Emirates to create an industry innovation lab

Emirates Airline has announced plans to create an “Aviation X-Lab,” with the aim of rethinking the transportation industry. “The Aviation Experimental (X) Lab is a historic effort to host airlines, manufacturers, ground logistics, regulators, engineers, academics, and startups under a single roof in order to envision a new transportation paradigm and seek solutions that no single organization or program has had the resources to deliver on their own,” Emirates said. The X-Lab, which forms part of the UAE Centennial Plan 2071, will host industry summits at Area 2071 in Dubai. These gathering will work on annual “challenges,” which various stakeholders—including internal teams, engineering companies, academics and startups—will be invited to address. “The first challenge will be announced in November, with teams convening in Dubai in the spring of 2018 to begin their work,” Emirates said. “Finalist teams from around the world will meet in Dubai each April for an annual event where they will pitch their concepts. Winners of the pitch event will relocate to Dubai the following month along with their corporate and government counterparts to begin a rigorous curriculum co-created with the world’s top academic and innovation institutions.” <br/>