Noon.com partners with Chinese technology company for driverless technology

Noon.com is looking into using driverless technologies in its delivery fleet in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and has partnered with Chinese technology company, Neolix, reports a local newspaper.

Noon.com is planning to trial autonomous vehicles built by Neoflix over the next few weeks to see if they sufficiently enhance its last-mile delivery in key areas of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The driverless vans are being customised to suit the region’s weather conditions, and are being integrated with noon’s logistics platform.

As well as being reliable and speedy, driverless vehicle technology claim to remove up to 90 per cent of the cost associated with the last mile of delivery.

“Introducing new technology to the region that will improve the e-commerce experience for customers is something we’re incredibly excited about,” says Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Noon.com parent company Emaar.

“Noon is very proud to bring driverless delivery vans to streets in our cities. We look forward to bringing many such innovations over the next few months. We are a hungry, talented and ambitious nation. I hope it will inspire our tech-driven youth to dream big and to achieve those dreams because everything is possible here,” he added.

The partnership between Noon and Neoflix follows the recent announcement of a new resolution that regulates autonomous vehicle testing in Dubai.

The new resolution is part of the first phase of a legislative framework being created to ensure the highest efficiency, reliability, and security of smart mobility.

The UAE is among the world’s top 10 countries that are best prepared for driverless vehicles, according to KPMG’s 2019 Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index.

The Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy, in particular, aims to make 25 per cent of all transportation autonomous by 2030.