The Dubai Future Council on Artificial Intelligence Holds its First Meeting

Dubai: Chaired by HE Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, the Dubai Future Council on Artificial Intelligence discussed at its first meeting plans and trends to strengthen Dubai's position and leadership in future sectors and how the role of artificial intelligence will further enhance Dubai's status as a future global city.

One of 13 Councils launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Dubai Future Foundation, the Dubai Future Council on Artificial Intelligence aims to enhance public and private sector awareness on the importance of adopting technologies in vital sectors such as education, healthcare, entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as supporting research aimed at creating a legislative and regulatory environment that meets the needs of relevant stakeholders.

Omar Sultan Al Olama: Establishing new Business Models and Sectors Based on Artificial Intelligence

HE Omar Sultan Al Olama highlighted that the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, focuses on providing an encouraging environment and ecosystem for a sustainable knowledge-based economy that provides opportunities for startups and young talent to create businesses based on artificial intelligence and big data, hence developing various vital sectors in the emirate.

His Excellency pointed out the importance of employing modern technology in various economic, governmental and private sectors to establish new sectors, embrace ideas, foster talents as well as attract more investments from around the world.

Challenges and Regulations  

During the first council meeting, the members discussed the artificial intelligence landscape, key challenges facing the development of artificial intelligence both locally and globally, policies and regulations and reviewed prominent developments of artificial intelligence in governmental and economic sectors.

The Council is comprised of a number of government officials, experts, representatives of private companies and academic institutions. Chaired by His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and Deputy Managing Director of Dubai Future Foundation. The Council also include, Dr. Hamad Al Awar, Director of Pictures & Video Analysis, Forensic Science and Criminology Department at Dubai Police, Mohamed Bu Hamra, Senior Manager- Technology Business Solutions at DP World, Ronaldo Mouchawar, Co-founder of Souq.com & VP of Amazon MENA, Matthew Karau, Research Associate & Lecturer of Engineering Design at NYUAD, Dr. Oussama Khatib, Professor- Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, Oussama Berqi, Director of Engineering - Data Science & Data Platforms at Careem, Divyank Turakhia Founder of Media.net and a Serial Entrepreneur & Investor, Dr. Iyad Rahwan, Associate Professor of Media Arts & Sciences at the MIT Media Lab and Omar Dhalla, SVP Strategy and Solutions -Element AI

Incubators and Accelerators

Ronaldo Mouchawar, Co-founder of Souq.com & VP of Amazon MENA highlighted the importance of encouraging entrepreneurs and startups, both locally and globally to be part of the AI sector and better utilize such technology, as well as reviewing current incubators and accelerators and how to bridge the gap between those incubators and AI startups.

Various Opportunities

Dr. Oussama Khatib of Stanford University Talked about the importance of keeping the future generation in mind when it comes to deploying such technology, he said,“by collaborating with universities in the UAE and introducing AI in education, we thereby ensure better AI understanding and utilization”. He further added, “we need to allow and enable a more human-centric AI approach and foster potential collaborations on a global scale.”

Develop and Test Innovations

"Dubai has become a global center for the development and testing of innovations, and an integrated system of cooperation between government agencies, international companies and academic institutions should be established to strengthen this leadership," said Dr. Hamad Al Awar, Director of Pictures & Video Analysis, Forensic Science and Criminology Department at Dubai Police.

Attract Companies

"There is a lot of demand for artificial intelligence applications, so we need to develop policies that will enable the implementation and use of this technology in a smoother and easier way for companies that want to invest in artificial intelligence," said Mohamed Bu Hamra, Senior Manager- Technology Business Solutions at DP World Supportive Environment"The Dubai Future Council on Artificial Intelligence will require to focus creating the right ecosystem for AI in the UAE, as well as look into incentivizing and empowering global AI labs to open their facilities and R&Ds in the UAE” said Oussama Berqi, Director of Engineering at Careem 

Looking ahead and Future Foresight“The Council should focus on becoming a knowledge hub for AI in order to explore and anticipate the future of such technology and its implications on vital sectors” said Matthew Karau, Research Associate & Lecturer of Engineering Design at NYUAD Holistic Approach on AI "We need to develop a comprehensive vision of the artificial intelligence sector in Dubai, support the recruitment of its solutions and practical uses to meet the needs of different sectors, and focus on the main objectives of artificial intelligence applications in order to attract talent and companies over the next 10 years," said Divyank Turakhia Founder of Media.net 

© Press Release 2019