Synapse Analytics raises $2m; Aramco, Cognite in new data venture
Good morning!
Here’s your roundup of this week’s AI and emerging tech stories (a little later than usual, due to work pressures!).
Among this week's news is ADQ's new R&D lab in Abu Dhabi, backed by an initial $27 million in funding; DEWA's new Smart Grid report; a new industrial big data joint venture between Aramco and Cognite; and the news that Mohamed bin Zayed University for Artificial Intelligence now ranks among the best computer science universities in the world.
Scroll down for more AI and emerging tech news from around the region.
Meanwhile, Google and Economist Impact (part of The Economist group), launched 'The Future of AI in the Middle East' report this week (PDF). The report's top finding is that the MENA region is estimated to derive $320 billion in economic value from AI by 2030.
Sound familiar? It is, of course, the estimate originally made by PWC in its 2018 report '$320 billion by 2030? - The potential impact of AI in the Middle East' (PDF). Congrats to Google and the diligent team of analysts and researchers at The Economist for 'finding' that!
Stay safe and have a great day!
/Carrington
Startups
AI startup Synapse Analytics raises $2 million pre-Series A round — www.wamda.com
#Egypt #funding - #AI tech startup Synapse Analytics, has raised $2 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Egypt Ventures, The startup's platform helps to build trust between AI and businesses trying to adopt machine learning. (Wamda)
Industry 4.0
Aramco and Cognite join forces in new data venture — www.businesswire.com
#Saudi #BigData - Energy giant Aramco and global industrial SaaS and IoT company Cognite have announced a new joint venture, CNTXT, to support the digitalisation of Saudi Arabia's industrial sector. (BusinessWire)
MoIAT, EDB, EDGE Group sign joint agreement to boost manufacturing in defence sector — wam.ae
#UAE #defence - The UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT), Emirates Development Bank (EDB), and EDGE Group have signed a mutual agreement to support the Group's manufacturing development, in line with the UAE’s Industry 4.0 programme. (Emirates News Agency)
UAE unveils manufacturing plan to harness technology of Fourth Industrial Revolution — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #4IR - 25 new Industry 4.0 technology pilot projects were launched at a meeting of the UAE's Champions 4.0 Network last week, an industry group set up by the Ministry of Industry & Advanced Technology to help bring Industry 4.0 technology and best practices to the industrial sector. (The National)
UAE MoIAT, and MBZUAI launch training program on AI industry applications — www.zawya.com
#UAE #training - Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) collaborates with Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) to boost national industrial capacity in 4IR technologies. (Zawya)
R&D
ADQ launches Growth Lab to support R&D in tech with $27.2m planned investment — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #investment - Abu Dhabi investment company ADQ has launched the ADQ Growth Lab to support tech R&D. With initial funding of AED 100 million ($27.2m) to fund testbed projects, ADQ will later allocate more funds for AI and automation proof-of-concepts and pilots. (The National)
Education
MBZUAI ranked among world's top computer science institutions — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #education - The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi has been ranked among the world's top institutions for computer science. CSRankings rated MBZUAI as the 127th in the world. (The National)
NEOM appoints founding president of its innovation-focused university — www.arabnews.com
#Saudi #education - NEOM has appointed Dr. Andreas Cangellaris as the founding president of NEOM U – the megacity city’s first university. The university will leverage next-generation educational technologies with on-site and online learning. (Arab News)
“One Million Arab Coders” achieves quantum leaps in empowering Arab youth — www.zawya.com
#UAE #coding - Since its launch in 2017, the One Million Arab Coders (OMAC) initiative has enrolled more than one million Arabs from 80 countries to learn programming through five million hours of study, providing 76,000 training workshops, while granting 1,500 scholarships. (Zawya)
Bahrain Airport Services signs MoU with NVTC — www.tradearabia.com
#Bahrain #training - Bahrain Airport Services (BAS) has signed an MoU with the Nasser Vocational Training Centre (NVTC) to help develop the company's AI proficiency. (Trade Arabia)
Robotics
Americana to become first operator in MENA to use robotics in kitchens — www.caterermiddleeast.com
#Kuwait #catering - Americana Restaurants, the master franchisee in the MENA region for KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardee’s, Krispy Kreme, has entered into a partnership agreement with Miso Robotics for robotics and intelligent automation. (Caterer Middle East)
QF partner Texas A&M at Qatar mentors Qatari teams — www.zawya.com
#UAE #USA #robotics - A STEM expert from Texas A&M University at Qatar, a Qatar Foundation partner university, mentored middle and high school students for the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) world championships that were held in recently in Houston, Texas. (Zawya)
Healthcare
Egypt uses AR to promote medical tourism — www.al-monitor.com
#Egypt #medicaltourism - The General Authority for Health Care will use 'metaverse technology' to promote its medical tourism project as Egypt’s tourism sector is trying to recover from Covid pandemic losses. (Al Monitor)
Security
Dubai Police offers training courses in drone and IoT forensics — www.arabianbusiness.com
#UAE #IoT - Dubai Police is offering training courses and IoT forensics for students and experts from all over the world. The Dubai Police International Centre of Forensic Sciences (ICFS) will be offering six specialised training courses across various forensic science disciplines. (Arabian Business)
Smart Cities
DEWA launches Smart Grid Report 2022 — www.zawya.com
#UAE #smartgrid - Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has launched its Smart Grid Report 2022. The report provides details about DEWA’s smart grid and the role of a smart grid in the development of a smart city. (Zawya)
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About Carrington Malin — www.carringtonmalin.com Carrington Malin helps large organisations, digital brands and fast growing tech ventures with brand, communications and go-to-market strategies.