du and University of Sharjah signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further collaborate on 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT) development as part of the UAE 5G Innovation Gate (U5GIG). du is taking the lead to build a UAE 5G and IoT Innovation Lab at techno Hub of DSO to test, validate, and develop 5G and IoT use cases and services. du will collaborate with University of Sharjah for the research and development of the 5G systems including massive MIMO and cloud computing.

The U5GIG has been envisioned to be a consortium of industrial and academic organizations in UAE supported with international telecom organizations to plan and use their expertise to define and develop a global 5G network that will radically change lives across the UAE by building a super connected nation.

Speaking about the importance of U5GIG and the MoU, Ibrahim Nassir, Chief Human Capital and Administration Officer at du, said: “We are proud to participate in the leadership vision to establish UAE as a technology development hub and this can only happen through collaboration between industry and academia. We are inspired not only to implement but also to develop state of the art technologies in UAE and make it available to UAE students at University of Sharjah through our MOU. Together with the UoS, we will establish an open platform for research and development to participate in the standardization and development of 5G and IoT use cases in the UAE.”

In line with the MoU, du and University of Sharjah have agreed to share a strategic vision for 5G and IoT development towards the next generation 2020 5G evolution. Under the scope of this MoU, du will build a UAE 5G and IoT innovation lab at Techno Hub of DSO to be the core of the U5GIG – which university staff and students will have access to – and experts from both du and University of Sharjah will jointly supervise graduate and under graduate programs with focus on practical research topics; in addition, du will offer an internship program for University students. Moreover, du and the University agree to publish technical research papers and other relevant cases studies to showcase the latest innovations of 5G and the IoT ecosystem.

“This MOU represents a valuable opportunity for both University of Sharjah and Du, to collaborate in a state of art, research and development in telecommunication technologies by involving engineers, students and researchers for advancement of 5G systems.” said Prof. Maamar Bettayeb, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies, University of Sharjah.

“We are proud to have accomplished this MoU with du, a leading Telecom provider in the UAE. We look forward to undergo collaborative research in the area of 5G and IoT, which will lead to high-quality, joint publications, as well as contribute to the training of highly qualified personnel through the involvement of students and researchers,” said Dr. Mohamed Saad, Associate Professor and Coordinator of the “Distributed and Networked Systems” Research Group, University of Sharjah.