Zero-Trust UTM: TII, VentureOne, and High Lander Join Forces at UMEX to Forge New Airspace Security Standards in the UAE
- Simon Golstein
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Abu Dhabi, UAE, 22 January 2026 - High Lander Aviation, a global provider of drone fleet management (DFM) and unmanned traffic management (UTM) technology, signed a strategic collaboration with the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC)’s applied research arm, and VentureOne, ATRC’s commercialization arm, today at UMEX 2026, the world’s largest event for manned and unmanned autonomous systems, to forge new airspace security standards in the UAE.
The parties announce an intention to collaborate in research and development with a focus on the critical issue of information security in the age of integrated, digital airspaces. The end goal is the development of a national-level security infrastructure that will act as a motor powering fully developed and scalable drone ecosystems, while establishing digital sovereignty in national airspaces and creating an important blueprint for the rest of the world to follow.
The intention to collaborate was supported by Alon Abelson, the CEO and founder of High Lander, Dr. Najwa Aaraj, the CEO of TII, and Reda Nidhakou, the CEO of VentureOne.
Alon Abelson, High Lander’s CEO, said: "We’re truly honored to work with TII and VentureOne, both of which have an impressive history of innovation. The UAE is one of the world’s most exciting territories in terms of aviation innovation, and we’re excited to work here, combining TII's sophisticated research and VentureOne’s got-to-market expertise with our world-renowned solutions. Together, we’ll create a blueprint for the future of national airspaces, where autonomous systems operate in harmony alongside general aviation.”
Against a backdrop of rapidly growing UAS, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), and advanced air mobility (AAM) operations in the UAE, aviation safety is becoming increasingly reliant on authenticated data exchanges. As such, High Lander, TII, and VentureOne will collaborate towards establishing new end-to-end security standards based on zero trust principles and including hardware security module (HSM) support for secure key storage and non-repudiation capabilities, ensuring bulletproof data security even in the most complex, high-volume environments.
High Lander’s extensive operational expertise has clarified that airspace safety in the era of drones is only achievable with robust cybersecurity. By combining their solutions with TII’s renowned research capabilities and VentureOne’s go-to-market expertise, the parties are creating an exciting collaboration which will be instrumental in advancing the UAE’s roadmap towards its ‘Economic Vision 2030’, a key element of which is the country’s positioning as a global leader in autonomous aerial systems and advanced air mobility.
Dr. Najwa Aaraj, TII’s CEO, said: "The future of unmanned aviation depends on trust that is engineered, not implied. By embedding zero-trust security principles into UTM systems, TII is developing technologies that ensure authenticated, tamper-resistant, and non-repudiable data flows across increasingly complex airspaces. This collaboration is a critical step toward resilient drone ecosystems that can operate safely at national scale.”
Reda Nidhakou, VentureOne’s CEO, said: “High Lander brings proven UTM expertise that complements our focus on supporting national-scale security and resilience. This partnership will help position the UAE to accelerate secure UTM innovation with solutions ready for global deployment.”
The collaboration will include other areas of exploration too, with a focus on creating systems that can be integrated into national infrastructures seamlessly and without system overhauls. Developments will include work on secure, modular integration layers featuring protocol-agnostic SDK interfaces supporting MAVLink, ROS2, and NATS. They’ll also be refining advanced connectivity strategies for airspace stakeholders, developing standalone secure UTM tracking hardware with Secure Boot, anti-spoofing and Drone ID revocation capabilities, developing active cyber defense systems, and more.
About Technology Innovation Institute (TII)
The Technology Innovation Institute (TII) is the dedicated applied research pillar of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC). TII is a pioneering global research and development center that focuses on applied research and new-age technology capabilities. The Institute has 9 dedicated research centers in advanced materials, autonomous robotics, cryptography, AI and digital science, directed energy, quantum, secure systems, propulsion and space, and renewable and sustainable energy. By working with exceptional talent, universities, research institutions, and industry partners from all over the world, TII connects an intellectual community and contributes to building an R&D ecosystem that reinforces the status of Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a global hub for innovation.
About High Lander
High Lander was established in 2018 by aviation veterans and technology experts with a dream: the safe and effective integration of UAS into airspaces worldwide. The company is achieving this with two scalable, software-only solutions. The first is Orion DFM, a hardware-agnostic platform for creating, managing and automating UAS missions for any application and at any scale. The second is Vega UTM, a next-generation UAS traffic management platform that provides airspace authorities with the tools they need to maintain strict standards of safety in increasingly crowded skies.
About VentureOne
VentureOne, the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC)’s dynamic venture builder and commercialization arm, bridges the gap between pioneering research and market-ready practical applications by delivering transformative solutions to partners and clients across the public and private sectors. It merges cutting-edge research with deep technical expertise, fostering innovation that enhances lives and generates meaningful impact.
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