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UAE launches Factory Forward to help manufacturers adopt AI and Industry 4.0

Factory Forward combines funding, technology support and expertise for manufacturers

Last updated: September 15, 2026 | 08:10

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

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Dubai: UAE manufacturers will get a single platform to access technology assessments, expert support and financing under a new government initiative aimed at speeding up factory transformation.

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The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology has launched Factory Forward UAE, bringing together industrial technology programmes that have already supported more than 700 factories across the country.

The initiative is designed to help manufacturers assess what technology they need, identify areas for improvement and adopt Fourth Industrial Revolution tools, including artificial intelligence and other advanced industrial technologies.

More than 620 factories have already been assessed through the Industrial Technology Transformation Index, one of the programmes brought together under Factory Forward.

One platform for technology support

Factory Forward will connect manufacturers with technical experts, technology providers, support programmes and financing partners.

The initiative will also provide examples of successful factory transformations and practical uses of technology, giving manufacturers a clearer view of solutions that have already been applied elsewhere.

MoIAT said the platform is intended to support factories at different stages of their technology transformation, from assessing existing operations to identifying technologies and securing the expertise or funding required to implement them.

The programme forms part of the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology and the Make it in the Emirates initiative.

Guided by our leadership’s vision, the UAE continues to build a competitive industrial sector by investing in people, improving skills and integrating technology across the value chain. This has made the country a global center for industry and an attractive place for industrial investment. The ministry will continue working with its partners to build on this progress. Our focus is on helping factories use more advanced technology, including AI, to increase productivity, improve efficiency, and compete more effectively.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology

Funding and expertise for manufacturers

Factory Forward is backed by technology, enablement and financing partners from the public and private sectors.

Technology partners will help manufacturers assess how advanced their operations are, identify areas where technology can improve performance and determine the next steps in their transformation.

Enablement partners will provide specialist advice, training and knowledge, while financing partners will help manufacturers access funding and investment for technology projects.

Dr. Al Jaber added: “Factory Forward UAE builds on the ministry’s work to accelerate technology adoption. It will help more manufacturers use the programs and support available and encourage them to apply advanced technology in their operations.”

MoIAT said wider adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution tools is intended to help factories improve efficiency, respond more quickly to change, strengthen supply chains and compete in local and international markets.

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Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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