MBZUAI / Weizmann Institute R&D deal; New Global AI Summit dates
Good morning,
Here's your weekly Middle East AI News!
Lots of news to share this week! This week saw one of the most significant deals announced following the Abraham Accord, with Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science announced a preliminary R&D agreement for AI.
Meanwhile, as mentioned in last week's newsletter, four startup investments by ADQ’s Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI) fund were revealed over the past few weeks. This week saw Indian ecommerce group EkAnek added to the list, while AI-powered edtech platform Cuemath is thought to be in talks to secure AWI funding for its new C series round (see story below).
And next month's Global AI Summit, organised by the Saudi Data and AI Authority, or SDAIA, will be now be held virtually 21-22 October (not 6-8 October as previously announced). The event is being held under the theme of AI for the Good of Humanity.
Scroll down for these stories and more.
Have a great weekend!
/Carrington
Abraham Accord
MBZUAI signs first higher education co-operation plan between UAE and Israel — www.thenational.ae
#Israel #UAE #R&D- Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science announced a preliminary agreement this week to collaborate on AI R&D. (The National)
Abu Dhabi tech firm Group 42 to open office in Israel — www.thenational.ae
#Israel #UAE #AI - Group 42, an Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud computing company, will open a wholly-owned subsidiary in Israel. The new office will allow it to access Israeli technologies and talent and help Israeli companies expand their operations in the Middle East region. (The National)
Startup News
Falcon Edge to lead Cuemath’s $40 million Series C round — entrackr.com
#UAE #India #funding - Google-backed, AI-powered edtech platform Cuemath is thought to be raising a $40-45 million Series C round and is in talks with fund manager Falcon Edge Capital about investment from Abu Dhabi’s $300 million Alpha Wave Incubation. (Entrackr)
Rology raises $860,000 in pre-Series A — www.wamda.com
#Egypt #funding - Egypt-based healthtech startup Rology, has raised $860,000 pre-Series A investment in a round led by Egypt-based HIMangel with participation from Dubai Angel Investors (DAI), Japan-based the Asia Africa Investment & Consulting (AAIC) and Saudi Arabia’s Athaal group. (Wamda)
Doha-based sportstech startup launches AI-backed smart clothing — menafn.com
#Qatar #sports - Doha-based sports technology startup Torq Labs has developed an AI-backed smart clothing which aims to do the tracking job without the hassle of putting on bulky devices and trackers. (The Peninsula)
R&D
CIT Ministry, Alexandria University cooperate on applied research projects using technology — dailynewsegypt.com
#Egypt #R&D - The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology’s Center for Applied Innovation has signed a cooperation agreement with Alexandria University’s Smart Infrastructure Research Center to implement applied research projects using emerging technologies. (Daily News Egypt)
QU designs food, drug delivery and disinfection robot — menafn.com
#Qatar #R&D - Qatar University's College of Engineering (QU-CENG) announced that a team from the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department (MIE) designed a hospital robot that can deliver food and medicine to patients as well as disinfect air and surfaces. (The Peninsula)
AI Skills
Nine in 10 UAE firms working to build AI skills, Microsoft says — www.thenational.ae
#UAE #skills - Ninety three per cent of UAE companies are actively developing the artificial intelligence skills of their workforce, matching the global average, according to Microsoft. About 78% of respondents said they have already benefitted from AI reskilling programmes. (The National)
Healthcare
Dubai’s AI-powered centre screens over 1,500 people for residence visa purposes — gulfnews.com
#UAE #healthcare - A total of 1,589 customers benefited from the services at Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA’s) ‘Smart Salem’ AI-powered medical fitness screening centre this year. (Gulf News)
Aviation
Etihad will use AI to reduce food waste on flights — www.thenational.ae
#UAE #Singapore #aviation - Etihad Airways is to use computer vision and machine learning to cut down on the volume of food wasted on flights. The project is in partnership with Lumitics, a Singapore food technology start-up. (The National)
Government
Egypt pens deals with international firms for AI projects — www.zawya.com
#Egypt #technology - The Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology signed agreements with French medical company TheraPanacea, document understanding solutions company Teklia, and the UK’s AI decision making technology developer InstaDeep. (Zawya)
Drones
Dubai Police select Draganfly to pilot new drone initiatives — www.globenewswire.com
#UAE #drones - The Unmanned Aerial Systems Center (UASC) of Dubai Police will use Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), and Unmanned Vehicle Systems (UVS) from Canadian company Draganfly to operational effectiveness. (Dragonfly)
Drones could be used to light up dark accident sites in UAE — www.khaleejtimes.com
#UAE #drones - Abu Dhabi Civil Defence is exploring the possibility of using drones to light up pitch-black accident sites. Recently, the team carried out an experiment to see how this innovative solution could work. (Khaleej Times)
UAE's adoption of drones in agriculture makes it one of the firsts in the world — www.zawya.com
#UAE #drones - In partnership with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Falcon Eye Drones Services (FEDS) has undertaken a massive exercise planting 250,000 Ghaf tree seeds and 6 million Samar tree seeds in 150 square kilometres of land in a few days — a process that used to take decades to complete through traditional farming methods. (Zawya)
Events
Global AI Summit to be held 21-22 October — www.thenational.ae
#Saudi #GlobalAISummit - The inaugural edition of the Global AI Summit, organised by the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), will be held virtually on October 21-22 under the theme of AI for the Good of Humanity. (The National)
Artelligence Forum returns in new virtual format — www.khaleejtimes.com
#UAE #Artelligence - Artelligence Forum returns with world-class AI brains and unique energy that it is renowned for in a brand-new immersive virtual format. The event is scheduled to take place on 22-23 September. (Khaleej Times)
SDAIA launches NEOM innovation challenge - Saudi Gazette — www.saudigazette.com.sa
#Saudi #GlobalAISummit - Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has announced the "NEOM Challenge", a SR500,000 ($133,000) prize university competition. The NEOM Challenge one of the tracks of this year’s Global Artificial Intelligence Summit to be held next month. (Saudi Gazette)
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About Carrington Malin — www.carringtonmalin.com
Carrington Malin is a UAE-based entrepreneur, marketer and writer who focuses on emerging technologies.