The UAE’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), mandated to shape an advanced R&D ecosystem in Abu Dhabi, signed an MoU with the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The agreement aims to leverage the technical expertise of ATRC and its subsidiaries for the seamless integration of AI across Uzbekistan’s technological infrastructure and government services.
Under the terms of the agreement, Uzbekistan will explore and drive the adoption of Falcon LLMs and Falcon-powered solutions, as well as support the use of Falcon within its digital ecosystem across diverse use cases. Furthermore, Uzbekistan will encourage organizations and entities to join the recently announced ‘Falcon Foundation’ and contribute to the advancement of open-source Falcon models. The partnership marks a significant stride in exporting Falcon’s capability at a state level beyond the Middle East, laying the groundwork for global collaborative initiatives that will define the future of technological innovation.
ATRC Director General HE Shahab Issa Abu Shahab shared his optimism for the alliance.
“The signing of this agreement underscores ATRC’s steadfast dedication to forging global partnerships in the realm of AI. Collaborating closely with the government of Uzbekistan, we look forward to supporting the wider adoption of Falcon’s pioneering solutions across diverse organizations within the country,” says HE Shahab.
Falcon LLM, an open-source AI model, is part of the Falcon series of large language models developed by the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), ATRC’s applied research arm. ATRC and its commercialization arm VentureOne launched an AI company AI71 in November 2023 to deliver specialized AI models for both private and public sector clients that want the option of decentralized data ownership. Both TII and AI71 offer vital channels for the deployment of the Falcon series of LLMs.
Commenting on the Falcon AI models, Minister of Digital Technologies HE Sherzod Shermatov says that this will help Uzbekistan overcome digital barriers.
“We are pleased to join forces with ATRC, in encouraging innovation as we integrate the state-of-the-art Falcon AI models into Uzbekistan’s technological infrastructure and government services. Our joint efforts are poised to fast-track innovation and help us overcome digital barriers to achieve our potential,” says HE Shermatov.
