Inaugural Future Mobility Event DRIFTx Kicks Off In Abu Dhabi

The event is to discuss the latest trends and to showcase innovations and breakthroughs in transportation and sustainable mobility.

The event is held in collaboration with the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), Abu Dhabi’s Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (SAVI) cluster, Bayanat, and key local and international strategic partners.

Abu Dhabi’s strategic initiatives in transforming urban mobility and infrastructure were showcased at the event, in a fireside chat between Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman, Department of Municipalities and Transport, and Hasan Ahmed Al Hosani, Managing Director, Bayanat.

The two discussed the role of public-private partnerships in driving innovation and implementation, challenges and successes in integrating traditional transport with new mobility solutions and future goals and projections for Abu Dhabi’s urban mobility landscape.

The event also saw a talk on the emirate’s Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (SAVI) cluster was led by Nayef Shahin, Director of Innovation and Knowledge at ADIO.

The cluster looks to position Abu Dhabi as a leading smart and autonomous vehicles hub, making significant contributions across air, land and sea mobility applications, with plans towards contributing AED 44 billion to Abu Dhabi’s GDP and creating between 35,000 to 40,000 jobs by 2045.

A first of its kind global event, DRIFTx is showcasing a never-before-seen display of flying taxis, driverless cars, and autonomous boats, and other one-of-a-kind experiences for its over 3000 attendees.

The participants are made up of representatives from the global mobility ecosystem, including multinational organizations, governments, investors, academia, regulatory bodies, the global start-up community, and civil society.

The event also saw Joby Aviation signing a multilateral MOU with the Department of Municipalities and Transport – Abu Dhabi (DMT), the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (DED) and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) to support and scale Joby air taxi services in the UAE.

ADIO has also signed a framework agreement with Archer Aviation to accelerate Archer’s planned commercial air taxi operations in the UAE, slated to launch as soon as next year.

ADIO also announced its collaboration with electric sea glider pioneer Regent to support and attract investment for sea glider development and manufacturing at the Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (SAVI) cluster.

Across the two days, participants will experience live demonstrations across air mobility, including the Drone Champions League Big Drone and Wings Logistics demonstrated Hub intra city passenger taxi, and a short-range light cargo drone which performed flying demonstrations within the event space.

Space Falcon performed live demonstrations from its autonomous surveillance and monitoring drones that have a docking station solution. Across land mobility, A2Z demonstrated their remote-control system, while WeRide showcased their autonomous vehicles and Fugro demonstrated the Blue Shadow.