Working in partnership to advance artificial intelligence

The United Arab Emirates recently completed the World Government Summit in Dubai, a global platform dedicated to shaping the future of governments worldwide and creating a better future for humanity. The event is widely considered to set the agenda for the next generation.

Now in its seventh year, the World Government Summit has grown to the extent that it now receives the participation of over 4,000 people from 140 countries, including heads of state, prime ministers, presidents, top thinkers, leaders and delegates, international organisations, and ministers and officials. Notable attendees include the United Nations General Assembly president, the vice-president of Costa Rica, and the prime ministers of Pakistan and Lebanon.

This is no ordinary summit, however. At the core of the three-day event, discussions were not merely about the issues of the day, but rather centered around how governments can harness innovation and technology to solve universal challenges. As Mohammed Al Gergawi, the UAE’s minister of cabinet affairs and the future, put it, the event will help map out a better future for the world’s inhabitants.

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, set much of the tone for discussion at the summit, saying that artificial intelligence will drastically reshape the future of jobs and human intelligence, adding that even her own job will be “adjusted” in the future. Much of the event focused on imagination and ideas as important commodities in the years ahead. This is in an era where 45 percent of jobs will change as a result of the rise in artificial intelligence, with new jobs opening in creativity, the arts, music, content and design.

There were some fascinating exhibitions, such as the Museum of the Future exhibit Humans 2.0, inspired by the latest scientific breakthroughs and leading futurist projections to address future challenges

The UAE was greatly honored to receive as a guest Wang Zhigang, special envoy of President Xi Jinping and minister of science and technology, at the event. He gave a wonderful speech titled The Rise of the Dragon: China's Success in Leading the World of Technology. Here, he outlined how research and development improves quality of life, how R&D is the main engine of the Chinese economy, and how the country’s aim is to grow its economy through increased investment in the digital sector.

Indeed, China is investing in research projects together with a number of different countries around the world to develop potential applications of artificial intelligence, as well as establishing and developing new technology platforms. In this respect, we can see that the country is a trailblazer in the future economy. China has a strategy on AI -- a New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan introduced in 2017. This is delivering strong results and sees China on track for global leadership in this technology.

Our nation is considered the most advanced in the Middle East and North Africa in terms of AI development. In October 2017, our government launched the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, targeted toward future services, sectors and infrastructure projects. Such a strategy is the first of its kind in the region. The UAE and Chinese alignment of thinking in advanced technologies was demonstrated during an awards ceremony at the World Government Summit, when China’s WeChat won the Public-Private Partnership Service Best m-Government Award for its creative and innovative solutions via smartphone applications.

The success of the UAE in service and technology infrastructure stems from its deep commitment to the development of AI, a priority reflected by the UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar Al Olama. The end goal for the UAE government is to employ the AI sector as the main source of a diversified and sustainable knowledge economy, through the development of innovative practices and scientific uses of AI technology tools.

This focus on AI is essential in the future economy. A study by Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority’s Dubai Technology Entrepreneurship Campus, in collaboration with ArabNet and startAD, predicts that AI will account for 45 percent of the world economy’s total gains by 2030. AI is also expected to have the highest contribution to the UAE economy than any other in the Arab world at 33.5 percent.

Under President Xi Jinping, China’s great progress in AI has seen the country emerge as one of the leading global innovators in the area. Businesses and governments have collaborated on a sweeping plan to make China the world's primary AI innovation center by 2030, and the country is already making serious progress toward that goal.

China’s focus and investments in the field of advanced technology are contributing toward positive enhancements of the world around us. It is greatly encouraging that China is developing along the same path as the UAE, with China demonstrating leadership in AI technology advancements. I believe there is much scope and opportunity for bilateral work in this area. The UAE and China are both demonstrating insights that can be complementary in achieving global advancements toward artificial intelligence.

The author is the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to China.