ABU DHABI // A "thinking" computer system, which famously defeated two former champions on the American game show Jeopardy, will now be able to help UAE businesses reach their full potential.
Watson, IBM’s question-answering machine, will be used by Mubadala and its partners to drive innovative projects across the region.
On Monday, at New York University Abu Dhabi, to coincide with UAE Innovation Week, IBM and Mubadala created a new body – Cognit Technology Solutions – to bring Watson’s brainpower to local industries, entrepreneurs, app developers, and start-ups.
Watson can process voice and text to interpret data and answer queries, providing applications in fields such as health care, retail, education and government services.
“Cognit will enable technological innovation all around us, providing Watson technology to local forward-thinking organisations across multiple sectors,” said Homaid Al Shemmari, chief executive of aerospace and engineering services at Mubadala.
“The joint venture is a significant addition to Mubadala’s ICT portfolio and fortifies our ambition to develop the UAE as a regional ICT hub.”
Watson made its mark in 2011 when it competed on the trivia game show Jeopardy, beating two former human champions to receive the first place prize of US$1 million (Dh3.67m). To compete on the show, Watson's programmers gathered 200 million pages of content, structured and unstructured, taking up four terabytes of disk space.
IBM is working to expand Watson’s knowledge across areas including health care, law, education, insurance and finance, as well as teaching the system languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese and Arabic.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
RESULT
Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2
Arsenal: Aubameyang (13')
Chelsea: Jorginho (83'), Abraham (87')
IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.