Day: March 21, 2023

New Fortinet research reveals escalating cyber risks due to the ongoing talent shortage while the number of organizations experiencing five or more breaches jumped by 53%

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

John Maddison, EVP of Products and CMO at Fortinet
“The cybersecurity talent shortage is one of the top challenges putting organizations at risk, as clearly demonstrated by the results of the latest Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report from Fortinet. In today’s climate, organizations must choose products that introduce automation to offload overworked teams while continuing to focus on upskilling and cybersecurity training.”

News Summary
Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, today released its 2023 Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report, which reveals ongoing challenges related to the cybersecurity skills shortage affecting organizations worldwide. Key findings from the global report include:

• The cybersecurity skills shortage has contributed to critical IT positions not being filled, which increases organizations’ cyber risks, such as breaches.
• Cybersecurity remains a priority for boards of directors and there is executive demand for increased IT security headcount.
• Technology-focused certifications are highly regarded by employers, serving as validation of skill sets.
• Organizations recognize the advantage of recruiting and retaining diverse talent to help address the skills shortage, but doing so has presented a challenge.

The Costly Reality of the Increasing Cybersecurity Skills Gap
An estimated 3.14 million professionals are needed to fill the global cybersecurity workforce gap. At the same time, the 2023 Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report found that the number of organizations experiencing five or more breaches jumped by 53% from 2021 to 2022. One repercussion of this is that many short-staffed cybersecurity teams are burdened and strained as they try to keep up with thousands of daily threat alerts and attempt to manage disparate solutions to properly protect their organization’s devices and data.

Additionally, as a result of unfilled IT positions due to the cyber skills shortage, the report also found that 68% of organizations indicate they face additional cyber risks. Other findings highlighting increased cyber risks that could be partially attributed to the talent shortage include:

• Security intrusions are increasing: One resulting cyber risk is increased breaches, with 84% of organizations experiencing one or more cybersecurity intrusions in the past 12 months, up from 80% from last year.
• More organizations were impacted financially due to breaches: Nearly 50% of organizations suffered breaches in the past 12 months that cost more than $1 million to remediate, which is up from 38% of organizations compared to last year’s report.
• Cyberattacks will continue to increase: At the same time, 65% of organizations expect the number of cyberattacks to increase over the next 12 months, further compounding the need to fill crucial cyber positions to help strengthen organizations’ security postures.
• The skills gap is a top concern for boards of directors: The report demonstrated that more than 90% of boards (93%) are asking how the organization is protecting against cyberattacks. At the same time, 83% of boards are advocating for hiring more IT security staff, emphasizing the demand for security talent.

Upskilling Security Professionals and Developing More Talent with Training
The report also suggested that employers recognize how training and certifications can benefit their organization in addressing the skills gap, while also serving as an advantage for anyone looking to advance in their current security profession, as well as for individuals considering transitioning into the field. Below are additional highlights from the report around training:

• Certifications are sought after by employers: Beyond experience, employers view certifications and training as reliable validation of an individual’s skill set with 90% of business leaders preferring to hire individuals with technology-focused certifications, up from 81% the year before. Additionally, 90% of respondents would pay for an employee to get a cybersecurity certification.
• Certifications benefit both organizations and individuals. More than 80% of report respondents (82%) indicated their organization would benefit from cybersecurity certifications and 95% of business leaders have experienced positive results from either their team or themselves being certified.
• Not enough professionals are certified: While certifications are highly regarded, more than 70% of respondents said it is difficult to find people with certifications.

Increasing Opportunities for Women, Veterans and Other Populations Can Help Solve the Skills Gap
While the report demonstrated that organizations are seeking ways to tap into new talent pools to fill cybersecurity roles, with 8 out of 10 organizations having diversity goals as part of their hiring practices, roughly 40% of organizations indicate they have difficulty finding qualified candidates who are women, military veterans, or from minority backgrounds.

• The report suggested that there was a decrease in veterans being hired compared to last year, with the number of organizations indicating they hired military veterans dropping from 53% in 2021 to 47% in 2022.
• At the same time, the report shows there was only a 1% increase year-over-year in organizations hiring women (88% in 2021 and 89% in 2022) and minorities (67% in 2021 and 68% in 2022).

Fortinet’s Commitment to Closing the Skills Gap
To help alleviate the challenges resulting from the skills shortage, Fortinet is committed to helping organizations improve the management of cyber risks with ML-driven automation and services, as well as increased access to cyber training. As part of these efforts, Fortinet has pledged to train 1 million people in cybersecurity by 2026 to help increase access for security professionals and untapped talent pools looking to upskill and reskill.

About the Fortinet Skills Gap Survey:

• The survey was conducted among more than 1,800 IT and/or cybersecurity decision-makers from 29 different locations.
• Survey respondents came from a range of industries, including technology (21%), manufacturing (16%), and financial services (13%).

Additional Resources

• To learn more about the 2023 Global Skills Gap Report and how the Fortinet Training Institute is addressing the key challenges uncovered in the report, read this blog.
• Learn about Fortinet’s free cybersecurity training, which includes broad cyber awareness and product training. As part of the Fortinet Training Advancement Agenda (TAA), the Fortinet Training Institute also provides training and certification through the Network Security Expert (NSE) Certification, Academic Partner, and Education Outreach programs.
• Learn more about FortiGuard Labs threat intelligence and research and Outbreak Alerts, which provide timely steps to mitigate breaking cybersecurity attacks.
• Learn more about Fortinet’s FortiGuard Security Services portfolio.
• Read about how Fortinet customers are securing their organizations.
• Follow Fortinet on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Subscribe to Fortinet on our blog or YouTube.

About Fortinet
Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere you need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet’s solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s elite threat intelligence and research organization, develops and utilizes leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, and FortiGuard Labs.

FTNT-O

Copyright © 2023 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. The symbols ® and denote respectively federally registered trademarks and common law trademarks of Fortinet, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. Fortinet’s trademarks include, but are not limited to, the following: Fortinet, the Fortinet logo, FortiGate, FortiOS, FortiGuard, FortiCare, FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager, FortiASIC, FortiClient, FortiCloud, FortiMail, FortiSandbox, FortiADC, FortiAI, FortiAIOps, FortiAntenna, FortiAP, FortiAPCam, FortiAuthenticator, FortiCache, FortiCall, FortiCam, FortiCamera, FortiCarrier, FortiCASB, FortiCentral, FortiConnect, FortiController, FortiConverter, FortiCWP, FortiDB, FortiDDoS, FortiDeceptor, FortiDeploy, FortiDevSec, FortiEdge, FortiEDR, FortiExplorer, FortiExtender, FortiFirewall, FortiFone, FortiGSLB, FortiHypervisor, FortiInsight, FortiIsolator, FortiLAN, FortiLink, FortiMoM, FortiMonitor, FortiNAC, FortiNDR, FortiPenTest, FortiPhish, FortiPlanner, FortiPolicy, FortiPortal, FortiPresence, FortiProxy, FortiRecon, FortiRecorder, FortiSASE, FortiSDNConnector, FortiSIEM, FortiSMS, FortiSOAR, FortiSwitch, FortiTester, FortiToken, FortiTrust, FortiVoice, FortiWAN, FortiWeb, FortiWiFi, FortiWLC, FortiWLM and FortiXDR. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Fortinet has not independently verified statements or certifications herein attributed to third parties and Fortinet does not independently endorse such statements. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, nothing herein constitutes a warranty, guarantee, contract, binding specification or other binding commitment by Fortinet or any indication of intent related to a binding commitment, and performance and other specification information herein may be unique to certain environments.

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8792223

Benchmark Lifecycle Assessment

Benchmark’s LCA shows the NORI-D Nodule Project model performed better in almost every impact category analyzed than all the land-based routes chosen for comparison

• Reviewed by an independent third-party expert, the ISO-standard-compliant Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) completed by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence compared the production of key energy transition metals (nickel, cobalt and copper) from the NORI-D Nodule Project to key land-based production routes for the same metals
• The LCA scope covered mining, transport, processing and refining, and focused on seven impact categories including: carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO₂e) and particulate emissions; marine and freshwater eutrophication; terrestrial acidification; stratospheric ozone depletion; as well as additional research into waste generation
• Benchmark’s LCA shows the NORI-D Nodule Project model performed better in almost every impact category analyzed than all the land-based routes chosen for comparison
• This LCA follows several years of investment by TMC in peer-reviewed industry-level LCA research to understand global environmental and social impacts of producing battery metals from seafloor nodules and how they compare to current metal production from land ores

NEW YORK, March 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TMC the metals company Inc. (“TMC” or “The Metals Company”), an explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, today announced that leading lithium-ion battery supply chain research firm, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (“Benchmark”), has completed an independent third-party lifecycle assessment of the environmental impacts of the Company’s planned NORI-D Polymetallic Nodule Project as it looks to bring online the planet’s largest undeveloped deposit of critical battery metals. The full LCA report can be downloaded here and a summary document here.

Benchmark’s team of LCA practitioners set out to assess the potential impacts of mining, transport, processing and refining (‘cradle-to-gate’) of important battery materials including an intermediate NiCuCo matte product and final end-products nickel sulfate, cobalt sulfate and copper cathode from seafloor polymetallic nodules collected from the NORI-D area. They then compared these impacts to producing the same metals via key land-based routes, including from Indonesian nickel laterites and mixed sulfides and oxides mined in the DRC. These raw material inputs are widely used in active cathode materials (CAM) for nickel-rich cathode chemistries for lithium-ion batteries and electrical wiring, enabling the rapid growth of electrified transport and energy storage.

Seven environmental impact categories critical for the metal industry were analyzed—global warming potential, stratospheric ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, freshwater and marine eutrophication, particulate matter formation, water consumption—and supplementary research into waste generation was also conducted. Nickel, cobalt and copper products derived from the NORI-D Nodule Project performed better in almost every impact category, except for global warming potential (GWP) and water consumption of producing cobalt sulfate, where one land-based route performed better. With over half of nickel now being sourced from beneath biodiverse rainforests and carbon sinks in Indonesia, the study found that TMC’s nickel sulfate product would outperform not just Indonesian nickel but all other key land-based production routes, lowering emissions by between 70-80% on average, including with 70% lower GWP.

“This lifecycle assessment is one of the many science-based tools that TMC is using to quantify the impacts of our NORI-D project, which is helping us achieve two stated goals: to identify the impact hotspots of our future operations to address them before they begin; and to provide a clear picture of how they compare to the existing sources of the same metals today,” said Erica Ocampo, Chief Sustainability Officer for The Metals Company. “Every extractive activity has an impact on our planet and as society sets about securing the raw materials critical for the energy transition, we must carefully consider the environmental and social costs of all the options on the table, and use the data to make informed decisions about what costs are acceptable. LCAs like the one prepared by Benchmark are invaluable in helping us answer these challenging questions. Importantly, this LCA does not cover social impacts or impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem function—these impacts for the offshore nodule collection part of the lifecycle are being analyzed as part of our ongoing NORI-D Environmental and Social Impact Assessment program.”

Amid a historic decline in ore grades and in the face of rapidly rising demand, the search for new sources of metals for the energy transition risks exacerbating the environmental and social impacts of mining on land. Production of energy transition metals will need to increase six-fold by 2040 to meet the world’s ambitious climate targets, according to the International Energy Agency. TMC’s portfolio of nodule projects contains an estimated in situ resource of battery metals equivalent to the requirements of 280 million electric vehicles – approximately the size of the entire U.S. light vehicle fleet.

In January, TMC announced the publication of a peer-reviewed study in the Yale Journal of Industrial Ecology which found that seafloor polymetallic nodules could significantly reduce—and in some scenarios eliminate—the onshore solid waste streams typically generated by metal production from land ores. An earlier peer-reviewed study – published in the Journal of Cleaner Production – found that sourcing critical battery metals from seafloor nodules could reduce the lifecycle climate change impacts by up to 90%, compared to land ores.

About The Metals Company
The Metals Company is an explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, on a dual mission: (1) supply metals for the clean energy transition with the least possible negative environmental and social impact and (2) accelerate the transition to a circular metal economy. The Company through its subsidiaries holds exploration and commercial rights to three polymetallic nodule contract areas in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean regulated by the International Seabed Authority and sponsored by the governments of Nauru, Kiribati and the Kingdom of Tonga.

About Benchmark Mineral Intelligence 
Benchmark is the world’s leading provider of actionable intelligence for the lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle supply chain. Benchmark’s expertise, together with unique and rigorous data collection processes, add real knowledge to opaque industries that are central to the lithium-ion economy. Their services guide the biggest investment decisions, government policy and industry collaboration around the world. Benchmark’s expertise is reinforced by its ESG division that offers a set of subscription and consultancy services providing robust metrics and Life Cycle Assessments measuring the sustainability of the EV supply chain build out. Benchmark ESG provides bespoke independent assessments of the material risks organizations face and investor-driven analysis, driving ESG through the heart of the EV supply chain’s companies. Benchmark ESG assessments assist in reducing future compensation associated with poor ESG risk identification in an industry where sustainability is being widely critiqued.

From the mine to cathodes and anodes, through to the lithium-ion battery cell, Benchmark’s entire supply chain approach is unique and relied upon the world over. More information is available at http://www.benchmarkminerals.com

More Info 
Media | media@metals.co
Investors | investors@metals.co

Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, statements that waste streams could be reduced by using deep-sea nodules. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are outside TMC’s control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the outcomes of research conducted by third parties including the Life Cycle Assessments; regulatory uncertainties and the impact of government regulation and political instability on TMC’s resource activities; changes to any of the laws, rules, regulations or policies to which TMC is subject; the impact of extensive and costly environmental requirements on TMC’s operations; environmental liabilities; the impact of polymetallic nodule collection on biodiversity in the CCZ and recovery rates of impacted ecosystems; TMC’s ability to develop minerals in sufficient grade or quantities to justify commercial operations; the lack of development of seafloor polymetallic nodule deposit; uncertainty in the estimates for mineral resource calculations from certain contract areas and for the grade and quality of polymetallic nodule deposits; risks associated with natural hazards; uncertainty with respect to the specialized treatment and processing of polymetallic nodules that TMC may recover; risks associated with collection, development and processing operations; fluctuations in transportation costs; testing and manufacturing of equipment; risks associated with TMC’s limited operating history; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; risks associated with TMC’s intellectual property; and other risks and uncertainties, including those in the “Risk Factors” sections, included in the final prospectus and definitive proxy statement, dated and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on August 12, 2021 relating to the business combination, in TMC’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, filed by TMC with the SEC on March 25, 2022, and in TMC’s other future filings with the SEC. TMC cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. TMC cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. TMC does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based except as required by law.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7ce24b67-9bd0-4eb9-b9b3-184f2dc146ae

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8792340

-New AI accelerator helps brands quickly generate high-quality product content; 55% of consumers don’t buy products online due to bad product content

-Platform keeps “humans in the loop” through tightly integrated content approval workflows

BOSTON, March 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Salsify, the Product Experience Management (PXM) platform empowering brand manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to win on the digital shelf, today announced the Salsify PXM OpenAI Accelerator. The new integration enables brands, retailers and distributors to expedite the creation of product content across the entire product catalog by tapping into the generative, scalable power of Artificial Intelligence. Within the Salsify PXM platform, customers use Salsify Workflow to define the language generation prompt, dynamically inject contextual data from Salsify’s PIM and execute content generation in bulk, all through its out-of-the-box integration with OpenAI. In simpler terms, now Salsify customers can give Generative AI a role in their product content process, directly inside the platform. This capability saves organizations money and time and allows them to accelerate creative work to provide the best possible experience along the digital shelf.

Additionally, any Salsify partner is able to extend the value of the OpenAI Accelerator for their customers. As part of today’s announcement, Salsify partner Sitation also announced their use of the OpenAI Accelerator to make Salsify the first PXM platform to be integrated into their new suite of Generative AI tools, RoughDraftPro. RoughDraftPro is able to deliver high quality long-form content directly into Salsify by pairing specially-crafted AI prompts with trained data sets, allowing for the creation of product descriptions, feature bullets, and even complex HTML output with astounding speed and scalability.

Both solutions will be demonstrated live in Salsify’s booth #1122 from March 27th-29th at Shoptalk in Las Vegas.

The best possible product experiences are channel-specific, compelling, and contain all the relevant product details to help buyers make a decision. Achieving this at scale with only human-powered processes is virtually impossible, even for the world’s largest brands. But as of today, Salsify customers can tap into the power of AI, combining all the product- and retailer-specific data held in Salsify with the knowledge of the OpenAI platform to create hundreds of product descriptions in seconds. More importantly, since Generative AI is not infallible, humans are kept in the loop via Salsify workflows driving the review and approvals necessary to ensure accurate, complete, and compliant product content everywhere.

“Recent advances in artificial intelligence have opened the door to exciting new capabilities for retailers, distributors, brands, and manufacturers selling online,” said Steve Engelbrecht, Founder and CEO at Sitation. “We provide services around RoughDraftPro to design custom prompts for the client, ingest existing content to train the AI model on the brand voice, and map categories, brands, and channels into the content pipeline. Content creation supported by artificial intelligence is a game changer, and we’re thrilled to bring our vision to life for Salsify customers in partnership with this extraordinary team.”

“Any Generative AI solution must integrate with the workflows that trigger human review and approval, or companies risk destroying consumer trust,” said Adam Ferrari, Executive VP of Engineering at Salsify. “Whether through the native AI integrations in our platform or value-added, targeted AI innovations from our valued partners like Sitation, Salsify customers can be assured they will achieve both scale and quality. No one else in the industry provides this safety blanket around automated content creation.”

With Generative AI capabilities integrated into Salsify’s Workflow engine, either from Salsify or valued partners, brands, retailers, and distributors can:

• Use limited human resources most efficiently: one team member can generate hundreds of product descriptions automatically, based on existing product information and what’s available through AI platforms and then review rather than write content from scratch
• Keep up with a broad product assortment: AI powered by the variant product data in Salsify eliminates the manual tedium and opportunity for errors when providing descriptions for each SKU in a product assortment
• Improve product page rankings or SEO rank: OpenAI Accelerator allows teams to create content fast based on new keyword data so that SEO-optimized product listings can be live in market sooner
• Avoid product data errors, publish with confidence: assign the most manual part of the content creation and update process to AI while still maintaining human oversight into what the consumer will see
• Expand customization across sales channels: The OpenAI Accelerator lets teams adjust the existing product content with a new retailer’s word counts, word choice preferences, or other content specifications, automatically and at scale.

Learn More

• Visit Booth #1122 at Shoptalk to see a live demo of the Salsify OpenAI Accelerator and Sitation’s RoughDraftPro
• For more details on RoughDraftPro, go here.
• Register here for an upcoming live webinar on April 11th: “Using OpenAI to Accelerate Product Content Creation”

About Salsify

Salsify helps thousands of brand manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in over 140 countries collaborate to win on the digital shelf. The company’s Product Experience Management (PXM) platform enables organizations to centralize all of their product content, connect to the commerce ecosystem, and automate business processes in order to deliver the best possible product experiences across every selling destination.

Learn how the world’s largest brands, including Mars, L’Oreal, Coca-Cola, Bosch, and GSK, as well as retailers and distributors such as DoorDash, E.Leclerc, Carrefour, Metro, and Intermarché, use Salsify every day to drive efficiency, power growth, and lead the digital shelf. For more information, please visit: www.salsify.com.

About Sitation

Sitation is a leader in PIM and MDM services including implementation, strategy, analytics, content creation, and outsourcing solutions for e-commerce operations. Serving a global audience of retailers, distributors, brands, and manufacturers, Sitation is Salsify’s first and only Platinum partner, an honor which recognizes an ongoing commitment to innovation and customer service, and a demonstrated ability to help customers compete and win on the digital shelf with Salsify.

In 2023, Sitation introduced RoughDraftPro, an AI-enabled platform for creating high quality product content at enterprise scale.

For more information, please visit: www.sitation.com.

Carolyn Adams
carolyn@bluerunpr.com
847.867.3005

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8791967

Public Art Abu Dhabi Launches with the Unveiling of WAVE Media Art Installation

d’strict, WAVE, 2020. Cultural Foundation, Al Hosn, Abu Dhabi. Courtesy the artists.

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi’s new initiative is part of its ongoing commitment to commissioning public art for the emirate

Three major long-term elements include Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, Manar Abu Dhabi, and direct artist commissions

The initiative will advance the creative legacy, cultural infrastructure, liveability and wellbeing of the UAE capital’s residents through placemaking and collective memory

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, March 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has announced the launch of Public Art Abu Dhabi, a wide-reaching initiative that will further the emirate’s long legacy of investing in culture and embedding it in the fabric of society.

The initiative has launched on 20 March with the unveiling of WAVE, a public digital media artwork by the artistic collective d’strict, in Abu Dhabi’s Cultural Foundation. Using an anamorphic illusion technique, the 2D installation recreates perpetually surging three-dimensional waves and was first showcased at COEX K-Pop Square, Seoul, South Korea.

Public Art Abu Dhabi’s programmes will reflect the emirate’s intrinsic cultural identity, anchoring a sense of belonging and fostering creativity. Integral to this initiative is its community engagement efforts. Acting as a catalyst for creativity and artistic expression in the public domain, Public Art Abu Dhabi will offer opportunities for everyone to engage with new cultural programming.

An investment of over 35 million US dollars will be dedicated to the initiative annually, to support the emirate’s wider creative industries through public art.

HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “Abu Dhabi’s public art enriches lives by bringing art to every member of the community, inspiring a sense of civic pride, and advancing the capital’s creative legacy. The emirate has a proud tradition of public art, which we are now elevating with our ambitious Public Art Abu Dhabi initiatives. These will foster creativity, placemaking and cultural infrastructure, while ensuring that public art is integral to our emirate’s cultural identity, liveability, and attractiveness to visitors. DCT Abu Dhabi’s promise is to promote, protect and progress the emirate and transform Abu Dhabi into a global centre for culture.”

HE Saood Abdulaziz Al Hosani, Undersecretary of DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “Public art is where creativity and infrastructure meet, and Public Art Abu Dhabi represents our commitment to enhancing the urban and cultural fabric of the emirate, bringing artistic expression into the everyday lives of our residents and visitors. This is a unique opportunity to transform Abu Dhabi’s physical and civic spaces, making the UAE capital a more liveable, creative and joyful place.”

Rita Aoun, DCT Abu Dhabi’s Culture Sector Executive Director, said: “Public art has long been a facet of Abu Dhabi and is seen throughout the city from its modern days. The Department of Culture and Tourism is now consolidating these efforts and building on them the future of our city. Public Art Abu Dhabi comes after the completion of a holistic infrastructural transformation of the Culture Sector on all fronts as part of our strategical objectives for the development of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. We are ready for further announcements of new major projects that will bring art to our public in the public and will first and foremost resonate deeply and significantly with our community.”

Public Art Abu Dhabi will contribute toward the conservation of significant architectural and urban spaces, enhancing their historical, aesthetic, social, scientific, and technological value to the community. It will extend the ambitions of DCT Abu Dhabi’s Modern Heritage Conservation Initiative (MHCI), which identifies, safeguards, and maintains sites that narrate the country’s more recent past.

Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, opening in November 2024, will be led by Reem Fadda, Director of the Cultural Foundation and Abu Dhabi Cultural Programmes, and the independent curator Galit Eilat. The curators previously worked together between 2006 and 2009 co-curating the multifaceted and award-winning project ‘Liminal Spaces’ in Palestine, Israel and Germany. Fadda and Eilat will bring their experience of working on projects involving a deep engagement with communities and art in the public domain to the first Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial.

Reem Fadda, Director of Cultural Foundation and Abu Dhabi Cultural Programmes and Co-curator of Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, said: “Community is the cornerstone of Public Art Abu Dhabi. Through both the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial and Manar Abu Dhabi we will insist that works commissioned for these major programmes will transform places and resonate with the people in a meaningful way. These artistic projects will become the gateways for our creative community and a way for Abu Dhabi to project forward to the world.”

Galit Eilat, Co-curator of Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, said: “Having worked together with Reem in the past, I am excited and proud to embark on the new ambitious curatorial project together. The Biennial will commission and exhibit a vibrant, inclusive and varied selection of artists rooted in the UAE and the region, while also keeping with its mandate on including artists from all over the world.”

Other projects will include Manar Abu Dhabi, a public art platform which features light art sculptures and installations in the archipelagos and mangroves of Abu Dhabi. Viewers will embark on an immersive water journey and discover the artworks from a fresh perspective. The exhibition is set to connect the shores of different islands and celebrate Abu Dhabi’s natural beauty. The artworks will vary from light projections, sculptures and installations to performances, creating a surreal and magical outlook on the surrounding landscapes.

Public Art Abu Dhabi will further make its mark with a series of yearly direct commissions across the emirate’s landmarks, including tunnels, roundabouts, bridges, parks etc. Engaging artists to create significant permanent or temporary contributions, the commissions will draw inspiration from the UAE capital’s distinctive traits and highlight its modern heritage and natural landscapes. They will enhance the public’s everyday life and cement Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading cultural destination with a distinct identity.

PRESS CONTACTS:

For further information about Public Art Abu Dhabi, please contact PublicArtAbuDhabi@dctabudhabi.ae

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi:

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) drives the sustainable growth of Abu Dhabi’s culture and tourism sectors, fuels economic progress and helps achieve Abu Dhabi’s wider global ambitions. By working in partnership with the organisations that define the emirate’s position as a leading international destination, DCT Abu Dhabi strives to unite the ecosystem around a shared vision of the emirate’s potential, coordinate effort and investment, deliver innovative solutions, and use the best tools, policies and systems to support the culture and tourism industries.

DCT Abu Dhabi’s vision is defined by the emirate’s people, heritage and landscape. We work to enhance Abu Dhabi’s status as a place of authenticity, innovation, and unparalleled experiences, represented by its living traditions of hospitality, pioneering initiatives and creative thought.

For more information about DCT Abu Dhabi and the destination, please visit tcaabudhabi.ae and visitabudhabi.ae

For Abu Dhabi Calendar, please visit inabudhabi.ae

About Public Art Abu Dhabi partners and community engagement

Public Art Abu Dhabi will serve as a platform for the emirate’s multicultural community engagement with various programmes. Past projects of such scale include the performance programme Durub Al Tawaya, as well as initiatives from leading artists including Hassan Hajjaj, Imran Qureshi and Rimini Protocol. The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi works closely with such governmental and institutional partners as Abu Dhabi Department of Community Development, Department of Municipality and Transport, Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and Department of Education and Knowledge, among many others. Such collaborations ensure knowledge sharing, for example, enlisting school visits and tours for students and encouraging open access to all cultural sites. This initiative reaches 283,000 students per year and will extend to feature the Public Art programme. Forthcoming projects will be developed alongside experts in the field of tangible and intangible heritage of the United Arab Emirates as well as involving strategic partners from the region and internationally.

About Reem Fadda and Galit Eilat’s collaborative project ‘Liminal Spaces’

‘Liminal Spaces’ is a multifaceted and award-winning project, co-curated by Reem Fadda and Galit Eilat from 2006 to 2009. Spanning Palestine, Israel and Germany, it invited artists and cultural practitioners to examine the urban condition of physical segregation within a reality of occupation and facilitated the production of artworks, residencies, conferences, seminars, publications and alike.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5c07c407-fe60-4865-ad37-ed263456665b

The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8792379