The UAE government is constantly evaluating opportunities to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and its uses in various key strategic sectors in the market. Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, highlighted the importance and active role the UAE government is taking to realize the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
A recent step in this direction has come with a partnership with EY MENA. The AI Ministry has signed a MOU (memorandum of understanding) with EY to launch ‘Think AI’, a series of roundtables, workshops and panel discussions which will see the participation of more than 100 government officials, representatives from the private sector and experts from local and international organizations.
The AI Minister said that global governments realize the importance of deploying AI and its positive implications towards revolutionizing government services as well as its effects towards enhancing key strategic sectors that will ultimately reinforce its position on the global map. The UAE government is very much working towards accelerating the pace of AI adoption through strategic partnerships with both the public and private sectors.
In line with the growth of the artificial intelligence industry, with value estimated to reach 300 billion dollars by the year 2026, and an industry growth of 38.8 percent in the next seven years, the UAE government aims to be one of the most advanced countries in the adoption and deployment such technology, realizing its positive revolutionary change.
Global Center for AI
The roundtable meetings organized by ‘Think AI’ at the UAE Government Accelerator situated at Emirates Towers in Dubai aim to develop comprehensive dialogs and ideas that support the UAE’s efforts towards accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence in various key sectors such as Infrastructure, governance and legal legislation, the development of appropriate infrastructure, and the strengthening the countries position as a global hub for artificial intelligence.
“EY is very proud to be working with His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence to accelerate the adoption of AI across the UAE and further benefit the region. AI is among the most transformative technology of our time with rapid developments across machine learning, data mining, and cognitive computing,” said Wasim Khan, MENA Advisory Leader, EY.
He explained harnessing the power of AI will be a game-changer for both governments and businesses alike.
“The AI roundtables we will co-host with the Government Accelerators would be the first of its kind in Dubai; with the objective of identifying mechanisms for government, private sector, and tech startups to seamlessly collaborate around the A.I agenda. We will explore these concepts using our leading hedge innovation hub – Wavespace – in order to facilitate the rapid development of differentiating prototypes towards achieving the objectives of the UAE Centennial 2071 Plan,” he added.
The first roundtable will focus on developing national talents and attracting talented AI experts. The second roundtable will discuss the mechanism of infrastructure development and availability that supports the adoption of AI in the UAE. The third roundtable highlights how to improve trustability and acceptance of AI. The fourth roundtable looks into what a best-in-class AI infrastructure looks like. The fifth roundtable discusses the plans to develop and issue UAE national standards for AI technology.
