iFlytek in Arabic R&D project; New drone deals announced
Good morning!
Here’s your weekly roundup of Middle East AI News!
Today's top story is probably Chinese voice-recognition company iFlytek's R&D project with Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The three year project aims to develop an Arabic-Mandarin instant translation application. iFlytek hopes that the project will position the company to drive more business in the Arab world.
Meanwhile, as the GCC's commercial drone market begins to take off, two new deals were announced this week: automation platform FlytBase partner agreement with Saudi startup Firnas Aero; and Canadian security application developer First Responder's representation deal with the UAE's Falcon Eye Drones (FEDS).
Stay safe and have a great weekend!
/Carrington
R&D
Egypt, China agree to develop Arabic-Mandarin NLP programme — dailynewsegypt.com
#China #Egypt #NLP - Egypt's Applied Innovation Center (AIC) has begun a three-year agreement with Chinese voice-recognition company iFLYTEK Co., Ltd. to begin an Arabic-Mandarin AI translation project. (Daily News Egypt)
Egyptian engineer invents robot for COVID-19 diagnosis — www.xinhuanet.com
#Egypt #coronavirus - At his Roboto Academy in Tanta city in northern Egypt, 26-year-old mechatronic engineer Mahmoud el-Komy was testing Cira 02, a robot invented for the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection and post-infection medical care. (Xinhua)
Finance
Seed group nurtures partnership with Abaka for UAE-based AI push — www.finextra.com
#UAE #financialservices - SEED Group has announced a strategic partnership with ABAKA, the global leader in digital saving and retirement enterprise SaaS solutions, that will allow United Arab Emirates (UAE) financial institutions to integrate ABAKA’s AI Financial platform into their core business processes (Finextra)
Healthcare
Korea’s homegrown AI medical solution enters Saudi market — www.theinvestor.co.kr
#Saudi #SouthKorea #healthcare - The South Korean government announced plans to take its AI medical software “Dr. Answer” to local and overseas markets, after having agreed to export the solution to hospitals in Saudi Arabia . (The Investor)
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi uses robot surgeons to treat cancer patients — english.alarabiya.net
#UAE #roboticsurgery - Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has become the first hospital to use a robot surgeon to perform “whipple” procedures forfor pancreatic and duodenal tumors in the UAE. The hospital carried out its first robotic operation in 2015 and its first robotic whipple surgery in 2018. (Al Arabiya)
Mediclinic City Hospital conducts rare robotic surgery — gulfnews.com
#UAE #roboticsurgery - Mediclinic City Hospital has carried out a robotic transversus abdominis release (TAR) procedure, which allows patients to leave hospital sooner with a shorter recovery time and less pain. (Gulf News)
Drones
FlytBase, Firnas Aero to provide drone security in Saudi Arabia — dronedj.com
#Saudi #security - Enterprise drone automation platform FlytBase and Drones-as-a-Service (DaaS) startup Firnas Aero are joining forces to provide drone security and surveillance solutions for aerial security patrols in Saudi Arabia. (DroneDJ)
First Responder Technologies and Falcon Eye Drones sign an agreement for GCC — finance.yahoo.com
#Canada #UAE #drones - First Responder Technologies Inc., a developer of WiFi-based technologies for detecting concealed weapons and for deterring mass shooting and terror attacks has signed an exclusive reseller and strategic partnership agreement with Falcon Eye Drones (FEDS). (CNW)
Saudi drone startup puts limitless abilities in our hands — www.arabnews.com
#Saudi #drones - The adoption of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology in Saudi Arabia is still in its infancy as regulations are constantly changing. However, pioneering Saudi startup company, Firnas Aero, wants to bring its Drone as a Service (DaaS) concept to the regional market. (Arab News)
New Dubai drone law paves the way for commercial ecosystem — dronelife.com
#UAE #drones - Dubai this month issued a new law to govern future drone services and pave the way for a commercial drone services ecosystem that allows both drone delivery and flying taxis. (DroneLife)
G20 Digital Economy
G20 Digital Economy Ministers reaffirm commitment to promoting human-centered approach to AI — www.spa.gov.sa
#Saudi #G20 - G20 digital economy ministers yesterday held a digital meeting under Saudi Arabia’s presidency of the G20. The group reaffirmed the G20's commitment to promoting a human-centered approach to AI and support the G20 AI Principles, which are drawn from the OECD AI Principles. (SPA)