Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s biggest economy, launched its National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence as it looks to position the kingdom among the top 15 nations in the field of AI by 2030.
Abdullah Bin Sharaf Alghamdi, president of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), unveiled the strategy during the opening of the Global AI Summit in Riyadh on Tuesday.
“This is a strategy with a bold vision to make Saudi Arabia the place where data and AI innovations will become reality,” Mr Alghamdi said.
“The national strategy sets the direction and foundation up on which data and AI will fulfil our national transformation priorities and establish Saudi Arabia as global hub for data and AI.”
The kingdom is aiming to attract foreign and local investment worth $20 billion in the fields of data and AI in the next 10 years, he added.
Up to 20,000 data and AI specialists will be trained as part of the strategy, which aims to have 300 active start-ups in the sector by 2030. The country will also forge various global partnerships to propel advancements in data and AI, Mr Alghamdi said.
The strategy will focus on initiatives to accelerate the use of AI in five critical sectors: healthcare, mobility, education, government and energy.
Saudi Arabia is ramping up its technology investment to further diversify its economy and reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons.
AI is expected to contribute up to 12.4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product – equivalent to Dh496.2bn – by 2030, according to a report by consultancy PwC.
The inaugural two-day summit is being held online under the theme of AI for the Good of Humanity. It had originally been planned to take place in March but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our world is going through unprecedented times, history has taught us that such critical junctures are crossroads,” said Alghamdi said.
“Which step and which direction we will take rely on us, so let’s challenge ourselves, let’s think and work together to shape the future of AI for the good of humanity.”
The implementation of the strategy will follow a multiphase approach that will focus on addressing the immediate requirements for Saudi Arabia until 2025, particularly the development of data and AI programmes, SDAIA said in a statement.
It will then shift its focus to establishing the foundations of a competitive international AI ecosystem by developing specialisations in specific areas of AI to become one of the leading AI and data-driven economies by 2030.
The summit will focus on the latest developments in AI and explore topics such as the technology's impact on socio-economic development and the challenges faced by the global community in its implementation.
The specs: McLaren 600LT
Price, base: Dh914,000
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
