Riyadh conference to highlight customer experience trends
Organized by the National Customer Experience Academy, or NCXA, the two-day conference will be attended by approximately 750 participants
NCXA: The conference is an opportunity to engage with global customer experience leaders across different sectors
Updated 02 July 2024
Hebshi Alshammari
RIYADH: The fourth E3 Customer Experience Conference will launch in Riyadh on Tuesday, July 9, to discuss the latest trends and technologies to improve customer experiences, enhance innovation, and facilitate exchanging experiences among specialists.
Organized by the National Customer Experience Academy, or NCXA, the two-day conference will be attended by approximately 750 participants from more than 30 countries.
A statement from NCXA said: “The conference is an opportunity to engage with global customer experience leaders across different sectors such as telecom, government, banking, healthcare, e-commerce and retail.”
The conference will be held under the slogan “Transforming Experiences, Empowering Success,” and will be accompanied by a hackathon organized by the NCXA.
Abdulaziz Alosime, a member of the board of directors of NCXA, told Arab News: “The Saudi market witnesses a remarkable growth, and focuses strongly on customer satisfaction. Estimates show that it has approached much closer to SR50 billion ($13.3 billion).
“The hackathon aims to improve interaction with customers by developing innovative solutions, encouraging innovation, discovering talent, and enhancing cooperation and knowledge between the participating university students and teams of professionals in the public and private sectors,” Alosime added.
The conference will discuss topics related to modern technologies in the sector, such as automated chat and artificial intelligence, virtual experiences, as well as data analyses that maximize customer interactions and enhance loyalty. Many specialized sessions and workshops will be held.
Alosime, who is also CEO of Right Decision KSA noted that the conference is organized to help achieve the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 in enabling richer customer experiences, making the Kingdom a global leader in this field and enhancing opportunities for communication and cooperation among stakeholders.
NCXA is a non-profit academy under the umbrella of the Technical and Vocational Training Corp., and is the first academy specialized in customer experience in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Saudi citizenship granted to selection of researchers, innovators, and specialists
The citizenship was granted as part of a royal order to people with distinguished legal, medical, scientific, cultural, sports and technical expertise
It is also in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to create an appealing environment that attracts, invests in and retains exceptional creative minds
Updated 23 sec ago
Arab News
RIYADH: Saudi citizenship has been granted to a number of scientists, doctors, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and people who have unique capabilities, expertise, and specializations, Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.
The granting of citizenship was issued as part of a royal order granting Saudi citizenship to people with distinguished legal, medical, scientific, cultural, sports and technical expertise for the benefit of the nation in various fields.
It is also in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to create an appealing environment that attracts, invests in, and retains exceptional creative minds.
A number of specialists, whose expertise in the economic, health, cultural, sports and innovation fields was considered distinguished, were previously awarded citizenship in 2021.
Saudi FM warns of Gaza war’s effect on Lebanon and region
Israel is undermining peace process with expansion of settlements, says Prince Faisal bin Farhan
Updated 4 min 18 sec ago
Arab News
MADRID: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has warned that Israel’s war on Gaza was affecting the entire Middle East, including southern Lebanon.
“The situation in the Gaza Strip does not only affect the Palestinian issue but the entire region and contributes to further escalations, which is currently happening in southern Lebanon,” he said on Thursday.
He was speaking at a panel discussion titled “Wars and shadow wars: What are Europe’s options in the Middle East?” at the European Council on Foreign Relations meeting in Madrid.
“Basic principles of international law and international humanitarian law are being violated every day in Gaza.”
- Foreign Minister HH @FaisalbinFarhan at the panel titled "Wars and shadow wars: What are Europe's options in the Middle East?" at the annual meeting of the @ecfr. pic.twitter.com/WUhYzieN5P
Prince Faisal highlighted the international community’s silence on Israel’s continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
“The majority of the international community agrees that the permanent and just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the two-state solution, yet they stand idle in the face of matters that could undermine the two-state solution, such as Israel’s continued expansion of settlement activities.”
He praised those European countries that have recognized Palestine as a state, including Spain. This was “a very important move” that supports the peace process and the push toward a two-state solution, he said.
Prince Faisal reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to the besieged population.
Saudi Arabia committed to attaining highest standards in protection of human rights, says HRC chief
Al-Tuwaijri 's remarks came at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
Updated 04 July 2024
Arab News
RIYADH: The president of the Saudi Human Rights Commission (HRC) said on Thursday that the Kingdom remained committed to attaining the highest international standards in protecting and promoting human rights, Saudi Press Agency reported.
Hala bint Mazyed Al-Tuwaijri emphasized that the commitment was based on the country’s deeply rooted principles and values and its leadership’s prioritization of human welfare above all else.
Al-Tuwaijri 's remarks came at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva during Saudi Arabia's participation in a session to adopt the results of the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism.
Leading the Kingdom's delegation at the session, Al-Tuwaijri highlighted the government's extensive cooperation with the review mechanism, which is a crucial tool for the Human Rights Council to enhance human rights globally.
She stressed that principles such as equality, dialogue, cooperation, neutrality, objectivity, and transparency should form the foundation for any collaborative efforts between states in the realm of human rights.
She also noted that Saudi Arabia’s acceptance of over 80 percent of the recommendations from the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review demonstrated its genuine dedication to human rights.
Al-Tuwaijri outlined the significant reforms and advancements in human rights in the Kingdom, emphasizing that more than 150 legislative, institutional, judicial, and procedural reforms have been accomplished since the adoption of Saudi Vision 2030.
How a Saudi university is using AI to transform the diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases
Saudi Arabia’s KAUST has developed SkinGPT-4 to help diagnose dermatological conditions and suggest treatments
Lead researcher Xin Gao says the technology could help patients in rural areas who do not have access to dermatologists
Updated 04 July 2024
Sulafa Alkhunaizi
RIYADH: To enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of dermatological care, experts at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have created a groundbreaking new diagnostic system, SkinGPT-4, which leverages the power of artificial intelligence.
Leading the research, Xin Gao, a professor of computer science, co-chair of the Center of Excellence on Smart Health, and chair of Bioinformatics Platform at KAUST, says SkinGPT-4’s goal is to detect, diagnose, and identify suitable treatments for skin diseases.
Developed in partnership with Juexiao Zhou, a PhD candidate at KAUST, who is the first author of SkinGPT-4, Gao says that the technology could provide a potentially life-saving service to patients, particularly those in rural areas where there is often a shortage of trained dermatologists.
“Those specific challenges in dermatology led to the creation of SkinGPT-4,” Gao told Arab News. “The variability in skin presentations and the need for specialized knowledge to correctly identify and treat these conditions highlighted the need for an advanced, AI-driven solution.”
The team identified the need for such a solution after recognizing the limitations of traditional diagnostic methods and the potential of AI, especially large language models (LLMs) such as the eponymous ChatGPT, in enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of dermatological diagnosis.
“With SkinGPT-4, users could upload their own skin photos for diagnosis and SkinGPT-4 could autonomously determine the characteristics and categories of skin conditions, perform analysis, provide treatment recommendations, and allow interactive diagnosis,” Gao said.
Gao and the KAUST team behind the AI dermatologist SkinGPT-4. (Supplied)
SkinGPT-4 diagnoses conditions that have distinct visual characteristics, such as acne, rosacea, melanoma, psoriasis, basal cell carcinoma, eczema, and many more.
Gao said that the development of SkinGPT-4 began with data collection and preprocessing, followed by model training and validation. “The team collected a large dataset of dermatological images and patient records to train the AI model,” he said.
“One of the significant challenges was integrating diverse data types, including images and text, which required collaboration between computer scientists and dermatologists. The multidisciplinary team worked together to ensure the AI could interpret and analyze skin disease images effectively.”
DID YOUKNOW?
• SkinGPT-4 diagnoses conditions that have distinct visual characteristics, such as melanoma, psoriasis, and eczema.
• It uses a combination of computer vision algorithms, large language models, and natural language processing.
• The technology could help doctors and patients in rural areas where there is often a shortage of trained dermatologists.
SkinGPT-4 uses a combination of computer vision algorithms, LLMs, and natural language processing (NLP), which enable programs to comprehend human languages.
“The model processes dermatological images using a vision transformer (ViT) to identify patterns and features indicative of different skin conditions,” Gao said.
“The ViT is aligned with an LLM named Llama-2-13b-chat on our dataset with a customized two-step training strategy. By doing so, the LLM Llama-2-13b-chat can understand the skin disease images and allow conversational diagnosis with the patient in natural language.”
Opinion
This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)
SkinGPT-4 could be particularly useful in diagnosing rare skin conditions that general practitioners may not easily recognize.
“A patient presenting with an uncommon rash could be quickly and accurately diagnosed using SkinGPT-4, which has been trained on a vast array of dermatological images, including rare conditions,” Gao said.
“Additionally, for managing chronic skin diseases like psoriasis, SkinGPT-4 can monitor the progression and response to treatment, providing continuous support and adjusting treatment plans as needed.”
Researchers hope SkinGPT-4 will be a gamechanger for remote or underserved areas where there is a shortage of dermatologists.
“For instance, in a rural community where the nearest dermatologist is hundreds of miles away, a patient presents with a suspicious lesion that could be a rare form of skin cancer,” Gao said.
Trained properly, AI can provide immense help to medical practitioners. (Shutterstock image)
“Using SkinGPT-4, a local health care provider can take a high-resolution image of the lesion and input the patient’s medical history into the system. SkinGPT-4 analyzes the image and the patient’s information, quickly providing a preliminary diagnosis and recommendations for further action.”
And as SkinGPT-4 develops, Gao said the system will learn from its own mistakes through continuous learning and feedback mechanisms.
“By analyzing misdiagnoses and incorporating corrections, the system can refine its algorithms and improve its accuracy over time,” he said. “This iterative learning process ensures that SkinGPT-4 evolves and adapts to new data and emerging trends in dermatology.”
However, Gao is keen to stress that SkinGPT-4 is not designed to replace dermatologists altogether. Rather, the program is designed to serve as an evolving and optimizing tool, functioning as an assistant in facilitating communication between patients and doctors.
“Our aspiration for SkinGPT-4 is to provide patients with more information about skin diseases, while also offering doctors valuable assistance in the diagnostic process.”
Saudi Shoura Council members meet Uzbekistan Senate head
Updated 04 July 2024
SPA
TASHKENT: A delegation from the Saudi-Uzbek Parliamentary Friendship Committee in the Shoura Council, headed by council member and committee chairman, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Jarbaa, met the head of the Uzbek Senate, Tanzila Narbaeva, in Tashkent.
Narbaeva welcomed the delegation, who are on an official visit to Uzbekistan, and stressed the keen interest of both countries’ leaders to build strong relations.
The two sides discussed ways to enhance ties, explored prospects for parliamentary cooperation between the Shoura Council and the Uzbek Senate and discussed other topics of mutual interest.
The meeting was also attended by Saudi Ambassador to Uzbekistan Yousef Saleh Al-Otaibi.
