The UAE has been pressing the right keys when it comes to adoption of technology. The nation has embarked on continuous upgradation at various levels of governance, keeping pace with ever-changing technology. Visionary leadership has helped lead the digitisation race in the region.

While many countries struggle to cope with challenges posed by emerging new technologies, the UAE has been scoring high on all fronts.

During the 8th Chief Audit Executive Conference in Dubai, experts and analysts have reinforced the fact that the UAE is moving ahead in the region in adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) and smart technologies.

Professor Dr Pierre Brunswick, CEO, Neuromem Technologies, during his presentation titled “AI Myths and Reality” insisted that the UAE appointing a minister for Artificial Intelligence was a great move.

Global spending on smart technologies is set to hit $23 trillion by 2023, and the MENA region will spend around five per cent of it.

Of this five per cent, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are spending around 60 to 70 per cent on these technologies, as per Alaa Elshimy, Managing Director and Vice President Enterprise Group, Middle East and Pakistan, Huawei.

Praising the Smart Dubai initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Elshimy made it clear that it will further transform the country’s economic sector. The fact is 5G and AI are complementing each other and helping companies.

Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, recently indicated that the rapid change of technology and its impact on key sectors calls for strategic collaborations and international partnerships to accelerate the adoption of AI across various sectors.

This came during the launch of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Network, a network dedicated to gathering academics, researchers, experts and start-ups in the field of AI, further strengthening the country’s position globally as a preferred destination for AI development and adoption.

Al Olama highlighted that the new initiative contributes towards realising the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, to embrace and accelerate the employment of AI and achieve tangible progress in all areas of business, life and government services.

Through established partnerships and collaborations, the UAE Artificial Intelligence Network seeks to bring together governments, private entities, international organisations, start-ups, research centres, academic institutions, business incubators and accelerators under one roof to discuss and exchange expertise in the field of AI, and identify challenges and roadblocks that affect the adoption of AI, and how to solve them.

The Network offers its members the opportunity to participate in various local and international events, including the annual AI Conferences organised by the UAE National Programme for AI, as well as AI-focused seminars, conferences, workshops, meetings and sessions.

With artificial Intelligence and smart technology reshaping the future of the world, lethargy cannot be an option in digital transformation.

Also, as minister Omar Al Olama well stated at another event, “as we embrace the unprecedented changes brought on by the fourth industrial revolution, government leaders and policy-makers must work to overturn public fears and misperceptions of a future controlled by AI.”

Top-level policy-makers need to find solutions to inherent cultural biases within AI systems, and work diligently to ensure that social media platforms, powered by AI algorithms, are used to have a positive impact rather than being “weaponised” to the detriment of its users.