ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister of Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhrylauded the United Arab Emirates’ plans to launch the world’s firstuniversity of artificial intelligence (AI), expressing Islamabad’s interestin collaborating on the project.
Earlier this month, Abu Dhabi announced the opening of the first dedicatedAI university. The Mohammad Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence(MBZUAI) will open its doors on September 2020.
Fawad Chaudhary said Pakistan also had a center of excellence on artificialintelligence and “would like to join hands with the UAE university toenhance the capabilities of our people in the field”.
“UAE was the first country which established a proper ministry forartificial intelligence in 2017, we have a lot to learn from the UAE. ThisAI university is an excellent initiative,” the minister said in aninterview with Arab News.
The minister praised the “visionary leadership” of crown prince SheikhMuhammad bin Zayed, under whom he said the UAE had progressed immensely inthe fields of technology and artificial intelligence.”
Under an artificial intelligence strategy 2031, the UAE is looking to save50 percent of its annual costs by using technology for smart governance.
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Exploring options for bilateral cooperation in artificial intelligence,Chairman of Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr. Tariq Banuri, said thatthe HEC would study the programs offered at MBZUAI and work on a possiblecollaboration plan.
“We have established nine different centers of excellence in artificialintelligence in different universities across Pakistan about two years agoand would like to further strengthen them as per international standards,”Banuri said.
He added that while MBZUAI was a step in the right direction for the UAE,“a lot of challenges” lay ahead for a single discipline university toflourish and sustain.
