The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) launched Factory Forward UAE on 14 September 2026. The ministry says the initiative brings industrial technology-transformation programmes together under one framework to help factories adopt advanced technologies in a more coordinated way. It presents the platform as a national mechanism for wider use of Fourth Industrial Revolution tools in industry. These include digitalisation and artificial intelligence applications in production, although the announcement does not prescribe a particular technology that every factory must install.

The announced approach divides a manufacturer’s technology transition into stages. Factories are expected to assess their current digital maturity and areas for improvement, prepare a roadmap suited to their needs, and then implement relevant solutions. MoIAT’s Factory Forward portal presents the Industrial Technology Transformation Index (ITTI) as one of the core assessment tools. It examines different dimensions across the manufacturing value chain and provides companies with recommendations for progress. The assessment does not mean that every factory is expected to make the same automation investment or adopt an identical software package.

Factory Forward is designed to connect manufacturers with technology providers, specialists and financing partners. Technology partners help businesses understand their needs and select appropriate solutions; enablement partners offer advice, training and knowledge; and financing partners are intended to improve access to funding for technology projects. MoIAT says the framework aims to improve productivity, efficiency and competitiveness. The 14 September announcement did not specify a grant budget, loan amount, eligibility rules or the financing available to each participating manufacturer.

MoIAT’s technology-transformation programme page lists ITTI, Transform 4.0, the Technology Transformation Incentive Scheme, Industry 4.0 Enablement Centers and the Factory of the Future Award among the tools associated with the Factory Forward ecosystem. The ministry’s aim is to make these routes easier for manufacturers to find and to arrange transition work as connected steps rather than isolated applications. A separate WAM report dated 18 September said programmes in the ecosystem had supported more than 700 factories, with over 620 assessed through ITTI. Those figures describe programme activity already reported; they should not be read as new results produced after Factory Forward’s launch on 14 September.

The initiative is a general industrial tool open to manufacturers across sectors, not a programme described as specific to resource industries. Its effect should therefore be tracked through the projects implemented after assessments, changes in production interruptions, energy and material use, quality, workplace safety and measurable productivity. The ministry’s launch material does not provide an independent outcome evaluation or verified savings. The confirmed development is that MoIAT has launched a framework intended to bring existing technology-transformation support into a more unified access and delivery model.