Saudi Gazette report

NEW YORK — Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha has stressed that the Saudi leadership provides a pioneering model in international cooperation to bridge social and economic gaps in the utilization of artificial intelligence.

Al-Swaha highlighted Saudi Arabia's efforts on the social level by working with the International Telecommunication Union to present a study on how to bridge the digital gap represented by the lack of access to digital solutions for 2.6 billion people.

Saudi Arabia presented the virtual hospital as a pioneering model in health, and performed many specialized surgeries, including open-heart surgeries for a number of patients in a number of countries around the world.

Al-Swaha made the remarks during Saudi Arabia’s speech at the Future Summit during the interactive dialogue session entitled “Towards a Shared Digital Future,” in the presence of leaders from the international community and the United Nations General Assembly.

The minister indicated that Saudi Arabia has put forward an initiative to establish the Digital Cooperation Organization to bridge these gaps, serve more than 800 million people, and support an economic bloc worth three and a half trillion by providing digital platforms and a unified digital market to support innovation in health, education, and business models to raise efficiency and support the growth of the digital economy.

Saudi Arabia has also contributed to empowering humanity through its membership in the Advisory Council for Artificial Intelligence, led by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Seven recommendations were made, including the establishment of an independent international scientific committee on artificial intelligence, the launch of a multi-stakeholder intergovernmental dialogue on the governance of artificial intelligence, the establishment of a platform for the exchange of standards and expertise related to artificial intelligence, and the building of a global network for capacity development.

“To enhance our work and industrial expertise, Saudi Arabia is proud to announce the TomTom AI Framework in partnership with the United Nations, the International Centre for Research and Ethics in Artificial Intelligence in partnership with UNESCO, and the AI ​​Readiness Framework in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union,” Al-Swaha added.

He said: “As we celebrate today the launch of the Charter for the Future and the Global Digital Charter, let us unite together as we have only one goal: a comprehensive artificial intelligence to empower humanity and leave no one behind in catching up with the world.”