Many Arab countries enjoy capabilities that qualify them to compete, between financial savings for some countries, as well as creative minds that are relied upon in international companies and can be greatly benefited from, which requires more serious Arab integration in these sectors that form the basis of the future.
The latest data of the Global Artificial Intelligence Index for the year 2023, showed the differences between countries and the extent to which they have caught up with the “artificial intelligence” revolution that began in recent years.
It seems that there are various Arab attempts and a clear desire to catch up with an advanced position in the competitions of artificial intelligence, which was demonstrated by the index that was recently revealed by Stanford University and classifies a group of countries according to their capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence at the global level.
The UAE ranked first in the Arab world and 28th globally, followed by Saudi Arabia ranked second in the Arab world and 31st globally, then Qatar ranked 42nd globally, and Egypt ranked 52nd globally.
In this context, experts and analysts indicated, in separate statements to the “Sky News Arabia Economy” website, that there are promising opportunities in the Arab countries to advance and strengthen their position in “artificial intelligence” and related sectors, and to compete with adults, but they need to implement several steps to achieve this progress.
Two classifications of Arab countries
At the beginning, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of IDT Consulting and Systems, Mohamed Saeed, explained that the Arab countries can be classified into two levels in the competitions for advancement in the field of artificial intelligence.
He added, in his interview with “Sky News Arabia Economy”, that both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have taken important steps in the field of technology in general, through initiatives encouraging entrepreneurship, and are able to implement real, applied projects on the ground using technologies and artificial intelligence.
As for other countries, including Egypt, he said that although these countries have the elements that make them pioneers in artificial intelligence, they are relatively late in catching up with an advanced position, pointing out that they have already been late in advancing with other previous technologies that have emerged and taken a large market share of investments in the field of technology, including cloud computing and mobile applications.
Saeed outlined a number of steps that help Arab countries launch towards the artificial intelligence sector and competition in the future, most notably:
Roadmap at different levels: It is necessary to develop a road map led by the responsible authorities in each country for this sector, to lead the wave of catching up with modern technologies and emerging technologies, as this may be one of the magical solutions to the economic problems and challenges that countries suffer from and provides income from foreign currency, provided that the road map is clear and integrated at the level of individuals, small companies and large companies.
Launching new initiatives: It is necessary to launch initiatives to encourage the sector, including, for example, tax exemptions to encourage entrepreneurship in activities that have a high degree of risk, as well as financing initiatives that allow financing for companies operating in the sector.
Workshops: It is important to provide workshops led by the responsible authorities to encourage those with enthusiasm to enter this field by going through practical experience and reaching results without exposure to capital risks.
The use of artificial intelligence within government institutions: Governments should support the use of artificial intelligence technologies within government institutions, as they are the largest customer of technology, and if they do not encourage companies to obtain their products for artificial intelligence, the industry will not develop.
The role of civil society organizations: It is, for example, the Chamber of Information Industry or the Information Technology Division (as it is called in each country), as they must have a role in communicating with companies and raising their level of awareness about technologies and ways to obtain an economic and market return by adopting artificial intelligence technologies.
International cooperation: There should be cooperation between countries that have made progress in artificial intelligence and those that are lagging behind in this context, through people, institutions and large companies, through exchanging visits to gain experience, raise awareness and help adopt such technologies.
Changing government thinking
In addition, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of an Egyptian company specializing in robotic systems, David Samir, confirmed in exclusive statements to the “Sky News Arabia Economy” website that government thought is the basis for progress for any country in keeping pace with technology and its developments, indicating that many countries in the Middle East have not made wide progress in artificial intelligence for this reason, which requires a change in this thinking.
He added, “Most Arab countries are witnessing governmental obstacles, which in turn hinder people and companies,” noting that this is very evident in countries such as Egypt and Jordan, for example, although the youth of those countries are brilliant, but they did not have the opportunity to fully experience.
He stated that the second problem that causes some Arab countries to be late in catching up with an advanced position in the field of artificial intelligence is that a large percentage suffers from the problem of “culture” in terms of lack of knowledge, learning and training, stressing the need to find an appropriate solution to this crisis, in addition to the need to change educational thinking in universities, especially since education methodologies are lagging behind in some countries.
He pointed out that the Arab countries face huge challenges, on top of which are government and societal thought, explaining that the UAE is one of the first Arab countries that tried to overcome these challenges, taking advantage of the availability of its capabilities, which made it able to employ artificial intelligence services and work with them in the governance of government systems.
However, he did not rule out that the Arab countries would become a strong competitor in artificial intelligence in the coming stages, especially since most European countries depend on Arab minds.
Government interest and financial support
For his part, computer science professor and information technology expert, Dr. Hussein Al-Omari, explained in his interview with “Sky News Arabia Economy” that the relatively developed Arab countries relied on their financial abundance and on government interest in infrastructure, operational environment and government strategy with regard to developing information technology sectors, noting that these countries still need to make more efforts to attract talent and encourage scientific research and development.
As for the countries lagging behind in catching up with “artificial intelligence”, he stated that they need a significant increase in government interest, investment and trade to encourage talent, research and development, pointing out that some of these countries have real ingredients that qualify them for that.
He stressed that the vigorous cooperation between the aforementioned Arab countries would advance all countries if investment and trade were exploited at the regional level to develop talents, research and development, and establish companies and projects at the regional level, as well as in concluding governmental agreements to ensure the interest of the participating governments in improving the infrastructure, operational environment and government strategy, as a kind of Arab integration in this context.
Khyber stressed on information technology that “in order to see an improvement in talent, development, research and trade, it is necessary to transfer brains and exchange research and development efforts between countries to encourage talent, development and research,” stressing that this cooperation and work at the regional level will reduce the size of the digital and educational gap between the peoples of these countries.
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