By Ali Makki

JEDDAH — Dr. Khaled Al-Sabti, governor of the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) and chairman of the board of directors of the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC), is a man of specialized technical tasks who is credited to have made elaborate scientific solutions.

A testimony to this is the Saudi leadership’s confidence and trust in his ability to go ahead with significant responsibilities supported by a career full of achievements and a brilliant ability to carry out responsibilities, and to move professionally and skillfully from the space of computer science to cybersecurity, to the horizon of higher education. The ongoing workshop at ETEC is the best example of this.

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Academy organized the workshop on “Basics of Artificial Intelligence” as part of the academy’s mission to conduct STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) training for professionals in Saudi Arabia.

The three-day workshop, which started on Sunday aims to present an overview of the KAUST Academy courses to the ETEC staff. As a next step, with mutual agreement with ETEC, KAUST Academy will create custom courses in artificial intelligence and data science for ETEC. These courses will culminate in the participants using AI tools to solve practical problems at ETEC as part of their capstone project for the classes.

KAUST and ETEC joined hands to undertake an ambitious endeavor to elevate the education system in our country. KAUST’s collaboration with ETEC represents the vision for the future and a bet on knowledge and technology to transform human lives.