Egypt, represented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), chaired the Third Session of the Arab Artificial Intelligence (AI) Working Group, which was formed by virtue of a decree by the Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers (ATICM) of the League of Arab States (LAS).
The session was held on December 1-2 and was hosted by the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) at its headquarters in New Alamein City.
The session was attended by several Arab countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Oman, Palestine, Kuwait and Yemen, as well as representatives from the ICT Development Department and AASTMT. Other countries joined via videoconference, namely the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Algeria and Qatar, in addition to representatives from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Arab Regional Office.
The session discussed the draft of the unified Arab strategic vision on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the outline that the Group members agreed upon, before presenting it during ATICM meeting, which will be held this month. The session comprised a visit to the AI Lab at AASTMT.
Moreover, the Academy organized a tour for the Group members in New Alamein City, one of the fourth generation and smart cities in Egypt. The City was built within the framework of the government’s approach to promote and build smart cities nationwide.
It is worth noting that based on the recommendations made by the Group during its previous session, two new representatives were nominated and appointed, bringing the total number of the Group representatives to four, from countries including the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Palestine.
On the sidelines of the session and within the framework of MCIT participation in ITU-UNESCO Regional Digital Inclusion Week for Arab States 2021, which was held on November 28 – December 2, MCIT and LAS Secretariat General co-organized a roundtable discussion titled “AI in Arab States: Developing a Common Arab AI Strategy.” The aim was to explain the idea behind a common Arab AI strategy, its objectives, and how to leverage it.
One of the key topics discussed at the roundtable was AI-enabled Arabic language processing. The roundtable brought together speakers from Arab countries and international organizations, including ITU and UNESCO, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and academia.
