Saudi Arabia announces collaboration with ITU to support global AI cooperation

LONDON: The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) signed an agreement on Thursday to support global AI cooperation.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed on the second day of the Global AI Summit hosted in Riyadh, aims to make AI best practices available to all, develop initiatives and optimize the benefits of AI.
It will also help to develop an internationally recognized system for countries to mobilize resources and provide assistance for official agencies that want to adopt AI technologies, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The President of SDAIA Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi welcomed the agreement.
“The ITU will share best practices in the field of AI with the Kingdom. This will help in shedding light on how to sponsor and support emerging companies and new incubators in the national space, especially as there is no official framework that currently exists to support the AI readiness of countries and international cooperation,” Al-Ghamdi said.
The ITU’s secretary-general said the UN agency looked forward to working with SDAIA to develop projects and initiatives that will accelerate progress toward achieving sustainable development goals and promoting AI as a force for good.
“We dream of a world where nations harness the power of AI together, where we all exchange ideas and best practices, where we collaborate to unlock the full potential of AI,” Houlin Zhao said.
“With AI impacting every aspect of today and tomorrow, collaboration is needed more than ever,” the secretary-general added.