New Saudi data protection law; Dubai issues healthcare AI policy
Good morning!
Here’s your weekly roundup of Middle East AI News!
Following the announcement that the UAE will soon have a data protection law, Saudi Arabia this week announced its own data protection law. According to the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, the new law will be implemented within six months.
Otherwise, we have news from the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) trade fair in London, Dubai Health Authority's new AI policy for the emirate's healthcare system, plus a few other bits and pieces.
Stay safe and have a great weekend!
/Carrington
Data Policy
KSA approves new law to protect personal data — www.saudigazette.com.sa
#Saudi #datalaw - Saudi Arabia has announced its new personal Data Protection Law, aiming to safeguard personal data and prevent collection and processing without user consent. Approved by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, the new law is set to be implemented within the next six months. (Saudi Gazette)
R&D
Deal signed in Bahrain to boost R&D — www.zawya.com
#Bahrain #R&D - The Nasser Vocational Training Centre (NVTC) and Derasat (Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies) signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at uniting efforts to establish the Nasser AI R&D Centre. (Gulf Daily News)
UAE, Israel convene their first joint virtual conference on R&D — wam.ae
#Israel #UAE #R&D - UAE Minister of State for Advanced Technology, Sarah bint Youssef Al Amiri, and Israel's Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Orit Farkash-Hacohen, were among the speakers in the first Emirati-Israeli virtual conference on R&D held this week. The event was attended by representatives of scientific research institutions from the UAE and Israel. (Emirates News Agency)
Healthcare
Abu Dhabi's G42 Healthcare opens research subsidiary to focus on clinical trials — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #healthcare - G42 Healthcare, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's artificial intelligence and cloud computing company Group 42, has formed a contract research organisation (CRO) called Insights Research Organisation and Solutions (IROS) that will specialise in healthcare research and therapeutics. (The National)
Dubai Health Authority introduces AI policy for healthcare sector — www.wam.ae
#UAE #AIpolicy - Dubai Health Authority has announced the first AI Policy for healthcare in Dubai. Developed by the authority's Informatics and Smart Health Department, the new policy recognises of the need for AI healthcare solutions to be safe and secure for patients. (Emirates News Agency)
Transport
Dubai transport authority's 'digital coach' trains hundreds of bus drivers — www.rta.ae
#UAE #transport - Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced that its Digital Coach, an AI-powered robot, had completed the training of 869 bus drivers at the Public Transport Agency. 60 training sessions were held since the outbreak of Covid-19 under the initiative, which was introduced in 2019. (RTA)
Construction
Robots scale new heights to build 78-floor luxury hotel in Dubai — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #robotics - A construction robot called RISE (Robotic Installation System for Elevators), manufactured by Schindler Group, has saved hundreds of man-hours and helped to accelerate the building of a 78-floor hotel in Dubai's Jumeirah Lakes Towers. The autonomous robot has been in use since January, scaling each floor to drill nine thousand holes for the construction of 14 elevators for the 340-metre building. (The National)
Atkins expands its AI & digital services — www.constructionweekonline.com
#UAE #digitalservices - Atkins, member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, is expanding its digital and services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the appointment of Marianna Imprialou as head of machine learning and AI. (Construction Week)
Finance
Jordan's Capital Bank hires Pepper — www.arabnews.com
#Jordan #robotics - Capital Bank has deployed four Softbank Robotics Pepper robots across its key branches in Jordan. The bank hired Saudi-based Proven Solution to deliver customer service solutions delivered via the robots and, according to the bank, the bilingual robots have already succeeded in reducing customer waiting time at branches. (Arab News)
Education
UAE AI CAMP 3.0 brings total student participation in the programme to 15,000 — wam.ae
#UAE #education - Over its three editions, the UAE AI CAMP, launched by the National Programme for AI, attracted more than 15,000 students. The third edition of the camp, held in cooperation with the National Programme for Coders, was held over the summer. (Emirates News Agency)
Defence
Saudi Arabia's new focus on defence R&D — www.arabnews.com
#Saudi #DSEI2021 - Saudi Arabia is to focus more defence spending on acquisitions, and research and development over the next decade, according to the governor of the Kingdom’s General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al-Ohali, speaking at the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) trade fair in London. (Arab News)
Israeli firm unveils armed robot to patrol borders — www.thenationalnews.com
#Israel #DSEI2021- An Israeli defence contractor Israel Aerospace Industries this week announced a semi-autonomous armed robot it says can patrol battle zones, track infiltrators and open fire. Drone technology is rapidly reshaping the modern battlefield, but critics fear that arming robots sets a dangerous precedent. (The National)
5th Fleet sets up task force to integrate AI and unmanned assets — www.janes.com
#Bahrain #5thfleet - US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) has will established a new task force to rapidly integrate unmanned systems and artificial intelligence (AI) with maritime operations in the 5th Fleet, which is headquartered in Bahrain. (Janes)
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