Technology

Cisco, a global technology leader driving innovation in AI-powered digital infrastructure, has announced plans to build sovereign AI infrastructure in Qatar.

Cisco, a global technology leader driving innovation in AI-powered digital infrastructure, has announced plans to build sovereign AI infrastructure in Qatar.

This strategic endeavour is partnered with Mannai Corporation QPSC, operating through Mannai Technologies – Networking & ELV.

This collaboration brings together Cisco’s advanced capabilities in computing, networking, cybersecurity, and infrastructure management with Mannai’s deep-rooted local expertise. Together, they are addressing the rapidly growing demand for secure, resilient, and locally controlled AI environments. As governments and enterprises accelerate artificial intelligence adoption, placing greater emphasis on sovereign digital assets is now a strategic necessity.

The rising imperative of digital sovereignty

Digital sovereignty revolves around a nation's or an organisation's ability to maintain ultimate control over its digital destiny. This encompasses physical hardware, software ecosystems, and the sensitive data flowing through them. Recently, the acceleration of AI has amplified these concerns, introducing complex challenges regarding data privacy and the security of critical digital infrastructure.

To mitigate these risks, there is escalating demand for systems guaranteeing operational independence. Cisco’s Sovereign Critical Infrastructure portfolio is engineered to meet these exacting requirements. The portfolio integrates advanced technologies across vital domains, providing a robust framework for organisations that refuse to compromise on data sovereignty.

Key components of this secure ecosystem include:

• Advanced networking: Ensuring reliable data transmission within strictly defined, locally controlled parameters.
• Robust cybersecurity: Protecting sensitive data against external threats and ensuring compliance with national regulations.
• Collaboration tools: Facilitating secure communication channels for internal government and enterprise teams.
• Comprehensive observability: Providing real-time insights into system performance and data flow.

These technologies are designed explicitly for customer-controlled environments. This includes support for on-premises setups and fully air-gapped deployments. By isolating critical systems, organisations ensure essential services operate autonomously without reliance on external networks.

A synergy of global and local expertise

The foundation of this newly announced sovereign AI initiative is a relationship spanning more than three decades of technology collaboration in Qatar. Mannai Technologies – Networking & ELV brings immense local knowledge to the partnership. Their invaluable contribution encompasses engineering, systems integration, and bespoke deployment expertise.

This local footprint complements Cisco’s extensive global portfolio. Navigating the multifaceted infrastructure requirements of sovereign AI is a formidable challenge, but their combined strengths create a clear pathway for implementation. Together, Cisco’s technology vision and Mannai’s on-the-ground capabilities provide a solid foundation for deploying resilient AI infrastructure.

Driving Qatar National Vision 2030

The implications of this partnership extend far beyond standard IT upgrades. For Qatar, the development of sovereign, AI-ready infrastructure aligns seamlessly with the nation’s broader digital transformation ambitions. These goals are encapsulated within the Qatar National Vision 2030, a developmental blueprint emphasising economic diversification and advanced technological enablement.

The demand for locally controlled AI environments is surging across foundational pillars of the Qatari economy. Cisco and Mannai are directly supporting critical sectors, including:

• Government services: Securing sensitive public data and ensuring the independent delivery of civic services.
• Energy: Optimising resource management and protecting vital national energy grids from digital disruptions.
• Financial services: Safeguarding financial transactions and maintaining the integrity of the banking sector.
• Healthcare: Protecting confidential patient records while enabling advanced, AI-driven medical research on local servers.

As Qatar prepares for its next phase of digital innovation, the ability to leverage artificial intelligence securely will be a defining factor in its success. This initiative sets a benchmark for how global tech innovators and local partners can collaborate to build sovereign digital infrastructure. Through an unwavering commitment to operational independence, Cisco and Mannai are ensuring that Qatar's digital transformation remains deeply innovative and rigorously protected.

Dubai Chambers has launched the "Chamber AI Hub", marking a significant milestone as the world’s first chamber-led Agentic AI marketplace.

The private sector in Dubai is experiencing a significant shift, embracing artificial intelligence to streamline operations and enhance competitiveness. 

The integration of advanced technologies is no longer just an option; it is an absolute necessity as the global business landscape rapidly evolves,.

Dubai Chambers has launched the "Chamber AI Hub", marking a significant milestone as the world’s first chamber-led Agentic AI marketplace. This innovative platform enables companies operating within Dubai to access a suite of ready-to-use, specialised AI solutions designed to tackle a wide array of business challenges.

The initiative is a direct response to the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, who aims to accelerate the adoption of Agentic AI across the city's private sector.

H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Chairman of Dubai Chambers, commented: “Success in the transition to Agentic AI is measured not by technology adoption alone, but by how effectively companies use these tools to address business challenges and deliver tangible results. This is why we are connecting knowledge with practical application, building capabilities, and expanding access to specialised solutions and high-quality tools that help companies adapt to change and evolve the way they work. Through this approach, we are preparing a private sector that is equipped to respond to technological transformation and contribute to shaping the opportunities of the future economy.”

Key features of the AI marketplace

The Chamber AI Hub is designed to be accessible, practical, and highly secure. It offers a comprehensive ecosystem for businesses looking to integrate AI into their daily operations.

• Current offerings: The platform currently provides access to 22 specialised AI agents.

• Functional areas: These agents cover seven key areas: Compliance, Procurement, Operations, Finance, Sales, Human Resources, and Logistics.

• Future expansion: There are plans to expand the offering to a total of 100 AI agents.

• Specific tasks: The available solutions support tasks such as supplier discovery, evaluation of vendor proposals, monitoring supply chain risks, contract review, invoice matching, generating business proposals, screening resumes, lead scoring, and handling IT help desk requests.

• Sandbox environment: Companies can test any AI agent in a secure sandbox before full activation.

• Flexible pricing: Members receive complimentary credits to start, with options to transition to usage-based paid packages, along with competitive benefits.

• Management tools: Dashboards provide visibility into usage levels, costs, and success rates. A company admin portal allows administrators to monitor their teams’ use of the agents, and a readiness assessment helps determine preparedness.

• Compliance and security: The platform complies with UAE regulatory requirements, observing strict data privacy and protection standards. All data is hosted within the UAE, ensuring each company's information remains isolated.

• Language support: The AI agents support both Arabic and English.

A broader vision for Dubai's private sector

The launch of the Chamber AI Hub is part of a much larger programme overseen by Dubai Chambers. The ambitious goal is to enable more than 295,000 private sector companies and roll out the planned 100 specialised AI agents over the next two years.

Furthermore, the programme features specialised training tracks designed to educate 14,000 companies from various Business Groups and Business Councils. This training aims to empower them to effectively deploy Agentic AI technologies within their administrative and operational processes. The initiative also focuses on supporting the growth of companies that specialise in developing these AI solutions, thereby promoting knowledge-sharing and building robust institutional capabilities across the entire Dubai Chambers ecosystem.

acp systems AG will showcase these advancements at Electronica in hall A2, booth 112, in Munich from 10 to 13 November 2026.

Wire bonding has remained a fundamental interconnection technique across the semiconductor industry and microelectronics for 70 years.

High-quality, durable connections rely entirely on the absolute cleanliness of bonding surfaces. Today, dry and scalable quattroClean snow-jet technology has emerged as a reliable, cost-effective method to achieve this precision.

The critical role of cleanliness in interconnection technology

Wire bonding spans applications from automotive systems and consumer products to MEMS, industrial sensors, battery cells, and energy storage. Stefan Schmitz, Managing Director of Bond-IQ GmbH and initiator of the Surf:Guide industry project, notes: “Wire bonding is generally divided into three major process groups. Two of these are fine-wire processes, in which - depending on the application - wires made of gold, silver, aluminum, or copper with diameters ranging from 18 to 50 µm are used. The third group involves thick-wire bonding with wire diameters ranging from 100 to 500 µm,”.

Because bonds form in the nanometre range, the targeted metals must reach an atomic state relative to one another. Consequently, residues as small as 5 to 10 µm can severely hinder operations. Problematic residues include:

• Fingerprints and bleeding adhesives

• Dust and flux residues

• Outgassing from various polymers

• Oxides and remnants from wet-chemical cleaning

“Visually detectable contamination is critical for bonding. If this contamination is no longer visible after cleaning, the bonding surface is usually sufficiently clean. This can generally be determined using a microscope and a visual before-and-after comparison. This alone can increase the success rate three- to fourfold,” explains Stefan Schmitz.

Evaluating methods for surface preparation

Historically, bonding surfaces have been prepared using wet chemical processes relying on solvents or water-based media, which necessitate energy-intensive drying phases. While plasma and laser cleaning offer alternatives for specific contaminants, they present unique limitations.

“For very sensitive surfaces, such as those in microelectronics, however, the costs of a laser system and the appropriate laser technology must first be balanced,” explains Stefan Schmitz. “The industry is currently showing interest in quattroClean snow-jet cleaning, as it can also remove more stubborn, encrusted contaminants.”

Sustainable cleaning with quattroClean

The cleanroom-compatible quattroClean snow-jet technology provides a robust dry cleaning process for full-surface or localised applications. It systematically removes particulate contaminants down to the submicrometre range and film-like residues to the nanolayer level.

This method utilises liquid, purified carbon dioxide sourced from chemical production and biomass energy generation. The medium travels through a dual-component ring nozzle, expanding into fine snow crystals. Concentrated by a compressed air jet, these crystals are propelled at supersonic speeds onto the target. As the carbon dioxide completely sublimates, surfaces remain entirely dry. Dislodged contaminants are extracted alongside the gas, preventing recontamination. This process holds the Green Screen certification for cleaners and degreasers.

Diverse applications across modern manufacturing

The exceptionally low abrasiveness of snow crystals allows the quattroClean technology to safely treat finely structured surfaces, including clearing flux from printed circuit boards (PCBs) and cleaning battery cells.

“The process can be used very efficiently on printed circuit boards, which often have a mixture of organic residues such as grease, fingerprints, flux, or residues from wet chemical cleaning processes. We have also achieved excellent results on semiconductors and on housings that have undergone electroplating or other wet chemical processes,” reports Stefan Schmitz.

The straightforward automation of this technology enhances its industrial appeal. “This results in two advantages. First, automated cleaning ensures reproducible, uniform results. Second, when cleaning is integrated into the manufacturing process, freshly deposited contaminants can be removed immediately,” Stefan Schmitz adds.

acp systems AG will showcase these advancements at Electronica in hall A2, booth 112, in Munich from 10 to 13 November 2026.

Dell Technologies today released findings from its Modern Enterprise Readiness Study 2026, conducted with independent research firm Vanson Bourne.

Artificial intelligence, technology sovereignty, and embedded cybersecurity are actively reshaping how enterprise technology is procured and managed.

According to the 'Modern Enterprise Readiness Study 2026' from Dell Technologies, conducted with independent research firm Vanson Bourne, UAE leaders are abandoning fragmented IT environments. Instead, they seek consolidated strategies to navigate economic uncertainty, regulatory demands, and escalating cyber threats.

Navigating Economic Pressures Through Strategic Consolidation

The prevailing macroeconomic climate is exerting considerable influence over corporate technology investments. Rather than indiscriminately reducing expenditure, 82% of UAE executives report that current economic conditions are driving a selective, outcome-focused approach to IT budgeting. Businesses are now strictly prioritising tangible value and operational efficiency.

Consequently, a clear preference for simplification has emerged. An overwhelming 86% of respondents indicated they prefer to address their technological requirements through a single strategic partner, moving decisively away from complex multi-vendor environments. Furthermore, 86% of leaders are redirecting investments toward partners capable of demonstrating the requisite scale, supply chain capabilities, and comprehensive ecosystems necessary to transition artificial intelligence projects from experimental pilots into live production environments.

The Modern Workplace as an AI Foundation

As artificial intelligence becomes inextricably linked with daily enterprise workflows, modern workplace technology is shifting from a basic operational tool to a strategic enabler of business transformation. The study underscores this evolution, revealing that 98% of respondents believe modern devices fundamentally enhance workforce productivity and collaboration. Conversely, 66% acknowledge that legacy hardware actively restricts their capacity to adopt advanced technologies, particularly AI-powered applications.

This increasing reliance on intelligent digital applications is dictating enterprise hardware refresh cycles. Impressively, 94% of UAE organisations confirm that AI-enabled personal computers and modern endpoint devices will constitute a core component of their future workplace strategies. For these enterprises, workplace modernisation transcends the simple replacement of ageing equipment; it is now recognised as the foundational architecture required to facilitate AI-driven productivity, optimise the employee experience, and fortify endpoint security frameworks.

Infrastructure and Regulatory Hurdles in Scaling AI

Despite the palpable momentum behind artificial intelligence adoption across the region, numerous enterprises are discovering that scaling these initiatives requires robust operational foundations.

• Regulatory Compliance: Privacy and data compliance have surfaced as primary barriers, with 68% of business leaders expressing concern regarding adherence to government regulations when leveraging data for AI models.

• Delayed Implementation: A matching 68% report that these compliance and security anxieties have already hindered or delayed their artificial intelligence implementation programmes.

• Infrastructure Gaps: Underlying infrastructure presents another substantial bottleneck. 68% of IT leaders concede their systems are not yet adequately prepared to manage AI and complex analytics workloads at a full production scale.

As businesses attempt to graduate from theoretical experimentation to operational deployment, long-term success heavily depends on modernised infrastructure, unassailable data governance, and strict alignment with local regulatory parameters.

Cybersecurity as an Absolute Baseline Requirement

Within this rapidly evolving landscape, cybersecurity has fundamentally transitioned from an after-the-fact consideration to a non-negotiable baseline requirement. UAE business and IT leaders now demand that security measures be woven into the fabric of their infrastructure and third-party engagements from inception. A striking 90% of executives expect comprehensive security frameworks to be integrated into every single proposal from strategic technology partners. Highlighting the acute focus on business continuity, 94% assert that integrated cyber resilience and data protection capabilities are crucial criteria when assessing new infrastructure platforms.

Furthermore, 78% of organisations anticipate an increased reliance on managed security services over the next two to three years. This vigilance is strongly reinforced by stringent local mandates, including the UAE Cyber Security Council's Critical Information Infrastructure Protection framework, Information Assurance requirements, and the UAE Personal Data Protection Law. Coupled with sector-specific directives such as the CBUAE's operational resilience regulations, these legislative frameworks guarantee that cyber readiness remains a paramount board-level priority rather than an isolated IT concern.