UAE's Future Possibilities Index; MBZUAI launches new centres
Middle East AI News weekly news digest...
Good morning!
Here’s your weekly Middle East AI News!
Lots going on this week! And running a little late today trying to pack in all the news!
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are presenting national initiatives at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, including the announcement of a new ‘Future Possibilities Index’ by the Emirates.
Meanwhile, Oman’s Civil Aviation Authority has announced some details of its drone management platforms. And Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence announces new specialised centres with IBM and Israeli medical AI startup Quris AI.
Scroll to the end to watch WSJ’s video report on U.S. Navy’s Task Force 59, which is tasked with accelerating the navy’s adoption of AI and unmanned systems.
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Wishing you all the best for 2023!
/Carrington
FEATURED
Making the impossible possible
#Davos #FuturePossibilitiesIndex - This week, the UAE announced the launch of a new Future Possibilities Index at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Although the index is a great PR stunt, the new Future Possibilities Index also shows the global community where the Emirates is headed and how it's really making the ‘impossible’ possible. (Middle East AI News)
Startups
G42’s Presight AI to fund startups in Central Asia
#UAE #funding - Presight AI, G42's big data analytics and AI company, has signed an MoU with Astana Hub, the largest international technology park for IT startups in Central Asia, to power venture financing deals for startups. The MoU is an extension of an agreement signed by G42 and Kazakhstan's Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry in 2022. (Zawya)
Masdar City, MBZUAI, and The Catalyst join hands to form accelerator for AI startups
#UAE #accelerators - Masdar City, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), and The Catalyst, the region’s first clean technology startup accelerator, plan to open an AI and clean energy innovation centre and launch a new accelerator program focused on AI start-ups (to include) clean tech, smart city technology and autonomous transportation. (Zawya)
Saudi Arabia creating perfect environment for AI entrepreneurs to thrive
#Saudi #startups - Saudi Arabia was creating the perfect environment for entrepreneurs and innovators to thrive in the digital and artificial intelligence sector, according to Elina Idrisova, a leading Russian data science expert. (Arab News)
Education
MBZUAI, IBM launch AI Centre of Excellence
#UAE #R&D - Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and IBM, formally launched an AI Centre of Excellence this week. The Centre will develop carbon-neutral solutions to existing energy supplies, combat climate change, and further natural language processing (NLP) for Arabic dialects. (Emirates News Agency)
Samsung to train over 100 UAE residents in AI at second Samsung Innovation Campus
#UAE #training - Samsung Gulf Electronics has announced the final list of 108 candidates for the second edition of the Samsung Innovation Campus, shortlisted from an initial pool of 780 youth applicants representing 20 nationalities from across the UAE. (Zawya)
AI Committee chairman downplays fears over ChatGPT misuse
#Qatar #ChatGPT - Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Committee at Qatar’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Hassan Jassim Al Sayed downplayed the fears about ChatGPT, pointing out that it depends on information already available to the public on the World Wide Web. (The Peninsula)
KAUST Academy graduates to attend AI summer camp in Oxford
#Saudi #education - The top students from KAUST Academy's AI programme are to be invited for 8-week long summer program to take place at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford and at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The Saudi university launched specialised training in AI for undergraduate in partnership with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) in 2022. (Saudi Gazette)
Life Sciences
MBZUAI and Quris-AI to launch world-class Bio-AI center in Abu-Dhabi
#UAE #bioAI - Quris-AI and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) signed an agreement during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) to develop a world-class Bio-AI center in Abu Dhabi. The state-of-the-art facility will support the development of personalized medications, tailored specifically to the diverse populations of the MENA region. (MBZUAI)
Robotics
Robodog joins Museum of the Future’s growing robot community
#UAE #MuseumoftheFutrure - Dubai’s Museum of the Future has added one of U.S. robotics design firm Boston Dynamics' robodogs to its collection of smart robots. The robot dog, which has 3D vision and moves using 17 joints, will join Ameca, the museum’s AI-powered humanoid, along with Bob the robot barista and other robots at the museum. (Zawya)
Environment
Drones scatter one million mangrove seeds in Abu Dhabi
#UAE #seeddispersal - Drones have dispersed one million mangrove seeds in Abu Dhabi, according to the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD). The drone seeding programme is part of the first phase of a drone mangrove plantation project that supports the Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative. The dispersal took place over several days at different locations around Al Mirfa in Al Dhafra region. (The National)
FIFA World Cup 2022
How Darktrace AI helped protect the World Cup from cyber disruption
#Qatar #casestudy - "Explainable AI really came into its own during the World Cup, rapidly synthesizing information about disparate events, and generating alerts in seconds about emerging threats. That meant the team had the information they needed at their fingertips in an easily-understand format." (DarkTrace)
Davos 2023
Here's how Saudi Arabia is investing in the technology of the future
#Saudi #Davos2023 - Saudi Arabia has recently launched several initiatives aimed at making the country one of the most technologically advanced in the world. Infrastructure projects include the Saudi Vision Cable, the first high-capacity submarine cable in the Red Sea. Investment in the research, development and innovation sector is forecasted to increase the nation’s GDP by $16 billion by the end of the decade. (WEF)
UAE launches Future Possibilities Index in Davos
#UAE #neweconomy - The UAE launched a new Future Possibilities Index in Davos this week, to help business leaders and policymakers track disruptive trends and transformations and find opportunities to boost economic growth. (The National)
Drones
Oman's CAA to introduce new online platform for drone licencing
#Oman #regulation - Oman's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is developing an online platform (Tahleeq) to register and manage licences for operating unmanned aircraft (drones) for various purposes in the country. The project includes a system to manage and control drone movements. (Oman Observer)
Defence
Navy’s Task Force 59 to keep tabs on Iran with armada of drones
#Bahrain #TaskForce59 - The U.S. Naval Forces Central Command’s Task Force 59 began as an idea in a two-page white paper published 17 months ago. As a result, Naval Forces Central Command officially stood up Task Force 59 in September 2021. Today, the 5th Fleet and its regional allies hope to deploy a fleet of 100 unmanned vessels by this summer. (The Drive)
Iranian Army in possession of precision-striking drones
#Iran #UAVs - According to an Iranian news agency, Iranian Air Force Deputy Commander for Coordination Brigadier General Mehdi Hadian confirmed that Iranian Army's Air Force now has UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) armed with with precision missiles. (FARS)
Lebanon army shoots at Israeli drone
#Israel #Lebanon #UAVs - The Lebanese army said that its troops shot at an Israeli drone that crossed into Lebanon's southern airspace, although the drone was apparently not brought down. Israel regularly flies military aircraft in Lebanon's airspace without permission but it is rare for troops to target them. (Reuters)
Drone attack signals ongoing threat to Khor Mor
#Iraq #UAVs - An improvised explosive device dropped from a drone struck the Khor Mor gas field in Iraqi Kurdistan on Friday January 13th, but caused no damage or casualties, industry and government sources said. (Iraq Oil Report)
Video of the week
Drone Boats: Inside the U.S. Navy’s latest unmanned AI tech
WATCH THE VIDEO (8 mins)
#Bahrain #UAS - Wall Street Journal journalist Shelby Holliday reports on the activities and role of U.S. Navy Task Force 59 during last month's Digital Horizon military exercise (WSJ)