KSA dominates funding news; KSLOF, NASA use neural nets to map world’s coral
Good morning,
Here’s your weekly roundup of Middle East AI News!
And there's so much news this week, that I've run out of time to write a summary! So, please do scroll down and browse. Or perhaps click 'View Online' above to make sure that you don't miss any stories.
Stay safe and have a great weekend!
/Carrington
Startup News
Saudi Arabia dominates startup investment sector during May — www.arabnews.com
#Saudi #MENA #funding - Saudi Arabia dominated startup investments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during May, according to figures from entrepreneurship platform Wamda. Around $110 million was raised across 35 deals over the month - the majority came from Saudi Arabia where nine startups raised $46.6 million. (Arab News)
Egypt-based Edtech iSchool secures $160K investment from Edventures — www.cairoscene.com
#Egypt #funding - Egyptian edtech platform iSchool has secured a $160,000 investment from EdVentures, the venture capital (VC) arm of Nahdet Misr Publishing Group. iSchool will allocate the new funds toward development and expansion. The platform provides learning programmes for AI, coding, robotics, Big Data and multimedia technologies. (Cairo Scene)
This PropTech platform uses AI to offer competitive edge to brokers — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #content - Dubai-based proptech startup OVERWRITE.ai uses AI to offer a competitive edge to real estate brokers, allowing agents to automate the task of writing search-optimised and informative property marketing descriptions. (The National)
AI Apps
Bayut launches UAE's first property valuation tool, powered by machine learning — www.albawaba.com
#UAE #realestate - Property portal Bayut has launched TruValue, the first fully automated price valuation tool in UAE, to provide easily accessible estimated value of residential properties across the emirates. The tool uses machine learning algorithms to calculate market value. (Al Bawaba)
Aafaq in deal to set up AI-powered financial wellness platform — www.tradearabia.com
#UAE #fintech - Aafaq Islamic Finance, a leading provider of Islamic finance products and services in the UAE, has forged a transformational partnership with Singapore-based The Social Loan Company (TSLC) to set up a trend-setting non-bank, mobile-first loan platform to deliver financial access to the underserved young digital natives in the MENA region. (Trade Arabia)
AI Voice
American University of Bahrain enriches learning experiences with Alexa Skills — www.itp.net
#Bahrain #Alexa - The American University of Bahrain (AUBH) has introduced voice technology to its campus with the integration of two Amazon Alexa skills. The new skills aim to offer students, educators, and parents with the ability to use their voice to deepen the learning experience while providing important academic and campus information. (ITP.net)
Transport
Abu Dhabi Terminals unveils innovative AI-focused partnership — www.oilandgasmiddleeast.com
#UAE #containers - Abu Dhabi Terminals and Microsoft have announced a partnership that will see Khalifa Port Container Terminal (KPCT), one of the world’s largest semi-automated deep-water container terminals, deploy an AI-based container smart tracking system. (Oil & Gas ME)
Quantum
Saudi researchers eye quantum progress from tie-up with US software startup — www.arabnews.com
#Saudi #CFD - Saudi Arabia’s KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) has entered into a partnership with quantum software startup Zapata Computing, Inc. The partnership establishes Zapata as one of the first quantum computing companies active in the region and will enable KAUST researchers to explore aerospace fluid dynamics. (Arab News)
National AI Strategy
Digital Egypt: Walking the path of AI — en.wataninet.com
#Egypt AIstrategy - Egypt's national strategy for artificial intelligence, which has the theme "Artificial Intelligence for Development and Prosperity", aims to help the country achieve development goals and advance economic growth. (Watani)
Healthcare
Saudi German Hospital introduces robotic system — www.gulftoday.ae
#UAE #Saudi #robotics - Saudi-German Health UAE has collaborated with CMR Surgical – a British medical technology company, which will enable surgeons to perform a wide range of complex surgeries with precision and speed than conventional surgery. (Gulf Today)
Education
Creativa Innovation Hub to be established in Zagazig University — mcit.gov.eg
#Egypt #education - Zagazig University is to establish a Creativa Innovation Hub , in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). The hub will upskill and qualify university students, graduates and young people in Sharqia Governorate. (MCIT.gov.eg)
AI Diplomacy
The UAE and China: partners in innovation for a brighter future — global.chinadaily.com.cn
#China #UAE #innovation - Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and managing director & group CEO of ADNOC Group, gave a speech to the 2021 Pujiang Innovation Forum, which took place in Shanghai last week. This opinion piece is based on his speech. (China Daily)
Hajj and Umrah
10 smart service robot to sterilise Grand Mosque — saudigazette.com.sa
#Saudi #robotics - 10 service robots have been deployed to the sterilise the Grand Mosque of Mecca, in advance of the annual Islamic pilgrimage to the holy city. The robots can work between five and eight hours without any human intervention and can sterilise an area of 600 square meters. (Saudi Gazette)
Makkah Days for Programming and Artificial Intelligence competition begins — www.saudigazette.com.sa
#Saudi #coding- Saudi Arabia's Makkah Province opened Makkah Days for Programming and Artificial intelligence (AI) this week as part of the 5th Makkah Cultural Forum. More than 90 university students and technology professionals will focus on developing innovations that support digital transformation in the fields of Hajj and Umrah, tourism, entertainment and services. (Saudi Gazette)
Environment
KSLOF, NASA to accelerate the mapping of the world’s coral reefs — saudigazette.com.sa
#Saudi #USA #coral - Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) has partnered with Ames Research Center to expand NASA’s coral mapping capabilities. NASA is using AI and neural networks to automate a process that would take KSLOF’s scientists years to do on their own. Meanwhile, KSLOF is providing NASA with the high-resolution data it needs on coral reefs to train machine learning systems. (Saudi Gazette)
Ministry of Climate Change and Environment uses drones and underwater robot for marine survey — wam.ae
#UAE #environment - Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) is to conduct a 17-week bio-digital survey of marine habitats in the UAE. The pilot study will integrate aerial and underwater data, collected using drones and an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) – a mobile robot designed for aquatic work. (Emirates News Agency)
Industry
ITIDA teams up with UNIDO to increase adoption of IR4.0 technologies in manufacturing sector — www.egypttoday.com
#Egypt #industry - ITIDA will help increase the integration of Industry 4.0 technologies in Egypt's key industrial sectors via the country's five-year programme with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) to to advance inclusive and sustainable industrialization. (Egypt Today)
Zyfra partners with NNTC to offer industrial digitalization solutions in UAE — www.zawya.com
#Finland #GCC #UAE #industry- Zyfra, Finnish-Russian digital solutions provider for heavy industries, signed an agreement with UAE software developer NNTC to jointly promote machine monitoring and manufacturing data collection solutions to oil and gas and mining industries in the GCC. (Zawya)
Bloomberg Catalyst
UAE minister and BluePhin Technologies founder selected for 'Bloomberg Catalysts' — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #BloombergCatalyst - The UAE Minister of State for Advanced Technology and chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency Sarah Al Amiri and Simran Chowdhry, co-founder of water pollution solutions startup BluePhin Technologies, have been chosen to take part in the Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts programme. (The National)
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About Carrington Malin — www.carringtonmalin.com Carrington Malin helps large organisations, digital brands and fast growing tech ventures with brand, communications and go-to-market strategies.