The move to launch an artificial intelligence-powered platform in nearly 200 schools in the UAE is truly praiseworthy. Alef Education, a leading K-12 education technology company, will launch its innovative award-winning, AI-powered Alef Platform in 196 schools in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah in stages, the final of which will be by December this year.

The initiative aims at providing the UAE’s educational system with the latest innovations in digital education including AI and Big Data.

This programme serves the UAE’s futuristic strategies and supports the application of smart education in the UAE to provide students with world-class education that fulfils their educational needs.

The Alef Platform will be used to teach 40,000 plus students from the fifth to the ninth grades the six core subjects, namely: Arabic Language, Mathematics, Science, Islamic Studies, Social Studies and English Language with a plan to cover grades 10, 11 and 12 during the next academic year.

Perhaps no other country in the region has paid as much attention to artificial intelligence as the UAE. The fact that it has a minister for this field speaks volumes for its significance.

The UAE Government is keen to create a supportive infrastructure based on artificial intelligence, AI, through enhancing the capacities of Emirati citizens and enabling government staff to utilise the required tools to develop this vital sector.

Recently, 84 students representing the second batch of the Artificial Intelligence, AI, Programme, graduated in a ceremony.

The training programme is part of the UAE Programme for Artificial Intelligence, which aims to train government staff and reinforce their skills to adopt AI in their work, to achieve the objectives of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 and reinforce the country’s pioneering role in adopting modern technologies and preparing for the future.

The UAE has even inked a pact with Israel in this sphere. The Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have agreed to tie up.

Spheres of possible collaboration include academic exchanges, conferences, sharing computing resources and the establishment of a joint virtual institute for artificial intelligence.

The UAE is also harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence in tackling the harmful effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The private sector has helped support the UAE’s efforts to address the pandemic. Group 42, G42, an artificial intelligence and cloud computing company based in Abu Dhabi, is one of the leading companies developing medical solutions for addressing the pandemic.

Adopting a proactive approach will help foresee the future and create solutions to changes and challenges.

As Hussain Bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, states, “Today we are in a dire need to strengthen coordination and work, and exchange experiences, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its direct effects on education systems, and to overcome the repercussions of this emergency health reality.

He noted, “We continue a new chapter of cooperation and work that reflects an educational scene that we seek to achieve. It consists of promoting scientific research, relying on technology, employing technology and artificial Intelligence, and devoting innovation in higher education institutions, which has become an inevitable necessity. It is capable of achieving competitiveness represented in qualitative outputs that lead the future of our country, and leave its imprint and originality in the labour market and the development and prosperity of our national institutions.”