Dubai announces blueprint for AI impact

New blueprint for artificial intelligence will align all AI initiatives under Dubai's goals

#Dubai #strategy - The Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council. His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has announced the new Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence. The blueprint will align all of the emirate's AI initiatives and investments under one strategic plan, with a focus on harnessing AI to enhance the well-being of Dubai's residents. The plan follows many announcements of AI initiatives by different government and public sector organisations over the past few years. The blueprint also supports D33, the Dubai Economic Agenda announced in 2023 to generate an annual contribution of AED 100 billion ($27b) to the emirate’s economy from digital transformation.

SO WHAT? - Dubai’s technology ecosystem has become a global hub for companies, entrepreneurs and top talent focused on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. The emirate was among the first in the world to encourage blockchain technology companies and over the past few years, it has made a name for itself as a emerging global hub for AI, blockchain, cryptocurrency and Web3 companies. Economic initiatives, digital transformation programmes, startup funding and industry incentives have previously been developed and implemented by different government departments, public authorities and free zones in Dubai. The new blueprint aims to align all of these under one master plan.

Key details of this announcement:

• A new Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence has been announced by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council.

• The blueprint is an annual plan focused on harnessing the potential of technology to achieve quality-of-life focused outcomes. The plan also aims to create an attractive environment for AI companies and global talent.

• Four strategic pillars were announced under the blueprint: the best application of AI uses in strategic sectors; a global regulatory and governance sandbox for AI; leadership in adopting AI in government work and services; and creating the best environment for AI companies and talent.

• Previously announced AI initiatives and programmes will be aligned under one unified strategy, such as the Dubai AI and Web3 Campus, and the Artificial Intelligence and Coding Licence announced by Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in 2022 (now superseded by the AI and Web 3.0 licence).

• The blueprint also takes into account government AI programmes, such as the Dubai Center for Artificial Intelligence (DCAI), which was launched last year as an expert resource for public sector entities, with a goal of fast-tracking AI adoption and innovation across the emirate. The centre has so far helped organise innovation programmes across public sector to identify opportunities and use cases for AI, which are then reviewed and supported by DCAI.

• This week’s announcement introduces three new initiatives: appointing Chief AI Officers in government entities across the emirate; the development of a comprehensive plan for attracting data centres to Dubai, to include allocating land to build them on; and the launch of the Artificial Intelligence Week for Schools.

• Meanwhile, Dubai already has the ability to provide regulatory sandbox licences for artificial intelligence via RegLab a federal regulatory laboratory established by Dubai Future Foundation in 2019, following a federal law issued in 2018 authorising the UAE Cabinet to grant temporary licences for the testing and vetting of innovations and future technologies.

ZOOM OUT - The United Arab Emirates was one of the first countries in the world to develop a national artificial intelligence strategy, announcing this in 2017, followed by the appointment of H.E. Sultan Omar AlOlama as the world’s first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence. Since then, the UAE has made a sustained effort to build capacity and readiness, identify opportunities and invest in AI at a federal level.

Meanwhile, individual emirates, led by Abu Dhabi and Dubai have also developed their own AI initiatives and programmes according to their specific goals, needs and resources. While Abu Dhabi has invested heavily in R&D and luring Fourth Industrial Revolution companies to manufacture in the emirate, Dubai has continued to build on its status as a global centre for technology, business, finance and logistics. The new Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence aims to validate its claim to be an attractive global hub for AI, demonstrating how it will capitalise on its strengths to move farther and faster than competitors.

IMO - Different government departments, public authorities and economic zones have announced a variety of different AI programmes and initiatives over the past few years. As a result, in particular from the point of view of global AI companies trying to assess Dubai’s suitability, it can sometimes be difficult to remember which programme falls under which umbrella. By aligning all these under the Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence, the emirate is making it easier for all stakeholders to understand Dubai’s AI strategy, easier to leverage synergies and share best practices between different Dubai organisations, and easier to plan further initiatives that can have the greatest impact on the whole ecosystem. Overall, the blueprint is an opportunity to align efforts and further accelerate change.

Read more about other Dubai technology strategies:

• Dubai's metaverse strategy (Middle East AI News)

• Dubai's new robotics play (Middle East AI News)

• Dubai launches new drone initiative (Middle East AI News)