e& UAE and Ankabut have renewed their partnership to expand an AI-ready private education network for universities and research institutions across the UAE. The work will add capacity for cloud connectivity, artificial intelligence workloads, high-performance computing and collaboration with international research networks.
e& UAE and Ankabut expand the AI-ready education network
The partnership is aimed at the growing demand for AI model training, deep-learning inference, data modelling and other high-capacity workloads in higher education. The network will connect campuses with local AI hyperscalers and large cloud environments, while reducing the effect of congestion, bandwidth limits and latency.
Abdulla Ebrahim Al Ahmed, Chief Government & VVIP Relations Officer at e& UAE, said the network would give academic institutions secure access to advanced AI tools and collaborative platforms.
“True digital transformation in education requires us to look beyond traditional network solutions. We are proud to serve as the trusted architect of this secure, scalable, and resilient AI-ready foundation. By integrating Ankabut’s educational network with e&’s world-class connectivity and local AI hyperscalers, we are creating a powerful catalyst for home-grown innovation. This private education network will ensure that our academic institutions have sovereign, secure access to the world’s most advanced AI tools and collaborative platforms.”
Abdulla Ebrahim Al Ahmed, Chief Government & VVIP Relations Officer, e& UAE
What Ankabut’s network will connect
Ankabut’s NREN, or National Research and Education Network, already links UAE education and research institutions. The renewed agreement extends that connectivity to international research and education networks, as well as UAE cloud service providers, allowing institutions to exchange high-performance research data with partners abroad.
Tarek Jundi, CEO of Ankabut, said the network must support secure and sovereign data research as high-performance computing and data-intensive collaboration become more important to modern research.
“We are witnessing the next evolution of research. With high-performance computing and data-intensive collaboration becoming central to modern knowledge, we need to move beyond just connecting institutions and become the digital backbone that enables secure and sovereign data research. This collaboration with e& UAE marks Ankabut’s progression in the ecosystem that helps strengthen the country’s capabilities for years to come.”
Tarek Jundi, CEO, Ankabut
The agreement supports the UAE’s National AI Strategy and digital transformation agenda. The announcement does not name a rollout date, participating universities or a separate cost for institutions.
The partnership adds to e&’s work with UAE organisations on AI infrastructure. Its Business Pro AI broadband plans bring Microsoft Copilot to SME broadband customers, while e&’s AI laptop for UAE businesses uses on-device processing for business workloads. The Ankabut project is aimed at universities and researchers rather than general business customers.
The announcement was reported by WAM via Big News Network, with additional details from e& UAE and Ankabut.
What is the e& UAE and Ankabut AI-ready education network?
It is a private education network designed to give UAE universities and research institutions higher-capacity access to AI workloads, cloud services, high-performance computing and research collaboration.
What will the network connect to?
The network will connect campuses with local AI hyperscalers, large cloud environments, UAE cloud service providers and international research and education networks.
When will the expanded Ankabut network launch?
e& UAE and Ankabut have renewed the agreement, but the announcement does not give a rollout date or name the universities taking part.
