United Arab Emirates- National AI Strategy

In October 2017 the UAE Government published its National AI Strategy. The following strategy outlines the UAE’s proposed directives through the creation of 8 objectives. Each of these outline the actions the UAE Government is willing to take to enhance AI and ensure its safe implementation. 

Contents:

  1. Ministerial Forward 
  2. Executive Summary 
  3. Objective 1- Building a reputation as an AI destination 
  4. Objective 2-  Increase the UAE competitive assets in priority sectors through the deployment of AI 
  5. Objective 3- Develop a fertile ecosystem for AI 
  6. Objective 4- Adopt AI across customer services to improve lives and government 
  7. Objective 5- Attract and train talent for future jobs enabled by AI 
  8. Objective 6- Bring world leading research capability to work with target industries 
  9. Objective 7- Provide the data and supporting infrastructure essential to become a test bed for AI
  10. Objective 8- Ensure strong governance and effective regulation 

Executive Summary 

The following chapter summarises the key objectives of the National AI Strategy and reinforces the UAE’s vision to become a world leader in AI by 2031.  This section puts forward each objective and outlines its key focus. In addition this section outlines the opportunities where the UAE has opportunities to lead. The UAE will begin to implement measures to revolutionise domains with unique potential 

Objective 1 – Build a reputation as an AI destination

In order to establish a strong reputation, the UAE will need to compete with other major destinations. In order to achieve this, the UAE will establish a brand of a bold initiator to distinguish its reputation from other key destinations. 

The UAI Brand- This will be used to attract talent from all over the world and encourage prospects to join UAE to help test and develop AI. This will be achieved through a certification system which will be used to reward High quality, Ethical AI companies. These companies will be rewarded with a “UAE Seal of Approval.” 

The UAE is also planning to host key international conferences and forums to establish UAE as a hub for global experts. 

Objective 2- INCREASE THE UAE COMPETITIVE ASSETS IN PRIORITY SECTORS THROUGH DEPLOYMENT OF AI
Existing Assets:

This objective details the initial priority sectors of the AI Strategy:

A. Resource and Energy- As the UAE is beginning its transition into renewable energy supplies, the government recognises that there is an opportunity for AI systems to play a fundamental role in energy sector innovation. UAE is planning a proof-of-concept to utilize AI systems in order to focus both internally and globally. 

B. Logistics and Transport- Due to the UAE’s peninsular location and significant airport traffic of over 26 million people. The UAE is beginning to recognise its advantage in these areas and has begun facilitating test beds for new technologies in these locations by deploying AI solutions for air traffic management, baggage  handling, and airplane boarding..

C. Tourism and Hospitality- Tourism is a highly successful export sector for the UAE. This strategy outlines the possibility for AI to be utilized to predict tourist’s needs and provide customized services.

Emerging Sectors- 

This section contains three other sectors where the focus is on the pockets of opportunity that are already visible.

A. Healthcare- The focus of this sector is on the new Dubai Genomics program. The aim is to use the diverse genetic community in the UAE as a resource for new scientific studies, which make it easier to predict risks associated with genetic-related illnesses. This could lead to significant innovation in UAE.

B. Cybersecurity- There is a significant benefit for the Government in developing better Cybersecurity. It is calculated that by 2035 there will be more than 7.6 billion. Projected damages in relation to cyber security reached 6 trillion in 2021. This highlights the scale and priority of the investment in this area. 

The Government will fund pilot projects in each of these priority areas. 

Objective 3- Develop a fertile ecosystem for AI

AI Network- Local expertise will be exaggerated through the establishment of a networker of researchers and field experts. The AI market is estimated to grow
to USD 60 billion by 2021. This is done to help create a domestic AI Ecosystem. The AUE has an opportunity to become a competitive regional hub for AI entrepreneurs with a supportive ecosystem. 

Applied AI Accelerator-The AI  Office will play a vital role in supporting domestic AI start-ups through through incubator funds, mentoring,
and publication of shared knowledge.  The Strategy then recognises the efforts of other countries such as Hong Kong and its AI accelerator Zeroth.AI. 

AI Incentive Schemes for overseas companies-  The key to industry development is greater FDI by foreign firms. Therefore, UAE plans to introduce incentives to encourage UAE firms to partner with Global AI technology firms in order to foster greater links. This will likely also motivate international companies to set up regional offices within the UAE. This approach has been evidenced with Amazon and the cyber research centre in Stuttgart, Germany. 

Business support for UAE AI firms- Once companies have been established, the UAE’s next step is to form more ambitious UAE presence in the global markets. In order to help companies avoid the strain of speculative investments, the UAE government is intending to solve this  by offering guidance, financial support, and by acting as a coordinator.

Objective 4- ADOPT AI ACROSS CUSTOMER SERVICES TO IMPROVE LIVES AND GOVERNMENT

The UAE government have highlighted through this objective that one of their main priorities is ensuring AI delivers the greatest public value to citizens. 

National AI Challenges- A single programme could be set up to support the best ideas from various sectors. This approach was used in Australia through the launch of their National Mission Programme. In similar fashion, the UAE will begin my providing funding, mentoring and access to data to those with the most promising ideas. 

UAE Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Council- AI can also be used to improve Government transactions and services. The Councils main objective will be to identify how and where AI can be incorporated into government and what funding is required.

Objective 5- ATTRACT AND TRAINTALENT FOR FUTURE JOBS ENABLED BY AI
Recent studies have outlined that 45% of existing work activities can now be automated.  This could have a significant impact on over 300,000 jobs within the UAE.
Public AI Training- The UAE are beginning to run free courses to raise awareness. As well, the UAE summer camp was conducted in 2018 to support in efforts in building a generation capable of adopting advanced AI technologies.
Upskilling students- Upskilling STEM graduates with specialist courses will provide the fastest short-term solution to increasing the number of AI experts.
Government Training-  The AI Office is offering more advanced courses for Government employees focusing on skills needed to become AI experts.  The aim is to ensure that 100% of senior leadership in government are trained within AI.
Professional Upskilling– The UAE is recognising an opportunity to enhance professionals with expert digital skills and provide them with training needed to become AI experts.
Employment Transition support- Providing skills training for 60% of the workforce who possess low digital skills would help support job openings and provide more opportunities in the new climate. 

 

Objective 6- BRING WORLD-LEADING RESEARCH CAPABILITY TO WORK WITH TARGET INDUSTRIES
This objective is concerned with building the wider knowledge production in the UAE. This will be reached by increasing investment in research and encouraging academics to work within the UAE. 
The first step to achieve this is through investing in R&D capabilities. 
National Virtual AI Institute- The AI office will survey the current local R&D capacity. This will help identify the possible opportunities. Following this survey the AI Office will launch  a National Virtual AI Institute with stakeholder partners to aggregate the best local and global expertise in the region. 
Key Thinkers Programme- This programme will be initiated to attract AI thinkers to visit UAE. These key thinkers will then visit workshops and lectures and be provided with incentives to run research projects. 
AI Library–  The AI Office will work on creating an open-access digital library of research and papers in both English and Arabic. This acts as a helpful initiative to support research development within the UAE. 

 

Objective 7- PROVIDE THE DATA AND SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE ESSENTIAL TO BECOME A TEST BED FOR AI 
Countries globally are beginning to recognise the importance and value of the data sets they collate. The UAE has taken steps to open data sets to improve transparency, yet is still significantly behind other countries. 
Data Sharing- The UAE’s ambition is to create a data-sharing program, providing shared open and standardized AI-ready data, collected through a consistent data standard. 
Secure Data Infrastructure- In order to facilitate data sharing, a secure data infrastructure is necessary.  Investing in a single AI data infrastructure makes it easier to do this efficiently, and makes it simpler to access data relevant to research. Australia has begun experimenting with virtual data libraries with their SURE initiative. 
 
Objective 8- ENSURE STRONG GOVERNANCE AND EFFECTIVE REGULATION
With the uncontrollable speed of AI developments, ensuring safe and secure governance is difficult. The UAE has begun to recognise an opportunity for the UAE to collaborate with others to ensure effective governance. 
National Governance Review- The Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain council will review national approaches to issues as well as review the latest international best practices in legislation and global risks from AI.
Second Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence Roundtable- The AI Office is working with UNESCO, OECD, IEEE and the Council on Extended Intelligence in identifying the foremost experts and themes to explore, these organisations will then present their outcomes  to a High Level Ministerial Panel. 
Intergovernmental Panel on Artificial Intelligence- Following this roundtable the development of a  intergovernmental body, dedicated to providing a mechanism for governments and private companies to better understand AI and its impact on societies in order to help give a solid framework for future regulation.