World Summit AI to debut in Doha as region's AI adoption accelerates
World Summit AI debuts in Doha, with 80+ international speakers
#Qatar #events - The first ever World Summit AI in the Middle East and North Africa is to take place in Qatar next week. Organised by UK-based media and events group InspiredMinds with the support of Qatar's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and with IBM and PwC as headline partners, World Summit AI - Qatar takes place on December 10th and 11th at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre. With nearly 100 expert speakers and tracks addressing AI innovation, governance, societal impact and industry use cases, the summit will also shine a light on artificial intelligence’s role in Qatar’s 2030 National Vision. Middle East AI News is a Community Partner of the World Summit AI - Qatar.
SO WHAT? - Artificial intelligence has rapidly moved from being a specialised topic of interest to a relative few, to one that is now placed at the top of the agenda for Middle East private and public sector organisations, government policy and education. PwC estimates that AI could contribute $320 billion to the Middle East economy by 2030. After a growing number of international AI events taking place in Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the past few years, next week’s World Summit AI highlights the increased focus on, and investment in AI across the region.
Here are some key details about the World Summit AI - Qatar:
World Summit AI - Qatar takes place on December 10th and 11th at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre, organised by InspiredMinds with the support of Qatar's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and with IBM as Headline Strategic Partner, and PwC as Headline Partner.
With an event theme of Putting Humanity at the Heart of AI, the World Summit AI - Qatar will host more than than 100 conference sessions across 10 tracks and 4 stages, including a special focus on enterprise AI adoption, ethics and governance, and industry-specific sessions on topics such as Intelligent Health.
The Summit will also shine a light on Qatar’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, how AI supports Qatar’s 2030 National Vision and the country’s artificial intelligence R&D efforts.
Notable speakers include: Gary Marcus, renowned scientist, AI expert and Professor of Psychology and Neural Science [Emeritus] at NYU; Major General Khalid Al Razooqi, Director of AI, Dubai Police; Janet Adams, COO of SingularityNET; Dr. Roman Yampolskiy, AI safety expert and Associate Professor at University of Louisville; and Shukri Eid, IBM VP & General Manager for the Gulf, Levant and Pakistan.
Aligning with the 2030 National Vision, Qatar is rapidly emerging as a prospective AI powerhouse through strategic investments and research-driven collaborations, enhancing public services and driving economic growth.
Middle East AI News is a Community Partner of World Summit AI - Qatar.
SOVEREIGN AI - Many Arab states have now pinpointed sovereign artificial intelligence as an area of investment to ensure that the Arabic language and Arab identity does not get marginalised by the proliferation of mainly English language Generative AI. Qatar too has set sovereign AI goals and has been investing in AI research and development. In May this year Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani announced the launch of Al Fanar (tr. lighthouse) Arabic large language model project.
The FANAR research project is squarely focused on developing a world-class AI model, supporting the usage and preservation of the Arabic language and the cultural identify of Qatar and the wider Arab world. The Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) is leading the project. Although the finer details remain shrouded in secrecy, the FANAR LLM is expected to be one of the biggest Arabic-centric large language models to be developed in the Middle East.
LINKS
Qatar National AI Strategy (Download, PDF)
Also read this World Summit AI story:
Qatar launches Fanar sovereign large language model (Middle East AI News)