Bayanat, a specialist in artificial intelligence-powered geospatial and smart mobility solutions, and autonomous vehicle (AV) technology provider Oxa, are forming a strategic partnership to advance the development and deployment of autonomous vehicle solutions in the UAE and beyond.
This collaboration is supported by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) under its Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (Savi) cluster. Abu Dhabi’s Savi cluster was launched in 2023, creating a smart and autonomous vehicles hub in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region to promote significant contributions across air, land and sea mobility applications.
Savi supports innovation and the commercialisation of smart and autonomous vehicle technologies in the UAE, unlocking their global potential by providing facilities and value-added services within an enabling regulatory environment. The partnership between Bayanat and Oxa, endorsed by ADIO, is designed to create a regional powerhouse for developing and advancing autonomy across multiple verticals.
One of the key outcomes of the collaboration will be to explore the creation of an Autonomous Mobility Centre of Excellence, which will benefit from deep links across Abu Dhabi’s regional ecosystem. The partnership also looks to promote the hiring and nurturing of local talent including software, hardware, and operations engineers, data scientists, legal professionals, and general support staff.
This will be further supplemented with Oxa’s robust academic network, and its work with local academics and universities such as Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), on various topics, from future visions to engineering and entrepreneurship. “This collaboration with Oxa marks a significant milestone in our journey towards revolutionising transportation and smart city solutions,” said Hasan Al Hosani, managing director, Bayanat.
“By combining our expertise in geospatial analytics and operational capabilities in AV with Oxa’s leadership in autonomous vehicle technology, we are poised to create groundbreaking solutions that will enhance mobility, safety, and efficiency in urban areas. We are also grateful for the support from ADIO, which plays a crucial role in driving innovation and technological development in the region.”
Bayanat and Oxa are also looking into partnering together to create cutting-edge services in the sector, supported by an advisory board formed from UAE industry representatives, along with senior leaders from Oxa.
“As a B2B company, we look for partners who have the vision and capabilities to help us bring our world-class autonomy solutions to a wide range of companies – and Bayanat and ADIO are those partners,” said Gavin Jackson, CEO of Oxa. “Using the knowledge gained from our existing commercial deployments in the USA and Bayanat’s technical capabilities and deep relationships throughout the GCC, we expect to accelerate the adoption of autonomy across multiple use cases.
“We are also excited about the strong technical talent pool in the region, fostered by the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and Savi, both of which will help us further develop our strong cohort of highly skilled engineers, including at our planned base in Abu Dhabi