An Agreement was signed between Dr. Tayeb Kamali, Group Chief Executive of CERT and Michael D Rich, the Executive Vice-President of the RAND Corporation.

Abu Dhabi, 16 January 2010: The Centre of Excellence for Applied Research & Training (CERT) has joined forces with one of the world’s most eminent non-profit think tanks, the RAND Corporation, to assist UAE governments and industry sectors in dealing with a broad range of issues affecting the growing nation.
The Rand Corporation, based in Santa Monica California and with offices world-wide, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with CERT, under the patronage of HE Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Chairman of CERT and Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology. The MoU was signed by Dr Tayeb Kamali, Group Chief Executive of CERT and Michael D Rich, the Executive Vice-President of the RAND Corporation.
The two leading organizations, will work collaboratively to help establish RAND’s presence in the UAE and to assist regional entities gain from the expert knowledge and resources at RAND’s disposal. In addition RAND will take advantage of Higher Colleges of Technology and CERT faculty and students in implementing future projects in the UAE.
Speaking at the signing, the RAND Corporation’s Michael Rich said the close association with CERT would help RAND to fulfill its mission statement of helping to improve policy and decision making through research and analysis, in the UAE and GCC region.
``For more than 60 years the RAND Corporation has been helping the public and private sectors to find solutions which address the challenges facing a nation and the world and I believe that forging these ties with CERT we can lend our expertise to the issues that affect this region,’’ Mr. Rich said.

CERT Group CEO Dr Tayeb Kamali said it was an honor to be working with a world-leading organization, to look at issues relevant to the GCC region.
``We are naturally very excited to be working closely with the RAND Corporation, as we see a number of obvious synergies between our organizations,’’ Dr Kamali said.
``RAND was formed from a contraction of the words research and development, which are also very relevant to what CERT is involved in.

``RAND is heavily involved in such research areas as education, energy and environment, science and technology and transportation and infrastructure – all areas in which CERT has become known as a leader in the region. To be able to work together on such areas will be vitally important to the future of the UAE and for the improvement of the lives of its nationals.’’

View MoU