The Centre of Excellence for Applied Research & Training (CERT) is the commercial, research and training arm of the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), which is the largest higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates.
Since its creation in 1996, CERT has grown to be one of the largest private education providers in the Middle East and has become synonymous with quality in education, training, research, and socioeconomic progress. CERT is also one of the largest MENA (Middle East North Africa) investor in the discovery and commercialization of technology.
The CERT Group of Companies leverages unique relationships with global leaders in education and business to provide a wide range of educational, applied research, training and consulting services to government, private sector institutions and businesses in the UAE and the region at large.
The Centre is involved in strategic alliances with a number of multinational organizations to collaborate in developing a diverse range of business and technology solutions. As a result, over the years CERT has helped thousands of professionals and companies meet their goals and achieve the next level in their development. Its strong ties with business and industry have resulted in large numbers of HCT graduates finding rewarding employment.
CERT also leads human capital development by offering total education solutions to both corporate and individual customers. It holds the MENA training rights for many ‘best in class’ programs such as the American Management Association qualification. CERT is the exclusive health and environment educator for the General Health Authority in Abu Dhabi. The CERT Thales Institute, a joint venture with Thales Institute of France, offers specialized, advanced technology training for the region.
It is the regional facilitator of the INCONET-GCC program (International Cooperation Network for Gulf Cooperation Countries) which sees 18 government and private research organizations, from Europe, the GCC and Yemen form the European Commission-funded project, where representatives will develop ways in which to promote bi-regional science and technology research partnerships and enhance interaction between the regions.
CERT has also forged a strong collaborative relationship with one of America’s foremost business schools – the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. CERT’s Abu Dhabi Technology Park will act as a base for the Wharton School faculty to study the concepts of entrepreneurship, innovation and family business at HCT campuses. The two institutions have also collaborated on the development of an Arabic version of Wharton’s award-winning online journal, Knowledge@Wharton.
CERT provides the only on-demand super-computing center in the South Asia, Middle East, and the North Africa regions. The CERT Blue Gene supercomputer offers 5.7 teraflops calculating speed to corporate clients for use in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and genetics research as well as oil and gas simulation. The CERT Technology Park is home to international companies such as Intel, Honeywell and Lucent Technologies.
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, the Deakin University Master of Education and an Executive MBA in Innovation & Entrepreneurship which features the best professors from leading institutions around the world.
