Davos: Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, and Professor Klaus Schwab, WEF Founder and Executive Chairman, will sign a Memorandum of Understanding in which the UAE and the World Economic Forum pledge to establish a Fourth Industrial Revolution Centre in the UAE.
According to a statement, the signing will take place during the World Economic Forum (WEF) meetings in Davos, Switzerland, on January 23-26, 2018, under the theme ‘Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World’.
The centre will offer technical support for government entities as they work to implement and realise the Fourth Industrial Revolution concepts, which includes the rise of automation and artificial intelligence (AI).
Al Gergawi and Schwab will sign a second MoU regarding the Fourth Industrial Revolution Protocol, which seeks to regulate data in Fourth Industrial Revolution sectors and ensure effective governance.
According to the statement, the MoUs fall in line with the UAE’s plans to embrace innovation and establish the government of the future, which relies on Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and AI.
The accords aim to cement the UAE’s status as a leading global hub and an open lab for the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s applications, as well as its role in building an organisational structure to facilitate the international transition towards Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, provide a secure environment for data, formulate adequate policies and legislation, and establish a system of values and ethics.
Other UAE ministers will also be active during the Davos meeting.
Sultan Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, is set to preside over a session on ‘Innovation, Entrepreneurship and the Future Economy’, which will discuss major global trends affecting the economy, the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in the economy of the future, ways to empower entrepreneurs, potential scenarios and solutions to major challenges, and the expected impact of innovation.
The UAE Government is participating in a meeting of international leaders where Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, will explore possible cooperative solutions for the Middle East, particularly after the defeat of the terrorist organisation Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in Iraq and Syria.
Gargash will also participate in a session titled ‘Finding a New Equilibrium in the Middle East’.
Meanwhile, Suhail Bin Mohammad Al Mazroui, Minister of Energy and Industry, will be taking part in a session titled ‘Climate Change and the Future of Energy: Advanced Technology and Alternative Energy Sources’.
Dr Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, will participate in a session that explores the aftermath of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The discussion will propose solutions to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial Revolution levels.
Meanwhile, Hessa Bint Eisa Bu Humaid, Minister of Community Development, will shed light on the state of society in light of the rapid technological developments in a session titled ‘Decoding Biases: Diversity by Design’. Bu Humaid will take part in another session, where she will share the UAE’s experience in embracing technology to offer advanced services for its community.
Jameela Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Public Education, will participate in a session about bridging the skills gap and investing in education to promote the skills of the future, which helps secure people’s livelihoods and achieve sustainable growth, while Mariam Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Food Security, takes part in a session on sustainable food resources, which sheds light on the agriculture sector’s role in global warming, where carbon emissions have exceeded those of cars, trucks, trains and aircraft.
Elsewhere, Sarah Bint Yousuf Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, will deliver a speech on the exploration of the solar system — entrusted, in the UAE, to the Emirates Mars Mission — as well as the importance of supporting women in science.
Al Amiri will additionally participate in another session that looks into the global prospects for scientific sectors, and the role that large-scale cooperation can play in promoting scientific research.
Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, is set to speak at a session titled ‘Flexible Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Light of the Fourth Industrial Revolution’, which underlines the impact of AI on future governments and economies.
The session also addresses key issues including the proliferation of AI tools and applications; the current and future capacities in this sector; national standards for adopting global technologies; and programming tolerance into machines.
Last but not least, Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director-General of the Smart Dubai Office (SDO), will be taking part in a session that focuses on determining the role of values in technological development, as well as the transparency of decisions made by AI applications.
The session also discusses opinion polls between decision-makers and consumers, and covers such topics as data as a foundation for smart cities; the inevitable integration of technology into individuals’ everyday lives; and the capacity of future cities to generate, collect, analyse and share data in order to set better governance framework for better services.
