News

Digital Dubai Issues World’s First Secured Digital Certificates

The technology uses Soulbound Token technology to prevent duplication.

Published

4 years ago

March 17, 2023

Nour Nasir

Digital Dubai

Digital Dubai recently issued the world’s first secured digital certificates. The technology is built using Soulbound Token technology, an advanced next-generation non-fungible token.

Soulbound Tokens use blockchain technology to represent a person’s identity and can be used for medical records, employment history, or any type of information concerning a person or entity. The certificates are permanently linked to a user’s personal account in their digital wallet, and ownership cannot be transferred to another party, sold, or disposed of.

“The accelerated pace of technological advancements has made the future closer than ever before, and here in Dubai, we are proud to have an agile government that wastes no time in embracing developments and putting them into practice to drive digital transformation and shape the future today,” says Digital Dubai’s director general Hamad Al Mansoori.

Also Read: Riyadh Air Makes Multi-Billion Dollar Deal With Boeing

The first secured digital certificate was issued by Dubai Cyber Innovation Park, an affiliate of the Dubai Electronic Security Centre at Digital Dubai. Tokens were granted to the first group of graduates from the Chief Information Security Officer Executive program, in which 17 government and semi-government entities participated.

News

Abu Dhabi’s Robot Kitchen Is Serving Up Biryani, Not Burgers

Circus SE wants to put a tiny automated factory inside the buildings where Gulf residents live and work, bypassing part of last-mile delivery.

Published

4 days ago

October 20, 2026

Nour Nasir

abu dhabi's robot kitchen is serving up biryani not burgers

Circus SE

The most telling thing about a new autonomous kitchen now running in Abu Dhabi’s Marina Square is what it won’t cook:

“We don’t do fast food,” says Nikolas Bullwinkel, Founder and CEO of Circus SE. “We’ve actively decided not to build a machine that can only do burgers”.

Instead, the CA-1 system is built around pot-based cooking: curries, pastas, soups and rice dishes. After experimenting with highly personalized recipes, Circus deliberately leaned back toward recognizable food. “We’re going with a chicken biryani because you know it,” Bullwinkel says of the AED 40 dish.

circus se ca-1 robot system

The Germany-based robotics and food technology company operates across eight countries, and Abu Dhabi is its first deployment outside Europe. More locations are expected there and in Dubai.

In Germany, its units can be placed in supermarkets, gas stations, airports and hospitals. In the Gulf, Bullwinkel wants them inside residential and office buildings, replacing some of the complexity of last-mile delivery. “We’re basically bringing a very tiny factory a few square meters into your building,” he says. Catering company Royal Prestige supplies the ingredients and knowledge of local tastes.

The CA-1 manages up to 36 refrigerated ingredient silos alongside automated induction cooking, robotic plating and a self-cleaning dishwasher. Two robotic arms move ingredients through the system with minimal human intervention. It can produce up to 120 hot meals an hour, and a meal such as rice and curry can take around three to four minutes.

Also Read: Ooredoo Qatar’s 5G+ Network Is Built For Machines As Much As People

Five cameras and multiple sensors monitor heat, temperature and consistency, an attempt to approximate what a chef perceives. “You can hear something gets burned, you can smell it, you can see it at some point,” Bullwinkel says. CircusOS, the company’s operating system, adjusts recipes in real time.

You might think of the platform as a threat to kitchen staff, but Bullwinkel frames Circus as a way for chefs to develop recipes and distribute them at scale. With that being said, rising labor costs and shortages are also part of his case for automation.