Etisalat hosts Acronis partner world’s first electric flying racing car Airspeeder at GITEX Global

Acronis, the global leader in cyber protection, is present at GITEX Global again this year (Hall 1 – Booth 4) and did not come alone. Indeed, Acronis #CyberFit Sports partner, Airspeeder, is also attending. Airspeeder, the first electric flying racing car series is present for the first time in the UAE with its prototype, hosted by Etisalat in Zabeel Hall 1. Etisalat, one of the world's leading telecom groups in emerging markets, meets the best-in-class innovative technology from sport. Etisalat enables the impossible, proving it once again today by being the first to bring Airspeeder to this side of the world.

Airspeeder electric racing series, created by performance electric flying car manufacturer Alauda, receives cyber protection support from Acronis, with some of the services delivered by Acronis #CyberFit Delivery Partner, a global provider of cybersecurity solutions, Teknov8. Acronis solutions protect Airspeeder’s real-time data, including analysis of battery and key systems performance. From this information, engineers define a strategy to find a competitive advantage in a sport where every bit of data is critical for performance.

The future is technology – let’s race with electric flying cars

“Airspeeder is creating an aerial motorsport driven by innovation. Supported by Acronis who already has technological successes with Formula One and Formula E teams, it represents a significant affirmation of the vision to accelerate the next great mobility revolution through sporting competition,” said Jack Withinshaw, Chief Commercial Officer at Airspeeder. Acronis’ cyber protection solutions ensure the data security for the revolutionary LiDAR and Machine Vision technology that will deliver close but safe racing through the creation of virtual force-fields around each racing craft, named ‘Speeders’, that will peak at speeds of up to 130 km/h. Airspeeder is the racing series conceived by performance electric flying car marque Alauda. Elite pilots drawn from aviation, motorsport and even eSports will navigate electrically governed courses above some of the most visually arresting locations in the world.

Etisalat and Acronis to help make the UAE digital space the best

The Etisalat brand helps drive the digital future to empower societies by building the network of tomorrow, today.

Acronis cyber protection helps sports teams avoid downtime, data breaches and mitigate security breaches. Airspeeder partnered with Acronis to ensure its operations are not compromised and that the terabytes of data shared between speeders and the technical teams supporting them will remain entirely secure. The partnership is supported by Teknov8, a Managed Service Provider, helping Acronis deliver cyber protection solutions in the most effective and efficient way.

The need for both effective data protection and cybersecurity has become dominant in daily life. Businesses rely on the continuous availability and integrity of their data, while individuals around the world send and receive large volumes of sensitive information over remote connections. Cybercriminals, in response, have stepped up the scale and complexity of their attacks — and with advances in the automation of these threats, no one is “too small to target.” “The past two years have changed the industry landscape for good, any business or user is a potential target,” said Peter French, Acronis GM for MEA. “Combining cybersecurity and backup is the only way to keep critical data truly protected and our digital spaces safe.”

About Etisalat

Etisalat Group is one of the world’s leading telecom groups in emerging markets. With consolidated net revenue at AED 51.7 billion and consolidated net profit of AED 9.0 billion for 2020, its high credit ratings reflect the company’s strong balance sheet and proven long-term performance.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Etisalat was established over four decades ago in the UAE as the country’s first telecommunications service provider. A blue-chip organisation, Etisalat Group provides innovative solutions and services to 156.1 million subscribers in 16 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Etisalat is ranked the strongest brand across all categories in Middle East and Africa by Brand Finance, and is the fastest mobile network globally by Ookla® Speedtest® in 2021 for the second consecutive year.

About Acronis 

Acronis unifies data protection and cybersecurity to deliver integrated, automated cyber protection that solves the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) challenges of the modern digital world. With flexible deployment models that fit the demands of service providers and IT professionals, Acronis provides superior cyber protection for data, applications, and systems with innovative next-generation antivirus, backup, disaster recovery, and endpoint protection management solutions powered by AI. With advanced anti-malware powered by cutting-edge machine intelligence and blockchain based data authentication technologies, Acronis protects any environment – from cloud to hybrid to on premises – at a low and predictable cost.

Founded in Singapore in 2003 and incorporated in Switzerland in 2008, Acronis now has more than 1,700 employees in 34 locations in 19 countries. Its solutions are trusted by more than 5.5 million home users and 500,000 companies, and top-tier professional sports teams. Acronis products are available through over 50,000 partners and service providers in over 150 countries and 25 languages.

About Airspeeder

ABOUT AIRSPEEDER:

www.airspeeder.com

Airspeeder and Alauda Aeronautics are truly global operations. The sport’s technical HQ is in Adelaide, South Australia in direct proximity to the perfect testing grounds for a new form of aerial mobility.

The company’s commercial, communications and administrative HQ is in London, England and is led by CCO, Jack Withinshaw. This provides Airspeeder direct proximity to leaders in motor sport, rights management and regulation.

Alauda Aeronautics designs, engineers and builds the racing craft that participate in all Airspeeder racing events.

Airspeeder EXA Series is Airspeeder’s first racing series. It is where remote pilots take control of the world’s first full-scale electric flying cars. It will serve as the technical and pilot proving ground for the world’s first crewed electric flying car races.

Airspeeder is the forthcoming crewed racing series. It will race across the globe in 2022.

AIRSPEEDER | ABOUT THE FOUNDER: MATTHEW PEARSON

Matt Pearson is the founder and visionary behind Alauda and Airspeeder. Together with a team of engineers, designers and commercial minds spanning Australia, New York and London, he is accelerating the development of electric flying vehicles through the white heat of sporting competition.

Beyond his role as a defining voice in the future of mobility, Matt is driving the rapidly expanding Industrial Internet of Things space through his work at Fleet. From their base in South Australia millions of devices are powered via Low Earth Orbit through a growing network of nano satellites.