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Medicus AI goes global; Smart glasses firm to unveil final product
Good morning,
Here's this week's roundup of Middle East AI News!
First, the bad news - organisers of the AI Everything Summit announced yesterday that the event will be postponed due to coronavirus concerns. The conference and exhibition was due to take place in Dubai on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
Scroll down for stories on AI healthcare startups, a new Saudi drone factory, Turkey's AI strategy, Ahram Online's interview with Affectiva CEO Rana El-Kaliouby and other news.
Have a great weekend!
/Carrington
Robotics
SABER Investment and Milrem Robotics collaborate to develop AVs for UAE — www.zawya.com
#UAE #defence #logistics - Milrem Robotics, an Estonian manufacturer of unmanned vehicles for defence and security forces, is collaborating with Abu Dhabi-based SABER Investment Company to develop robotic systems for customers in the UAE. (Zawya)
Healthcare
Doctors and AI provide tailored health advice on this app — www.thenational.ae
#UAE #Austria #healthcare - Starting in Dubai in 2015, Vienna-headquartered Medicus AI closed Series A funding of €5 million (AED 20.2m) last year, now has offices in Dubai, Paris, Berlin and Beirut and has reported annual revenue of almost €1m. (The National)
Final version of Saudi-led 'smart glasses' to be unveiled this month — www.healthcareitnews.com
#Saudi #UAE #healthcare - Saudi startup Amal Glass plans to use AI and machine learning to help thousands of blind and visually-impaired individuals in the region. Production of the company's smart AI-powered $1,500 glasses began in Dubai in January 2020. (Healthcare IT News)
National AI Strategy
Experts to map out Turkey's strategy on AI centered on ethics and data protection — www.dailysabah.com
#Turkey #AIpolicy - Turkey is soon expected to announce its roadmap to develop AI and set AI policy, in an intiative driven by The Presidency's Digital Transformation Office. (Daily Sabah)
Education
MBZUAI delegation discusses cooperation on AI with Egyptian Higher Education Institutions — wam.ae
#Egypt #UAE #education - A delegation from the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) the world’s first graduate-level, research-based AI university, led by Professor Ling Shao, Executive Vice President, recently met with Egypt’s educational institutions during a recent visit to the country. (WAM)
Saudi ministers inaugurate tech employment initiative — www.arabnews.com
#Saudi #education - Saudi Arabia's “Skills of the Future” initiative was launched by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology last week to help develop skills to meet the communications and technology market’s needs. The initiative aims to train 40,000 people and employ 20,000 people in the fields of communications and information technology. (Arab News)
Smart Cities
Saudi Dawiyat, ECDC to develop smart ICT infrastructure and services — saudigazette.com.sa
#Saudi #smartservices - Energy City Development Company (ECDC), the owner and developer of King Salman Energy Park (SPARK), and Integrated Dawiyat (Dawiyat) — wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Electricity Company — have signed an agreement to develop SPARK’s telecommunication infrastructure and associated smart services. (Saudi Gazette)
Defence
Saudi Arabia’s MODON signs agreement on drone project — www.arabnews.com
#Saudi #drones - The Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON) in Riyadh has signed a land-lease contract with INTRA Defense Technologies for the development of unmanned aircraft systems. (Arab News)
Interview
Rana El-Kaliouby says emotional AI is a multi-billion-dollar industry that will enhance people’s lives — english.ahram.org.eg
#Egypt #US #startups - Growing up in Cairo, Rana El-Kaliouby is an AI pioneer. She is the co-founder and CEO of Affectiva, a Boston-based emotion recognition AI startup. (Ahram Online)
Event Calendar
5 Mar - AI Lab Government Networking event - by ADDA - #Abu Dhabi
[postponed] 11-12 Mar - AI Everything Summit - #Dubai
19 Mar - AI Lab Government Networking event - by ADDA - #Abu Dhabi
30-31 Mar - Global AI Summit - #Riyadh