Strategic collaboration will link academic research with industry, government and delivery partners to help scale solutions for future cities
AtkinsRéalis, a world-class engineering and design consultancy, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity, the leading programme supporting global academic innovators to advance their solutions towards implementation in Dubai, to accelerate the development and deployment of breakthrough technologies shaping the future of the built environment.
The collaboration brings together AtkinsRéalis’ dedication to solving complex urban challenges through a combination of creative thinking, deep technical expertise and the exploration of advanced technologies in the UAE, with Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity’s dedicated venture development programme. Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity is held under the patronage and leadership of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and is in strategic partnership with Dubai Future Foundation. The partnership was announced alongside a majlis hosted by Her Highness in support of the programme’s growing network of collaborations across Dubai’s innovation ecosystem.
Together, the organisations will explore opportunities to support the validation, piloting and scaling of innovations that respond to the region’s most pressing urban challenges, including resilience, sustainability, climate adaptation and liveability. Initially the partnership will focus on identifying relevant innovations emerging from Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity’s existing cohorts and connecting them to industry expertise and client environments so solutions can be tested in real operating contexts. This accelerates their journey towards commercialisation while addressing practical infrastructure needs in the UAE.
“Across the built environment, there is no shortage of high‑quality research and technical innovation. The real challenge lies in creating the conditions for those innovations to be locally tested, validated and scaled to deliver meaningful impact in the UAE,”, said Matthew Tribe, SVP & Global Market Lead, Buildings and Places at AtkinsRéalis. “This collaboration is about creating clearer pathways between academia, industry and government, and supporting Dubai’s vision as a global hub for applied innovation that delivers long-term measurable outcomes for cities and communities and drives localized supply chains, economic development, jobs and GDP growth.”
Beyond the immediate partnership, AtkinsRéalis and Prototypes for Humanity share an ambition to explore a dedicated programme centred around an urban innovation zone focused on Dubai and the UAE’s most complex and urgent urban challenges. Building on AtkinsRéalis’ CityZenX programme, which focuses on designing, testing and scaling innovative, global-first solutions to complex city-scale challenges, the initiative would leverage Prototypes for Humanity’s global platform to bring together innovators, industry leaders, government entities and infrastructure partners to validate joint innovations for the built environment.
“Prototypes for Humanity exists to enable research-led innovation move beyond academia and into real-world implementation.” said Tadeu Baldani Caravieri, Managing Director of Prototypes for Humanity. “Working with AtkinsRéalis opens up pathways to deep infrastructure expertise, delivery experience and client ecosystems that are critical for scaling impact. Together, we want to enable innovators to develop solutions that directly address the challenges facing rapidly growing environments.”
Through this MoU, AtkinsRéalis and Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity are aligning their networks and capabilities, exploring new ways to bring urban innovation into practice across the UAE to drive better transformational triple bottom-line outcomes for cities and communities.
