| Type | Commercial Arm of the Higher Colleges of Technology Joint stock company |
|---|---|
| Founded | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (1996) |
| Location | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (1996) |
| Key personnel | His Excellency Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Chairman Dr Tayeb A. Kamali, Vice-Chairman Dr Robert W. Richards, Chief Executive Officer Brian H. Colbourne, C.A., Chief Operating Officer Dr David Hall, Vice-President, Technology |
| Industry | Education and technology |
| Subsidiaries | CERT University CERT Education and Research City CERT Technology Ventures CERT Thales Institute CERT Institute for Languages CERT Soft NexGen Technologies |
| Capitalization | AED 1 Billion (USD 400 million) |
| Employees | 225 (2006) |
| Website | www.certonline.com / cert.hct.ac.ae |
The CERT (Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training) Group of Companies began as the commercial arm of the Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates, and has grown to be the largest private education provider in the Middle East. CERT is also the largest MENA (Middle East North Africa) investor in the discovery and commercialization of technology, investing USD 35 million in 2006.
In 2005, CERT signed Telematics with IBM, that has led to the development of Telematics technology in the United Arab Emirates. CERT provides the only super computing center in the South Asia, Middle East, North Africa region. The CERT Blue Gene supercomputer[1] offers 5.7 teraflops calculating speed to corporate clients for use in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and genetics research as well as oil and gas simulation.
CERT Technology Park in the UAE is home to international companies such as Intel, Honeywell and Lucent Technologies.
The CERT IBM Center of Excellence for Nanotechnology is commercializing nanotechnology discoveries in Desalination, Alternative Energy and Bio-Assay for Life Sciences.
CERT also leads human capital development by offering total education solutions to both corporate and individual customers. CERT is involved in strategic alliances with a number of large multinational organizations in developing a diverse range of business and technology solutions. In April 2008, CERT signed an exclusive agreement with Baltimore, MD, U.S.-based Prometric, to provide testing and assessment development and delivery services in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the other Emirates comprising the UAE. Under the agreement, Prometric will have exclusive access to all CERT educational institutes, including the 17,000 students currently enrolled in the UAE’s Higher Colleges of Technology. CERT holds the MENA training rights for many ‘best in class’ programs such as the American Management Association qualification and the Edward De Bono program in strategic and lateral thinking. CERT is the exclusive health and environment educator for the General Health Authority. The CERT Institute for Languages offers instruction in several languages, and is also the sole provider of linguistic training to the UAE military. Post-graduate programs offered include the University of Strathclyde MBA and the Deakin University Master of Education.