enable Emirates to co-create high impact solutions with our industry partners that will propel the UAE's aviation sector to new heights, and unlock the possibilities of an interconnected world." According to Emirates, the Aviation X-Lab will host industry summits at Area 2071, wherein various sectoral challenges will be discussed, and subsequently the professionals and startups who apply to be included to the innovation lab will help tackle the roadblocks by working with other senior industry executives and regulators. Among these teams and individuals, those shortlisted for the finals will get together in Dubai for an event, where they will pitch their concepts. The winners of this annual pitch challenge will then start working in a rigorous program that's said to have been co-created by global academic and innovation institutions.
For those uninitiated with the UAE's innovation programs, Area 2071 is a creative ecosystem launched recently by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, at Emirates Towers in Dubai. Intended to function as "a space purpose-built for curiosity and creativity," the Area 2071 community encompasses government representatives, creatives, enterprises, and individuals from all walks of life, and seeks to "imagine and create solutions to the world's most pressing questions." Area 2071 was set up to take the UAE closer to achieving its Centennial Plan 2071- a long-term comprehensive plan announced earlier this year targeting the strengthening of UAE's soft power by year 2071.
Applications for the inaugural Aviation X-Lab are set to open later this month, with the first set of pitches to be made in April 2018. For more information and/or to register visit http://area2071.ae/
