Latest news with #ChaoukiKasmi
Mid East Info
18-06-2025
- Business
- Mid East Info
EDGE Signs MoU to Localise Maintenance Capabilities of Thales' Advanced Optronic Systems in the UAE - Middle East Business News and Information
Paris, France/Abu Dhabi, UAE:June 2025 – At the 2025 edition of the Paris Airshow, EDGE, one of the world's leading advanced technology and defence groups, and Thales, a global leader in high technology solutions for defence and security, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the production and maintenance of Thales' advanced electro-optic systems. This MoU supports the shared commitment of both parties to strengthen the UAE's sovereign defence capabilities and localise key technologies through sustainable in-country industrial solutions. Under the MoU, EDGE's Electro-Optic Centre of Excellence (EOCE) and Thales will explore the creation of dedicated capabilities in the UAE for a range of Thales' cutting-edge optronic systems currently in operational service with the UAE Armed Forces. The areas of intended cooperation include: Hand-Held Thermal Imagers (HHTI): Maintenance of Thales' field-proven SOPHIE family of thermal imagers, supporting ground forces with superior detection and identification performance. Weapon Sights: Local support for Thales' XTRAIM weapon sights, which combine red dot sighting and thermal imaging in a compact, high-performance solution. Electro-Optic Vehicular Cameras: Maintenance and support for Thales' advanced vehicular optronics systems, designed to enhance crew awareness and targeting capabilities across a range of armoured platforms. The MoU was signed by Dr. Chaouki Kasmi, President of Technology and Innovation at EDGE, Alexis Morel, Vice-President of the Optronics and Missile Electronics activities at Thales, and Abdelhafid Mordi, Chief Executive Officer of Thales in the UAE. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Hamad Al Marar, Managing Director and CEO of EDGE, Patrice Caine, Chairman and CEO of Thales Group, and Pascale Sourisse, President of Thales International. By leveraging their respective areas of expertise, EDGE's EOCE and Thales aim to increase operational readiness and lifecycle support for advanced defence technologies deployed across the UAE Armed Forces. Dr. Chaouki Kasmi, President of Technology and Innovation at EDGE, said: 'This MoU marks another important step in our journey to strengthen local defence capabilities through industrial partnerships. Together with Thales, EDGE is taking a significant step towards enabling unique and centralised maintenance capabilities for mission-critical electro-optical systems.' Abdelhafid Mordi, CEO of Thales in the UAE, said: 'We are proud to deepen our collaboration with EDGE and contribute to the UAE's strategic vision for localised defence readiness. This partnership will ensure sustained performance of our advanced optronics systems across multiple operational domains, and reinforce our shared commitment to bolster the local industrial ecosystem and reinforce the UAE's leadership in the global defence sector'.
Al Etihad
17-06-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
EDGE signs agreement to localise maintenance capabilities of Thales' advanced optronic systems
17 June 2025 18:27 ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)At the 2025 edition of the Paris Airshow, EDGE, one of the world's leading advanced technology and defence groups, and Thales, a global leader in high technology solutions for defence and security, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the production and maintenance of Thales' advanced electro-optic MoU supports the shared commitment of both parties to strengthen the UAE's sovereign defence capabilities and localise key technologies through sustainable in-country industrial the MoU, EDGE's Electro-Optic Centre of Excellence (EOCE) and Thales will explore the creation of dedicated capabilities in the UAE for a range of Thales' cutting-edge optronic systems currently in operational service with the UAE Armed areas of intended cooperation include:• Hand-Held Thermal Imagers (HHTI): Maintenance of Thales' field-proven SOPHIE family of thermal imagers, supporting ground forces with superior detection and identification performance• Weapon Sights: Local support for Thales' XTRAIM weapon sights, which combine red dot sighting and thermal imaging in a compact, high-performance solution• Electro-Optic Vehicular Cameras: Maintenance and support for Thales' advanced vehicular optronics systems, designed to enhance crew awareness and targeting capabilities across a range of armoured platformsThe MoU was signed by Dr. Chaouki Kasmi, President of Technology and Innovation at EDGE, Alexis Morel, Vice-President of the Optronics and Missile Electronics activities at Thales, and Abdelhafid Mordi, Chief Executive Officer of Thales in the signing ceremony was witnessed by Hamad Al Marar, Managing Director and CEO of EDGE, Patrice Caine, Chairman and CEO of Thales Group, and Pascale Sourisse, President of Thales leveraging their respective areas of expertise, EDGE's EOCE and Thales aim to increase operational readiness and lifecycle support for advanced defence technologies deployed across the UAE Armed Chaouki Kasmi said, 'This MoU marks another important step in our journey to strengthen local defence capabilities through industrial partnerships. Together with Thales, EDGE is taking a significant step towards enabling unique and centralised maintenance capabilities for mission-critical electro-optical systems.' Abdelhafid Mordi said, 'We are proud to deepen our collaboration with EDGE and contribute to the UAE's strategic vision for localised defence readiness. This partnership will ensure sustained performance of our advanced optronics systems across multiple operational domains, and reinforce our shared commitment to bolster the local industrial ecosystem and reinforce the UAE's leadership in the global defence sector." Source: Aletihad - Abu Dhabi
Al Etihad
19-05-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
EDGE launches 'Group AI Accelerator' to boost AI-enhanced solutions
19 May 2025 14:06 ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)EDGE has officially launched Group AI Accelerator, a new Centre of Excellence (COE) that will expedite the development and integration of innovative AI-based projects within EDGE Group's facilities and advanced portfolio of highly disruptive on existing research and Industry 4.0 technologies, Group AI Accelerator will also act as an incubator for UAE talent, highlighting EDGE Group's dedication to positioning the UAE as a leading hub in high-technology Chaouki Kasmi, President of Technology and Innovation at EDGE Group, said, "The Group AI Accelerator marks our latest step towards operating with increased speed and efficiency, and will enable the prompt adoption of AI technologies within our core engineering capabilities and business services.""The new Centre of Excellence, which consolidates the UAE's expertise and resources in AI, provides a positive disruption to our programmes, and will accelerate our innovation processes. It is critical that we are ready to leverage AI, and as a contributor to the UAE's growing knowledge-based economy, we look forward to harnessing emerging technologies," he by EDGE Group's Technology and Innovation Cluster, the new COE will be managed by a Steering Committee comprised of members of local and international subject matter experts. The committee will oversee an engineering working group tasked with executing skunkworks projects, and conducting research and development activities in machine learning and AI-enabled committee will also oversee a business excellence working group to accelerate digital transformation projects, and facilitate advanced learning opportunities at scale. The Group AI Accelerator COE is the latest development in EDGE's dedication to leveraging the cutting-edge capabilities and infrastructure of the UAE's advanced technology and innovation ecosystem. Source: Aletihad - Abu Dhabi
Arabian Business
06-05-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
AB Majlis podcast: UAE's AI ambitions flourish through AWS partnership, says TII innovation chief
Is the UAE winning the global AI race? A conversation with TII's Dr. Chaouki Kasmi The United Arab Emirates has strengthened its position as a global artificial intelligence powerhouse through strategic partnerships with cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), according to Dr Chaouki Kasmi, Chief Innovation Officer at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII). Speaking on the latest AB Majlis podcast, Dr Kasmi revealed how AWS played a crucial role in developing Falcon, the UAE's first homegrown large language model (LLM), which now competes with offerings from tech giants like OpenAI and Google. UAE's strategic AI partnerships 'We made the strategic decision to establish our partnership with AWS at the very early days of the Falcon programme,' Dr Kasmi said. 'We also had a lot of interesting support from AWS experts to help us leverage the cloud infrastructure they have in place.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Arabian Business (@arabianbusiness) The Falcon model is now available on AWS SageMaker, enabling developers to create applications, including chat services similar to ChatGPT. Dr Kasmi also highlighted that the UAE's AI ascendancy reflects the country's early commitment to artificial intelligence, noting it appointed a minister for AI in 2017 and established the first university fully dedicated to the technology. 'The UAE is a very special case in the world,' he said. 'It is a very early adopter and a very early believer that artificial intelligence will be transformational.' The TII executive pointed to a recent report in The Economist that ranked the UAE in the top three countries globally for AI development, behind only the United States and China. Dr Kasmi credited this progress to the country's leadership, which has 'set the innovation agenda' and aligned legal frameworks with infrastructure development and investment in innovation. The collaboration with AWS represents part of a broader ecosystem approach that Dr Kasmi believes is essential for the UAE's continued technological advancement. 'We can really see the benefits of having a strong ecosystem. We have been able to bring Falcon to life because we had strong support from our partners like AWS,' he said. The TII is now focused on bringing Falcon to the application level through AI 71, a startup dedicated to integrating the models into practical products. For businesses in the region, Dr Kasmi stressed that adopting AI-enabled resources is no longer optional but necessary to maintain competitiveness. Government services in the UAE, already heavily digitalised, are well-positioned to integrate AI solutions, with chief AI officers appointed across ministries and government entities. Dr Kasmi also addressed quantum computing, another area where the UAE is investing, with TII developing both quantum sensors and 'the brain of the quantum computer.' He suggested future systems would likely combine quantum and traditional computing infrastructure. 'If we really want to maintain our leadership in science and technology in the region, we have no choice when investing and supporting our quantum research laboratories,' he said. Tune in to AB Majlis every Monday To listen to the full episode and gain a comprehensive understanding of doing business in the Gulf region, visit our RSS feed or check out AB Majlis on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms. Episodes are also available on: Tune in every Monday for weekly episodes that will help you stay ahead of the curve and enrich your understanding of the Gulf region.
Zawya
20-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
EDGE launches next-gen ai-powered geospatial intelligence platform at IDEX 2025
Abu Dhabi, UAE – FADA, an EDGE Group entity established to develop the UAE's sovereign space capabilities, has launched a cutting-edge platform, TACTICA, at IDEX 2025. The platform processes multi-source intelligence – including satellite imagery, signals intelligence, sensor data, and open-source information – to generate insightful, actionable conclusions. TACTICA demonstrates FADA's strategic use of AI to enhance intelligence and decision-making. Leading the evolution of AI and Generative AI (GenAI), TACTICA is engineered to revolutionise situational awareness, operational intelligence, and strategic planning across defence, security, education, and other key sectors. Powered by advanced AI models, including Falcon—the UAE's open-source LLM developed by the Technology Innovation Institute (TII)—it delivers real-time geospatial insights through seamless voice-command interaction, dynamic visualisation, and multi-source data integration, from satellites to sensor networks. By combining agentic AI-driven analytics with a comprehensive data ecosystem, TACTICA empowers users to make precise, data-driven decisions in complex operational environments, ensuring mission success with speed and efficiency. Waleid Al Mesmari, President – Space & Cyber Technologies, EDGE, said: 'The launch of TACTICA marks a defining moment in EDGE and FADA's mission to accelerate autonomy and AI-driven decision-making. By integrating cutting-edge artificial intelligence with advanced satellite technology, we are not only transforming operational intelligence but also enabling full operational assisted management. This breakthrough reinforces EDGE's position as a global leader in AI innovation, setting new standards for smart and economic development. TACTICA is a testament to our strategic vision – leveraging AI to drive precision, speed, and efficiency, while securing the UAE's leadership in the AI-powered future.' Dr. Chaouki Kasmi, President – Technology & Innovation, EDGE, said: 'Generative AI is a key enabler for efficient, autonomous data analytics, supporting EDGE Group's vision to integrate AI at scale. The launch of TACTICA marks a major step in this direction, leveraging the UAE-made, open-source Falcon LLM as its AI orchestrator – an integration made possible through the Technology Innovation Institute (TII). In 2025, we will introduce several AI-powered solutions, reinforcing our commitment to equipping our partners with advanced, strategic capabilities across air, land, sea, and space.' Attendees of IDEX 2025 can visit EDGE and its portfolio of companies at stand C20 in hall 5, and outdoor stand CP-270 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre until 21 February 2025. About EDGE Launched in November 2019, the UAE's EDGE is one of the world's leading advanced technology groups, established to develop agile, bold and disruptive solutions for defence and beyond, and to be a catalyst for change and transformation. It is dedicated to bringing breakthrough innovations, products, and services to market with greater speed and efficiency, to position the UAE as a leading global hub for future industries, and to creating clear paths within the sector for the next generation of highly-skilled talent to thrive. With a focus on the adoption of 4IR technologies, EDGE is driving the development of sovereign capabilities for global export and for the preservation of national security, working with front-line operators, international partners, and adopting advanced technologies such as autonomous capabilities, cyber-physical systems, advanced propulsion systems, robotics and smart materials. EDGE converges R&D, emerging technologies, digital transformation, and commercial market innovations with military capabilities to develop disruptive solutions tailored to the specific requirements of its customers. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, EDGE consolidates more than 35 entities into six core clusters: Platforms & Systems, Missiles & Weapons, Space & Cyber Technologies, Trading & Mission Support, Technology & Innovation, and Homeland Security. For more information, visit For media enquiries, please contact: EDGE Group Press Office media@
