Colonel Ali Ashour

Senior Engineering Officer KCG - Ministry of Interior - State of Kuwait

Colonel Ali Ashour is a senior engineering officer with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior, focusing on technical governance, capability development, and strategic feasibility. His work spans maritime and land border forces, where he has been involved in advancing capacity building through Horizontal AI structuring, digital twin validations, cyber-resilient frameworks, and geospatial analytics. Ali is the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) national to be selected as the lead researcher in an industry-based autonomous systems research program at the UoS Peridynamics Research Centre (PDRC) and BAE Systems UK. His work focuses on predictive analytics, structural integrity analysis, damage prediction, and sensory degradation mitigation—key elements in scaling multi-domain C4ISR frameworks for crewed and uncrewed operations security solutions, with applications in border integrity operations. He worked closely with international research organizations, including the Australian Naval Technical Bureau (NTB), Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), and Australian Maritime College (AMC), contributing to capability development, platform optimization, and human element training. His work integrates technical validation, regulatory compliance, and operational adaptability, ensuring emerging technologies align with mission-driven requirements. During his time in Australia, he engaged in overlapping studies on GIS-based security asset deployment and response time analytics, incorporating spatial analysis and infrastructure readiness assessments to refine resource allocation strategies for security operations in high-density urban areas like Hawalli, Kuwait. These efforts informed multi-agency coordination and asset positioning methodologies, bridging academic research with operational strategy. His contributions to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Maritime Cyber Security initiatives, including the IASME Maritime Cyber Baseline, focus on developing resilience frameworks against emerging cyber threats. His research integrates AI, digital engineering, and data-driven assessments to support decision-making in defense and security operations. His technical contributions extend to hydrodynamic analysis, structural integrity assessments, and digital modeling, working with research institutions across the Commonwealth, Europe, and the United States. His expertise in multi-domain integration and predictive maintenance informs capability-building strategies for naval and border security forces. As an Anglo-Kuwaiti-GCC think tank node, he bridges academic research, industry advancements, and policy design, ensuring defense technologies remain aligned with practical operational needs and strategic directives. A Royal Fellow of multiple engineering institutions—including notably, as the first GCC national to be named a Royal Fellow of RINA by His Majesty King Charles—he has dedicated his career to aligning technology policies with regulatory adaptation and operational objectives. As a council member of the Institution of Engineers in Scotland (IES), he contributes to discussions on the UK's industrial strategy, sustainability, and defense engineering. He also serves as a Visiting Lecturer for the University Royal Navy Units (URNU), supporting the development of emerging naval officers in digital and autonomous defense technologies. His contributions reflect Kuwaiti leadership’s commitment to international standardization, strategic partnerships, and innovation-driven frameworks, strengthening R&D and technical capacity-building within Anglo-GCC defense and security collaborations.