Day: September 14, 2022

Magelang– Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture, has met with Minister for Culture, Community and Youth of the Republic of Singapore Edwin Tong, on the sidelines of the G20 Ministers of Culture’s meeting hosted by the Republic of Indonesia.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Minister of Culture praised the efforts exerted by the Republic of Singapore towards art and culture, especially in digitizing artistic and cultural content and making it available and accessible to all, which allows the local and international community to visit museums and art galleries virtually. He stressed that the new Coronavirus “COVID-19” pandemic has demonstrated the importance of digitizing content and enhancing the virtual world, praising the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s efforts and its role in establishing the first meeting of culture ministers on the Sherpa track in the G20.
During the meeting, they discussed strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries by cooperation in new projects across the cultural field, including; exchange of holding art exhibitions, participation in international cultural festivals, and exchange of technical and practical experiences in the cultural field between the two friendly countries. The Minister of Culture invited his Singaporean counterpart to attend the Islamic Arts Biennale 2023 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, President of the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi, and CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City Fahd bin Abdulmohsen Al-Rasheed inaugurated today the “Smartathon-The Smart Cities Challenge” with prizes of SAR 1,000,000.
This comes within strategic partnership between the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA).
The challenge aims to develop emerging solutions to improve the urban landscape in the cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to come up with technical solutions that contribute to detecting and reducing visual distortions, and benefiting from the Saudi and international experiences to find solutions using data and artificial intelligence, in addition to stimulating and developing talents and competencies in the fields of smart cities, data and artificial intelligence.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– The Saudi Ministry of Health and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) jointly launched a prototype of an AI-powered early breast cancer detection program.
The program was announced during a panel discussion on the second day of the 2nd Global AI Summit, held by SDAIA under the patronage of HRH the Crown Prince, at King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh from the 13th through the 15th of September.
At the panel discussion, Assistant Minister of Health Dr. Mohammed Abdulali mentioned the Royal Directives to care for the health of Saudis and expatriates
as a national priority of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. He also gave an overview of the continued development of the Kingdom’s healthcare sector and how digital transformation greatly uprated the quality of health services.
The Deputy Minister of Health underlined the significance of AI across transformation projects in the national healthcare sector and in the support of health and preventive programs and healthcare operations in general. He pointed out that early breast cancer detection powered by AI algorithms would help raise diagnosis quality, minimize the possibility of errors, and increase the capabilities of physicians, ultimately increasing the numbers of breast cancer checks among the target segment and greatly increasing the possibility of early detection and, in turn, complete recovery.
Dr. Abdulali gave a presentation about the important role that the Center of Excellence for AI in Health is playing in collaboration with SDAIA and the strategic partnership to develop AI that serves multiple facets of healthcare.
The center, he explained, would support national AI and data research as part of broader medical and biotechnology research, as well as increasing local content through partnerships and joint development, deployment, and sharing of advanced technologies for the benefit of the healthcare sector. He said that the center would help refine and upgrade the skills of talented young nationals and give them the academic and professional skills they need to fill labor shortages and compete on data- and AI-related jobs and fields of study.
Dr. Majed Altuwaijri, Chief Executive Officer of the National Center for AI, said that SDAIA aims to bolster the Kingdom’s leadership position in every facet of data and AI with a multitude of joint initiatives and programs with many partners in government agencies.
“We are moving along swiftly to achieve the goal and meet the aspirations of HRH the Crown Prince, Chairman of SDAIA, with a focus on government integration for better growth and the accomplishment of Vision 2030 targets,” he said.
He further underlined the role of the Ministry of Health and the Seha Virtual Hospital in increasing the quality of healthcare, hoping that the Center of Excellence for AI in Health would add to the Kingdom’s impressive efforts to keep Saudis and expatriates safe and healthy.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– The Chinese company WeRide revealed its interactive self-driving robot “Mini Robobus”, a bus that does not require a driver and can navigate urban roads.
This came during the participation of the Chinese company WeRide in the second day of the 2nd Global AI Summit held at King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh from 13 to 15 September, 2022.
WeRide is a global leader company, headquartered in Guangzhou, China, and aims to develop safe, reliable driverless solutions to make transportation safer and more affordable.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CONTEXT, a leading provider of cloud computing services and digital transformation in the Kingdom, to join efforts to promote digital transformation and to adopt the concept of cloud computing on a larger scale in the Kingdom.
This came on the sidelines of the 2nd Global AI Summit held at King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh from 13 to 15 September, 2022.
Eng. Nawaf Al-Sahan, Assistant Director of the National Information Center for Cloud Computing, said: “Digital transformation in cloud computing requires a change of concepts, and this partnership comes to play this important role, by establishing training programs and exchanging experts through the Context’s Center of Excellence, which will enhance opportunities to refine the skills of SDAIA staff, and the cadres of other government agencies.
Al-Sahan said that CONTEXT is the authorized distributor of Google’s cloud services in the Kingdom, and this cooperation will give the authority the ability to use Google’s cloud services in building and developing the “DEEM” cloud affiliated with SDAIA.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim met with ministers and senior officials during his current visit to the Republic of Singapore to strengthen economic cooperation between the two nations.
He met with Singapore’s Minister for Transport S Iswaran, and they discussed developments in the transportation sector and strengthening bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
Alibrahim also held discussions on matters of common interest with Singapore’s Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli, who is also the Second Minister for Health, and Minister-in-charge for Muslim Affairs at the headquarters of the Ministry for Social and Family Development.
He also held fruitful discussions with private sector entities on opportunities to enhance cooperation and mutually beneficial prosperity. He met with the Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and the non-resident Singaporean Ambassador to Jordan, Shamsher Zaman.
Alibrahim was accompanied by Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Republic of Singapore Abdullah bin Mohammed Almadhi.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Jeddah– Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah honored Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) with the Pilgrim Service Excellence Award at the Creators Awards.
This year’s Creators Award aims to highlight and reward the efforts of public agencies and private businesses in designing and providing innovative products and services to pilgrims.
The award underlines SAUDIA’s efforts to enhance each pilgrim’s travel experiences with a carefully selected package of an innovative gift inspired by the hajj journey, which includes a container of Zamzam water, a serving of preserved Madinah dates, and prayer beads.
Director General of SAUDIA Eng. Ibrahim Al-Omar expressed his and the entire SAUDIA staff’s deep appreciation for the prestigious award, which reflects their tireless efforts to ensure that pilgrims enjoys exceptional services and an unforgettable experience both in-flight and on the ground throughout their trip.
Al-Omar, emphasized that serving pilgrims from all around the world is a top priority for the airline, adding that Hajj and Umrah services are constantly being revamped year after year in collaboration with private and governmental entities involved.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing hosted here today the 20th meeting of ministers of housing at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the Arab States, under the presidency of Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail.
The meeting, which was attended by a number of senior officials in the ministries concerned with housing affairs in the GCC countries, aimed to continue efforts to achieve the common goals of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab States, enhance the efforts of the GCC housing sectors, and raise the efficiency and quality of services provided to citizens of the GCC countries.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has signed an agreement with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to develop a global framework to measure the readiness of artificial intelligence that will help countries of the world share and adopt the best practices of artificial intelligence, regulatory frameworks and institutional reforms necessary for countries to harness all the capabilities of artificial intelligence for the service of mankind.
This came on the sidelines of the 2nd Global AI Summit, held at King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh from 13 to 15 September, 2022.
This ITU-led initiative with the support of SDAIA will be the first globally recognized framework that supports the readiness of countries and international cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI), on the sidelines of the 2nd Global AI Summit, held at King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh from 13 to 15 September, 2022.
The parties of the agreement are looking forward to launch a number of national initiatives to benefit from data and artificial intelligence solutions and to affirm the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia globally in this field.
The memorandum of understanding also aims to develop a common framework regarding improving customer experience by using the latest artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, and to discuss ways of cooperation in developing and adopting artificial intelligence applications.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Eng. Ahmed Al-Rajhi headed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s delegation participating in the meeting of the G20 Ministers of Labor and Employment, which was held in the Republic of Indonesia under the theme “Improving the Employment Condition to Recover Together”, with the participation of several Ministers of Labor and Employment of the G20 member states as well as representatives of the guest countries, and heads of international and regional organizations.
The minister, in his speech at the event, stressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s support for the priorities of the Indonesian presidency, which aim to promote decent jobs for people with disabilities, develop human capabilities, create sustainable job opportunities, and adapt labor protection for more effective and flexible protection, adding that these priorities require unifying and coordinating efforts to reach the prosperity and recovery of labor markets from the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah bin Amer Al-Swaha met today with Minister of Communications and Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Dr. Isa Ibrahim, on the sidelines of the 2nd Global AI Summit, which is being hosted in Riyadh.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed expanding the existing cooperation between the two friendly countries, the investment opportunities available in the two countries’ markets, and supporting the growth of the digital economy.
The two sides also discussed strengthening cooperation within the framework of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) to achieve the goals of the organization and the aspirations of member states.

Source: Saudi Press Agency