Industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos announced a public-private partnership with the UAE Cyber Security Council (CSC) to establish an OT Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence (CoE) in the UAE. Unveiled at the nation's "Make it in the Emirates" Forum, the initiative positions Abu Dhabi at the center of a widening regional push to harden operational technology (OT) environments against escalating state-sponsored and criminal threats.

The announcement was made on 4 May 2026 in Abu Dhabi, formalizing a partnership between the UAE CSC and Dragos Inc. The Centre of Excellence aims to advance national cyber resilience and digital sovereignty, localize advanced cybersecurity capabilities, and position the UAE as a regional and global hub for cybersecurity excellence. The initiative aligns with national strategies to strengthen critical infrastructure protection.

Background

The partnership arrives against a sharply deteriorating threat backdrop. As of 18 February 2026, UAE authorities were intercepting between 90,000 and 200,000 cyberattacks per day, with more than 70% linked to state-sponsored threat actors. Following the opening of military operations by Israel and the US against Iran, daily breach attempts surged to between 600,000 and 800,000, according to Mohammed Al Kuwaiti, chairman of the UAE Cyber Security Council. In 2024, the UAE accounted for 12% of all cyberattacks in the MENA region, making it the second most targeted country after Israel.

Industrial sectors face particular exposure. The energy sector accounted for 33% of recorded incidents, reflecting the critical importance of energy systems and the risks tied to national infrastructure. UAE energy and utility providers face state-sponsored attackers targeting OT assets, mirroring global sabotage trends but carrying higher geopolitical stakes.

The UAE Government's response includes the National Cyber Security Strategy (2025-2031), which shifts focus from capacity building to active defense. The rollout of the National Cyber Accreditation Programme (NCAP) during 2026 will begin restricting the use of unaccredited cybersecurity service providers for critical information infrastructure.

Details

The facility will offer a specialized OT environment where professionals can simulate real-world cyberattack and defense scenarios, gaining hands-on expertise in OT and industrial control systems (ICS) security. Through the partnership, Dragos will provide the operational technology environment for practitioners to run through attack and defense scenarios and build OT/ICS security skills.

Robert M. Lee, CEO and co-founder of Dragos, stated: "Industrial and critical infrastructure in the UAE and the broader Gulf region faces real and growing threats, and the same threat groups we track globally are active here." Lee added that the center will enable operators to understand how OT environments are monitored, threats are detected, and effective defense is implemented in practice. He also expressed the firm's commitment to developing local talent and supporting long-term shared value with the Cyber Security Council.

Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government, said the collaboration with international partners to establish Cybersecurity Centres of Excellence comes "amid a surge in cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure." The centers serve as platforms for proactive threat anticipation, continuous monitoring, and early detection of cyber incidents.

The Dragos CoE is part of a broader cluster of OT security agreements signed at MIITE 2026. The UAE CSC also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Siemens to establish a Joint Innovation Centre of Excellence dedicated to OT cybersecurity research, talent development, and deployment of cybersecurity solutions, including plans for locally hosted security infrastructure and Security Operations Centre (SOC) capability expansion. IBM announced a collaboration to establish a joint Innovation Center in Abu Dhabi focused on trusted AI, cyber resilience, and governance frameworks. The Council also partnered with Honeywell to support national cyber resilience programs focused on OT security and critical infrastructure protection across industrial environments.

Outlook

The Middle East and Africa cybersecurity market is projected to grow from USD 3.27 billion in 2025 to USD 6.54 billion by 2031, reflecting a 12.23% CAGR. Growth is driven in part by increasing OT threats to regional oil and gas assets and sovereign-cloud deployments across the Gulf Cooperation Council. For critical infrastructure operators and manufacturing enterprises across the Gulf, the CoE signals a shift toward institutionalized, regionally anchored OT security governance. For organizations operating in the Emirates, the outlook for 2026 is defined by a move from voluntary compliance to mandatory resilience, as the National Cyber Security Strategy introduces strict approvals, supply-chain checks, and industry-specific rules that will significantly alter legal obligations.