Core42, a G42 company specialising in AI infrastructure and sovereign-enabled cloud, recently signed a strategic collaboration agreement with the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), to expand locally developed digital sovereignty and cybersecurity capabilities in the UAE.
Signed at GISEC Global 2026, the agreement reflects a shared commitment to developing home-grown security capabilities and contributing to the UAE’s sovereign technology ecosystem.
The collaboration brings together Core42’s sovereign-enabled cloud and AI capabilities with TII’s cybersecurity research and technology development expertise to explore how UAE-developed security technologies can strengthen the protection, resilience and compliance of sovereign digital infrastructure and AI environments. As part of the agreement, Core42 and TII will collaborate on the co-development, evaluation, and deployment of security-enhancing technologies across Core42’s sovereign-enabled cloud and Compass, its generative and agentic AI platform. The scope includes hardware security modules, confidential computing, encrypted AI inferencing, secure key management and distribution, data protection mechanisms, encryption technologies, and trusted computing capabilities.
The framework reflects a broader focus on developing critical technology capabilities within the UAE and creating pathways for home-grown innovation to address real-world cloud and AI sovereignty and security requirements. As organisations increasingly deploy sensitive data and AI workloads across cloud environments, protecting data, infrastructure, models and communications using cryptographic solutions is becoming an increasingly important component of sovereign technology architecture. The initiative also reinforces the UAE’s growing role as a centre for advanced technology development, and Core42’s contribution to an ecosystem where sovereign infrastructure can increasingly be secured through technologies developed within the country.
Rajeev Nair, Senior Vice President, Special Projects, Core42, said: “Sovereignty means more than deciding where data and infrastructure reside; it is also about building the technology capabilities required to protect them from all angles. Working with TII gives us an opportunity to evaluate and advance UAE-developed sovereignty and cybersecurity technologies against the requirements of sovereign-enabled cloud and AI environments. By connecting local research and technology development with real-world platforms and use cases, we are helping build an ecosystem where the UAE is not simply adopting advanced technologies but increasingly developing the capabilities that underpin them. This helps strengthen the country’s position as a global hub for trusted technology development”.
Dr. Victor Juan Mateu, Chief Researcher, Cryptography Research Center TII, said: “At TII, we are focused on translating advanced research into technologies that strengthen the UAE’s sovereign capabilities and address real-world security challenges. Our collaboration with Core42 creates an important pathway to evaluate and advance locally developed cybersecurity and trusted computing technologies within sovereign cloud and AI environments. By bringing together deep research expertise and real-world platforms, we can accelerate the journey from breakthrough innovation to practical deployment and contribute to a more secure and resilient technology ecosystem in the UAE”.
Image Credit: Core42 & TII
Source: Tahawul Tech