Development Aligns with UAE and wider Middle East region sharpening industrial manufacturing focus, announcing AED 180 Bn in industrial procurement opportunities at Make It In The Emirates 2026
By : Bakinam Khaled
Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, is deepening its collaboration with the World Economic Forum as part of a growing coalition of manufacturers, consultants, and technology partners working to accelerate industrial digital transformation worldwide. Together, they are advancing the Lighthouse Operating System (Lighthouse OS), a framework built on proven, replicable methodologies designed to support manufacturers to modernize at scale.
Most manufacturers have invested in digital transformation though few have made it scale. Pilots succeed, then stall. Gains remain local and the gap between the world's most advanced factories and the rest of the industry keeps widening. A new framework launched today aims to close it.
The Lighthouse Operating System (Lighthouse OS) is an open-source, practical blueprint that translates the proven practices of the world's highest-performing industrial sites into a structured path any manufacturer can follow. Leveraging eight years of Global Lighthouse Network insights, Lighthouse OS was developed by the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains in collaboration with leading OEMs, end users and consultancies, it gives companies a self-guided route from where they are today to genuine operational excellence.
The Middle East region is accelerating industrial diversification and strengthening its uptick of 4IR technologies, with the UAE setting the pace in advanced manufacturing, AI‑enabled productivity, sustainability and supply chain resilience. At its leading industrial showcase, Make It In The Emirates 2026, the country announced AED 180 billion in new industrial procurement opportunities confirming that the industrial sector’s contribution has reached AED 200 billion.
Against this backdrop, the Lighthouse OS offers a timely global framework to complement national efforts by helping manufacturers move beyond isolated digital pilots and adopt repeatable, operationally grounded models that translate technology investment into measurable productivity, resilience and sustainable growth.
A blueprint grounded in real-world practice
The Lighthouse OS is built around six core operating principles — adaptable and robust processes, connected and transparent flows, end-to-end synchronisation, embedded sustainability, a learning organisation, and accelerated digital and data capability — structured across five levels of operational maturity. Companies can assess their current position, identify where to focus first, and scale at their own pace.
Unlike standalone digital tools, it is designed as a system-wide approach: connecting digital innovation, sustainability, workforce development, and operational excellence into a single, coherent model that delivers measurable and repeatable performance gains.
Schneider Electric: experience built in, not bolted on
Schneider Electric brings direct transformation experience to the initiative. The company has spent more than two decades refining an operating system that today underpins its Gartner # supply chain ranking and nine WEF Lighthouse factories recognitions. That foundation - built on advanced digital systems, AI-driven automation, and sustainability-by-design practices - is what the Lighthouse OS framework is built from.
Federico Torti, Head, Technology & Innovation, World Economic Forum, commented: “Many manufacturers have the ambition to transform but lack a coherent path to do it consistently and at scale. The Lighthouse OS addresses that directly; it takes what the world's best factories have learned through years of real operational experience and turns it into a practical framework any manufacturer can apply. This is about making Lighthouse-level performance a realistic target for the whole industry, not just its most advanced players.”
Cecile Vercellino, SVP Services, Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric, added: "Schneider Electric has lived this transformation across 120+ smart factories & distribution centers — we know what works, where companies get stuck, and what it takes to move from isolated pilots to genuine system-wide change. That direct experience is embedded in the Lighthouse OS. Our organization is already applying these principles across our broader ecosystem and seeing measurable results.
