The National Council for Artificial Intelligence (AI) has convened its second meeting, chaired by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat. The meeting was held online and was attended by the Council members and a number of experts in different areas.

The meeting discussed the National Strategy for AI that aims to implant technology and use AI applications to attain Egypt’s development goals in vital areas, such as agriculture, water management and rationalization, health, economic planning, culture, antiquities, industry and infrastructure. This is in addition to strengthening Egypt’s leadership at the regional level, and maintaining its major role in this area, at the international level.

The meeting highlighted the importance of using AI applications in the agriculture sector, which is one of the main economic sectors in Egypt. The meeting discussed using AI to overcome the challenges facing that vital sector, as well as rationalizing the use of water and pesticides and preserving soil fertility. This is in addition to improving the overall quality of crops and boosting the competitiveness of Egyptian products worldwide.

Moreover, the meeting addressed issues related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, especially since AI is one of its main technologies. The meeting also stressed the need to promote innovation and scientific research in AI and other technologies to keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its impact on Egypt.

During the meeting, the efforts of the Egyptian government with all its institutions were commended, with regards to AI, which helped Egypt move up 55 places on the Government AI Readiness Index to occupy the 56th rank out of 172 countries, compared to the 111th out of 194 countries, in 2019. The Council stressed the need to study the different pillars of the Index to achieve better progress next year, especially as the Egyptian government is currently attaching high priority to AI, as it is a key driver to digital transformation in Egypt.

The National Council for AI was formed by virtue of the decree issued by the Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in November 2019. The aim was to govern the National Strategy for AI through coordinating between the involved parties to come up with a unified strategy that reflects the priorities of the government and those parties in using AI. The Council oversees the implementation, following up on and updating the Strategy according to the global developments.