Saudi Arabia to launch national strategy at AI summit

RIYADH: The Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit “AI for the Good of Humanity” will begin on Wednesday in Riyadh under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Organized by the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), the summit will be held virtually as part of the precautionary measures announced by the Saudi government amid the pandemic. A national strategy for data and AI in Saudi Arabia, recently approved by King Salman, will also be launched at the event.
Dr. Abdullah Sharaf Al-Ghamdi, SDAIA president, said: “We are ready to lead a knowledge-based economy. I hope that Riyadh will be a hub for AI.”
He said the summit will be held annually and consolidate the Kingdom’s position as a global leader in AI.
The summit will see 141 participating countries exchange insights and plan a new way to use AI for the good of humanity. Fifty-one experts will share their views on the subject. A total of 7,375 delegates have registered to take part in the event.
Sri Ambati, founder and CEO of H20.ai, South African Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Tembisa Ndabeni-Abrahams, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology President Dr. Tony Chan, Rwanda Information Society Authority CEO Innocent B. Muhizi and Dan Brennan, vice president of business operations at BakerHugesC3.ai will be among the speakers at the global summit.
Global AI agreements and partnerships will be announced as well as the winners of the AI Artathon competition and NEOM Challenge.
The event will open with a keynote speech delivered by the SDAIA president on behalf of the crown prince.