UAE drive towards autonomous vehicles; Riyadh third smartest G20 capital
Good morning!
Here’s your weekly roundup of Middle East AI News!
The UAE is moving closer to the commercial use of self-driving vehicles and autonomous delivery robots. Service robots are currently being used to deliver food orders at Expo 2020 Dubai (see newsletter 30 Sept), but no significant trial of delivery robots or self-driving vehicles has yet taken place in the UAE outside such a controlled environment.
Last week, Dubai's RTA revealed that new regulations for the commercial use of autonomous vehicles are in the works and will be issued in 2022. This could change everything. The Roads and Transport Authority, of course, ordered 4,000 robotaxis from GM's autonomous vehicle unit Cruise earlier this year, the first of which will hit Dubai’s roads in 2023.
During the past few days we've seen announcements of deals signed by Careem, Majid Al Futtaim and Noon with AV and robotics companies to develop autonomous delivery services, with a pilot service expected to be launched by Carrefour in early 2022.
So, does this mean that the UAE's streets will soon be full of autonomous vehicles? I believe we're going to see more deals like this, but there will need to be a lot more trials before any blanket permissions are given for commercial services. Introducing AV laws will be a great step forward and will pave the way for key players to fast-track new trials.
Read these stories and more below!
Stay safe and have a great weekend!
/Carrington
Autonomous Vehicles
Majid Al Futtaim signs agreement with Yandex to use robots to deliver Carrefour orders — www.zawya.com
#UAE #retail - Majid Al Futtaim has signed an agreement with Russian technology company Yandex to introduce autonomous delivery robots to improve last-mile delivery for retailer Carrefour. A pilot programme will begin in early 2022. (Zawya)
Three agreements to develop self-driving technology unveiled at Dubai event — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #AVs - Berkeley-based delivery robot startup Kiwibot, Chinese autonomous delivery vehicle startup Neolix and Moscow-headquartered Internet and technology company Yandex signed agreements to develop autonomous delivery solutions at the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport, which took place last week. (The National)
Startup News
Khalifa Fund, Stallion AI launch AI entrepreneur programme — www.zawya.com
#UAE #KhalifaFund - Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development and Stallion AI have announced the launch of the Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneur Programme (AIE), which - supported by a new community and marketplace platform - will empower 75 young entrepreneurs over the course of 9 weeks to build AI-first startups in the UAE. (Zawya)
Smart Cities
Riyadh 3rd smartest capital of G20 in 2021 IMD Index of Smart Cities — www.spa.gov.sa
#Saudi #SmartCities - Riyadh is the third-smartest city among the capitals of the G20 states, appearing 30th in the IMD Smart Cities Index for 2021. Seoul and London were the only G20 capitals to rank above it, coming in 13th and 22nd respectively. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi and Dubai both moved up the ranking, from 42 to 28, and from 43 to 29 respectively. (SPA)
Dubai Police to launch AI-enabled platform to support decision-making — www.khaleejtimes.com
#UAE #DubaiPolice - The Dubai Police Force has announced a strategic plan to establish a security analysis and forecasting centre, which will create an AI-enabled platform to provide decision support to police officers across the emirate. The force has made AI a special focus via its Strategic Plan for Artificial Intelligence (2018-21). (Khaleej Times)
SpaceTech
G42 and Yahsat to collaborate on remote sensing and AI enabled geospatial analytics — g42.ai
#UAE #remotesensing - Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud computing company G42 (Group 42) and Yahsat (Al Yah Satellite Communications Company) have signed an MoU to form a new collaboration focused on advancing remote sensing and geospatial capabilities in the UAE. (G42)
Education
MBZUAI welcomes business leaders to first executive AI course — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #training - Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) has welcomed the first 42 business and government leaders into its new 12-week executive programme. The programme aims to offer practical training on AI and build connections between the public and private sectors and the scientific community. (The National)
Qatar University opens AI Students Club — www.qu.edu.qa
#Qatar #education - Qatar University, a public research university in Qatar, has formed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Students Club. The club aims to provide students with a space for creativity, innovation and experimentation. (Qatar University)
AI Diplomacy
Egypt chairs meeting of Arab AI Working Group — mcit.gov.eg
#Egypt #diplomacy - Egypt's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) chaired the second meeting of the Arab AI Working Group, held on October 28, which aims to work towards a unified Arab strategic vision for AI. (MCIT)
Events
Khalifa University wins global bid to bring IROS Conference to Abu Dhabi in 2024 — www.ku.ac.ae
#UAE #events - Khalifa University of Science and Technology has won the right to host the Middle East’s first-ever IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), one of the world’s largest and most impactful robotics research conferences, in Abu Dhabi in 2024. (Khalifa University)
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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.