Saudi approves national AI strategy; NEOM picks Bechtel for infrastructure
Good morning!
Here’s your weekly roundup of Middle East AI News!
News abounds this week about Saudi Arabia's King Salman Bin Abdulaziz approval of the national artificial intelligence strategy. However, I wasn't happy with any of the stories I found on the topic so I wrote my own here.
The Saudi Press Agency published comments made by the president of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and these were picked up by other media across the region. The bottom line is that the Saudi National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence developed by the SDAIA is now approved by the King and will be implemented, but no details have yet been publicly revealed.
Also two interesting events launched this week, LEAP 2021 and Step Anywhere (24-26 August) - scroll down for details. Meanwhile, sources tell me that Riyadh's Global AI Summit may now be postponed until 2021.
Stay safe and have a great weekend!
/Carrington
AI Policy
Saudi national AI strategy approved by King Salman — www.carringtonmalin.com
#Saudi #AIstrategy - King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has approved the Saudi National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence, which has been prepared over the past year by Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA). (Carrington Malin)
Egypt takes great steps to implement its artificial intelligence strategy: Minister — www.egypttoday.com
#Egypt #AIstrategy - Communications Minister Amr Talaat said that Egypt has taken great steps as regards implementing its national strategy for AI. Talaat was speaking during a regional virtual meeting on the first draft of the Arab Recommendation on the Ethics of AI. (Egypt Today)
Smart Cities
Saudi Arabia's NEOM picks Bechtel for NEOM smart city utilities and transport contracts — www.zawya.com
#Saudi #NEOM - NEOM Co. has awarded a contract to US-based Bechtel for executive project management work on the development of the primary, base infrastructure for NEOM as the giga-project advances work to create the world's leading destination to attract talent and investment. (Zawya)
Ecommerce
Amazon Project Zero launches in the UAE and Saudi Arabia alongside five other countries worldwide — www.zawya.com
#Saudi #UAE #IP - Amazon has expanded its anti-counterfeit Project Zero project to seven new countries including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Leveraging machine learning, Project Zero ensures that customers always receive authentic goods when shopping on Amazon. (Zawya)
Education
First class shapes up at Abu Dhabi's artificial intelligence university — www.thenational.ae
#UAE #education - A tralblazing group of 100 graduate-level research students will begin their studies at Abu Dhabi's Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in January. The inaugural class of students come from 31 countries and will pursue master's and doctoral degrees. (The National)
100 Emiratis set to excel in AI, coding and cybersecurity — www.gulftoday.ae
#UAE #education - Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) and Emirates Talent Association celebrated graduation of the 4th batch of “Emirati Programmer” this week. The completion of the programme paves the way for 100 graduates to excel in the fields of coding, AI and cybersecurity. (Gulf Today)
Smart Farming
Egypt to introduce artificial intelligence in irrigation water management — www.egypttoday.com
#Egypt #smartfarming - The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and the Ministry of Communications and IT signed a cooperation protocol to upgrade the technology infrastructure of the former over two years. (Egypt Today)
Events
STEP Conference is going online this August, so here's what's happening — stepfeed.com
#MENA #technology - STEP Conference is organising its first full-fledged online event under the name of "STEP Anywhere". The first edition of the virtual event will take place from 24-26 August and will include Step X, covering the future of emerging technologies and smart cities. (StepFeed)
Saudi Arabia to host major global tech event with aims to boost foreign investment — gulfnews.com
#Saudi #events - Saudi Arabia has revealed plans to host a landmark technology event of national importance that supports the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 for a knowledge-based economy. LEAP will have 14 exhibition areas with a focus on AI and other emerging technologies. (Gulf News)