Good morning!
Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News!
Running a big late today due to a variety of technical difficulties! And also another bumper week for news across the region.
Highlights include the UAE AI minister being named in the TIME100/AI last week, the final version of the new Saudi Personal Data Protection Law, London’s CogX Festival, a massive blockchain hackathon in Egypt and two new events launched by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s new R&D institution, ADIA Lab!
Scroll down for much more AI news!
Thanks for reading!
/Carrington
TIME100/AI
UAE AI minister named in TIME100/AI
#UAE #TIME100/AI - H.E Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, has been named one of the 100 most influential figures in artificial intelligence, in a new TIME list, joining global technology leaders such as, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Tesla and X AI founder Elon Musk, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. Olama was appointed as Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence in 2017. See the list (Middle East AI News)
Generative AI
Saudi, UAE workers imagine invisible teammate!
#Saudi #UAE #GenAI - New research from Linkedin has found that 79% of employees in Saudi Arabia and 67% of those in the UAE believe that AI will bring significant change to their work within the next year. More than 80% believe that, in future, AI will act as their invisible teammate! (Fast Company ME)
Startups
Wa'ed Ventures co-leads Mighty Buildings VC round
#Saudi #USA #funding - Saudi Aramco's venture capital arm Wa'ed Ventures co-led Mighty Buildings' $52 million funding round together with BOLD Capital Partners. The 3D-printing construction technology firm will put the investment towards the launch of a next-gen modular homebuilding kit in North America and the Middle East. (TechCrunch)
CogX Festival
Jordan's Queen Rania challenges developers on ethics
#UK #Jordan #AIethics- Queen Rania Al Abdulla of Jordan admonished developers of AI for creating systems that do nothing to build empathy for those displaced and suffering around the world. Speaking at the CogX Festival, the Queen laid down a set of challenges for entrepreneurs and developers to boost human progress over the next 10 years. (The National)
TII's chief AI researcher emphasises safety at CogX Festival
#UK #UAE #safety - Dr Ebtesam Almazrouei, chief researcher the Al Cross-Centre Unit of the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi, emphasised access and safety in her address to delegates attending the CogX Festival in London. She also asserted that open-source software is the key to the future of artificial intelligence. (The National)
Data Law
SDIA publishes final PDPL
#Saudi #datalaw - The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), has published the final Personal Data Protection Law regulations. The PDPL comes into force on September 14th, however, businesses in the Kingdom will have a one-year grace period to comply with the new regulations. (SDIA - PDF)
DIFC enacts amended data protection regulations
#UAE #datalaw - Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has enacted amendments to the Data Protection Regulations. The amendments enhance the current data protection framework, keeping the Centre at the forefront of data protection in the region. (Emirates News Agency)
R&D
IIT-Delhi Abu Dhabi to open in January
#India #UAE #R&D - India’s leading technical education and research institution, the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi will open in Abu Dhabi in January 2024 (although its temporary facility). The IIT-Delhi Abu Dhabi (IIT-DAD) will being by offering select Master's courses. (Middle East AI News)
HBKU team creates football match prediction model
#Qatar #football - A research team from Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) College of Science and Engineering has created SoccerNet, the first deep learning model in the MENA region capable of predicting the result of a professional football match with a high rate of accuracy. The model was trained data from Qatar Stars League (QSL) matches between 2011 and 2022. (The Peninsula)
Industry 4.0
Rockwell opens Digital Center of Excellence in Al Khobar
#Saudi #automation - The world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation Rockwell Automation has opened a Digital Center of Excellence (CoE) in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. The CoE is dedicated to digital transformation in the process industries – oil and gas, mining, metals, and water. (Zawya)
Robotics
IQ Robotics signs robot deal with Brands For Less Group
#UAE #Saudi #robotics - UAE-based IQ Robotics, has signed a multi-million-dirham agreement with off-price retailer Brands For Less Group, to support its expansion into Saudi Arabia. As part of the deal, IQ Robotics will deploy 130 robots, to facilitate the efficient processing of omnichannel orders. (Zawya)
Startup Programmes
Egypt organises first national blockchain hackathon
#Egypt #blockchain - The first national blockchain hackathon for students and graduates will take place in 12 locations across Egypt later this month. The hackathon, which will focus on blockchain and Web3, is organised by Creativa Innovation Hubs, the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC), Pend, Giza Systems, the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), and Giza Systems Foundation. (MCIT)
Cop28 UAE TechSprint for global innovators launched
#UAE #COP28 - The UAE Central Bank, the Bank for International Settlements, the Emirates Institute of Finance and the Cop28 Presidency have launched the Cop28 UAE TechSprint. The competition will encourage global innovators from the public and private sectors to use technologies such as AI, blockchain and Internet of Things to tackle challenges in green and sustainable finance. (The National)
Urban Mobility
Dubai's Crown Prince approves marine transport plan
#UAE #AVs - H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, has approved the Dubai Marine Transport Master Plan 2030 developed by the Roads and Transport Authority. Plans include commercial operation of autonomous water taxis, or abra's, and manufacturing electric abras using using 3D printing. (Emirates News Agency)
Environment
Khalifa University to develop houbara robot
#UAE #conservation - Khalifa University of Science and Technology will develop a houbara robot for the Abu Dhabi-based, International Fund for Houbara Conservation. The robot will help in ecological study of the threatened species. Khalifa University will also develop computational models to analyse conservation data. (Emirates News Agency)
AI Diplomacy
UAE economy minister to meet SenseTime
#HongKong #UAE #Sensetime - The United Arab Emirates’ economy minister H.E Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri is meeting artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime in Hong Kong, during his visit to attend the Belt and Road Summit. The minister will also meet tech startups in Hong Kong Science Park. (SCMP)
Events
First ADIA Lab Symposium to take place in November
#UAE #R&D - ADIA Lab, the basic and applied research lab of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), will hold its first ADIA Lab Symposium on 7 and 8 November at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The symposium will examine how AI, data science and blockchain can be used to address key challenges in climate change and health sciences. Register here. (Linkedin)
Quantum for Quants conference planned for January
#UAE #quantumfinance - ADIA Lab, Imperial College London, Nanyang Technological University and ADGM Academy Research Centre have partnered to organise a Quantum for Quants conference (quantum computing in finance) to take place 22-24 January 2024. (ADGM Academy)