Pearl of AI excellence: Minister wants UAE to be world leader

Just as the UAE was a leader in pearl diving 150 years ago, the country is now aiming to become the number one nation in artificial intelligence, according to the country’s Minister of AI.

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The UAE has been seamlessly incorporating AI into people’s daily lives, Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, said at the Oracle CloudWorld Tour, held in Dubai on Wednesday, January 22nd.

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A clear example of this is the seamless passage of travelers through Dubai Airport (DXB). Passengers can move through the smart tunnel or smart gates, exiting the plane without interacting with a single human or showing their passports. After experiencing that, any other airport in the world feels slow and inefficient.

“That’s the power of AI when deployed effectively”, Al Olama reiterated.

Digital Dubai

Digital Dubai also represents the city’s fourth revolution, building on the Dubai government’s vision and the smart city mission.

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“One major achievement has been the launch of a unified medical system in 2017, where most city processes are integrated, allowing for seamless interactions within the government’s digital ecosystem. This has greatly improved service delivery and reduced inefficiencies”, Khalifa Al Marris, CEO of Shared Government Service Sector, Digital Dubai Government Establishment, Digital Dubai said at the keynote session at the Oracle CloudWorld Tour.

Dubai has already established itself as a leader in digital transformation. Many other governments are now looking at its model to improve their own operations and enhance service delivery, Al Marris emphasised.

AI-driven growth

According to a sectoral report, issued by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (February 2024), the following UAE sectors are expected to grow astronomically through the incorporation of AI strategies into their day-to-day functioning:

• The adoption of AI in the financial sector is expected to increase GDP by 14 per cent by 2035
• The healthcare market size is expected to witness an expansion of CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) 42 per cent to reach over Dhs3bn by 2029
• The tourism and hospitality sector of the UAE is also expected to generate an estimated output increase in current prices of Dhs3bn by 2030
• The construction arm of the UAE economy is also primed to add Dhs39bn upon the integration of AI tools into its functioning
• The world as we see it today is jumping on the AI bandwagon, with the UAE leading the way to becoming a world leader in this technology.

This is evident in the fact that the UAE is the only country in the world to have had a minister for AI since 2017 and the UAE government ranks 18th on the Oxford AI Readiness Index 2021 out of 160 countries.

According to a PwC report, the potential impact of AI for the Middle East is expected to be $320bn by 2030, with the UAE expected to see the largest impact of close to 14 per cent of 2030 GDP.