Abu Dhabi builds quantum computer; New provost at MBZUAI
Good morning,
Here’s your weekly roundup of Middle East AI News!
Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi has announced Professor Fakhreddine (Fakhri) Karray as its new Provost. He previously served as the founding co-director of the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute. He succeeds Ling Shao, CEO and Chief Scientist at Inception Institute of Artificial Intelligence, who was provost since 2019.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi's Technology Innovation Institute (TII) has begun assembling its first quantum computer. TII announced that it was building a quantum computer in collaboration with Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech earlier this year.
Scroll down for these stories and more, including two new virtual tech events taking place next week.
Stay safe and have a great weekend!
/Carrington
Quantum
Abu Dhabi unboxes the Middle East's first quantum supercomputer — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #quantumcomputing - Quantum physicists at Abu Dhabi's Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), have begun building the Middle East’s first quantum computer. TII announced that it was building the computer in collaboration with Barcelona-based Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech in March. (The National)
Education
Global expert on AI and robotics joins Abu Dhabi’s AI university as new provost — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #MBZUAI - The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi has announced Professor Fakhreddine (Fakhri) Karray as its new Provost. Professor Karray joins MBZUAI from the University of Waterloo in Canada, where he most recently served as the founding co-director of the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute. (The National)
Environment
Abu Dhabi research centre to set up space research centre to boost food security — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #agtech #spacetech - US-based firm Nanoracks, which specialises in launching small payloads such as mini and cube satellites, will establish a commercial space research centre called StarLab Oasis. Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) announced an investment in Nanoracks last year. (The National)
KAUST and Spire unveil plan to launch nanosatellite ‘KAUST CubeSat’ — saudigazette.com.sa
#UAE #environment - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Spire Global, a leading provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, have announced plans to launch of KAUST CubeSat, a nanosatellite that will collect high-quality and high-resolution data across global terrestrial, coastal and ocean ecosystems for analysis for a three-year period starting from the end of 2022. (Saudi Gazette)
Abu Dhabi monitors soil quality using cutting-edge satellite, drone, AI technology — www.wam.ae
#UAE #environment - The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) is using satellite and drone remote sensing technology, AI and machine learning to monitor soil quality and detect the level of heavy metals. A world's first, the agency has just completed a pilot project in two locations in Musaffah in Abu Dhabi, which it started last year to augment its ongoing soil monitoring programme. (Emirates News Agency)
Egyptian engineer develops award-winning robot that generates water from air — www.egyptindependent.com
#Egypt #water - Egyptian engineer Mahmoud el-Koumy, winner of the Geneva Invention Award, has invented a robot that extracts drinking water from the air. Egypt’s Environment Minister provided el-Koumy with a laboratory for water analysis. (Egypt Independent)
Drones
Israeli drone services firm enters UAE market — worldisraelnews.com
#Israel #UAE #drones - Percepto has entered the UAE market, providing autonomous drones to monitor oil fields, solar farms and other infrastructure facilities, according to the Israeli UAV startup. The company provides drone in-a-box services that are used to detect infrastructure faults and providing real-time safety and security issues. (World Israel News)
Trade & Customs
Webb Fontaine & Misr Technology to roll out integrated risk management for Egyptian customs — finance.yahoo.com
#Egypt #customs - UAE-based Webb Fontaine, a provider of advanced trade and customs services and Egyptian trade and transport logistics platform provider Misr Technology Services have announced a new project to roll-out an AI-supported Integrated Risk Management (IRM) service across Egypt's trade and customs sector. (PRNewswire)
Customer Experience
DEWA's customer care centre uses AI to improve customer experience — mediaoffice.ae
#UAE #utilities - Dubai Electricity and Water Authority's call centre uses AI to identify callers' customer accounts and status in order to modify call options accordingly. The system directs the customer to the most convenient choice, to meet customer needs in a fast, smart and advanced manner. (Dubai Media Office)
Geopolitics
US lawmakers urge suspension of drone technology transfers to Turkey — www.arabnews.com
#Turkey #US #defence - A bipartisan group of US Congress lawmakers have called for the suspension of American drone technology transfer to Turkey over concerns about Ankara’s unmanned aerial vehicle weaponisation program. (Arab News)
Sports
Robot jockey in camel racing aims to reduce accidents and physical risks — saudigazette.com.sa
#Saudi #camelracing - The robot jockey has been introduced in camel races at this year's Crown Prince Camel Festival. The locally developed robots are helping to phase out the use of human jockeys, to develop sports and reduce accidents and physical risks that may occur to humans. (Saudi Gazette)
Events
CITC to host Digital Technology Forum — www.citc.gov.sa
#Saudi #DigitalTechForum - Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) will host Digital Technology Forum on 24 August with the theme of “Promising investment opportunities for a digital future". The forum will be held in coordination with the Saudi Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) and the Saudi Ministry of Investment (MISA). Agenda here. (CITC)
AI in Health Webinar - DoH Abu Dhabi — ailabdoh.typeform.com
#UAE #healthcare - The Department of Health Abu Dhabi is hosting an 'AI in Healthcare' webinar on Monday, August 23, 2021, 01:00 PM GST, which will present the impact of AI in healthcare. Organised in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA) and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the webinar will feature speakers from Group 42 Healthcare, Dataiku and MBZAIU. (DOH)
Expo 2020
Expo 2020 Dubai to feature robot ice cream vendor, self-driving food delivery vehicles — www.khaleejtimes.com
#UAE #Expo2020 - Talabat has been announced as the official food delivery provider for Expo 2020 Dubai, The vendor will cater to both dine-in and delivery customers, with services that include a robot ice cream vendor and 10 self-driving vehicles. (Khaleej Times)
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