UAE Launches Fourth Industrial Revolution Protocol

 A side of the Global Future Councils sessions that concluded on Sunday in Dubai. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.
A side of the Global Future Councils sessions that concluded on Sunday in Dubai. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.
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UAE Launches Fourth Industrial Revolution Protocol

 A side of the Global Future Councils sessions that concluded on Sunday in Dubai. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.
A side of the Global Future Councils sessions that concluded on Sunday in Dubai. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.

In partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Emirate government launched Sunday the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Protocol.

During the second Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils (AMGFC) in Dubai, the 4IR protocol was launched and it is an initiative that sets a regulatory framework for the tools and technologies already driving the next wave of human progress.

It encompasses three primary pillars: providing an integrated and secure data environment; formulating policies and legislation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and building a unified system of values and ethics to guide 4IR technologies.

Mohammad Abdullah al-Gergawi, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future and Co-chair of the Global Future Councils, said that the Fourth Industrial Revolution Protocol not only consolidates the UAE government’s efforts to adopt 4IR tools and technologies, but demonstrates its commitment to addressing the moral and ethical concerns surrounding them.

Gergawi added: “The Fourth Industrial Revolution’s unprecedented technological capabilities require us to change the mechanisms that govern the work of vital sectors.”

The launching of the Fourth Industrial Revolution represents an initiative from the UAE, that presents perceptions for the vital sectors’ future and puts a framework for the regulating legislatives and policies in a way that contributes in empowering governments to provide better services for the community.

The Protocol will establish a massive integrated data environment to simulate the Fourth Industrial Revolution, permitting experts to meet its challenges via extensive data sharing and artificial intelligence.

It will also work to ensure privacy for the community, contribute to human happiness by instilling values and ethics into technological advances and address the inherent challenges new technologies bring to identify and combat possible negative effects on humankind.



World Food Price Index Eases in Dec, Pushed Lower by Sugar

A vendor arranges vegetables at a roadside market on a cold winter evening in New Delhi on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Sajjad  HUSSAIN / AFP)
A vendor arranges vegetables at a roadside market on a cold winter evening in New Delhi on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP)
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World Food Price Index Eases in Dec, Pushed Lower by Sugar

A vendor arranges vegetables at a roadside market on a cold winter evening in New Delhi on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Sajjad  HUSSAIN / AFP)
A vendor arranges vegetables at a roadside market on a cold winter evening in New Delhi on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP)

The United Nations' world food price index dipped in December against November levels, led lower by a drop in international sugar quotations, but still showed a robust gain year-on-year, data showed on Friday.
The index, compiled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to track the most globally traded food commodities, fell to 127.0 points last month from a slightly revised 127.6 in November.
The November figure was previously put at 127.5, Reuters reported.
The December value was up 6.7% from 12 months previously, yet remained 20.7% below the all-time high reached in March 2022, FAO said.
For 2024 as a whole, the index averaged 122.0, 2.1% lower than the 2023 value, offsetting significant decreases in quotations for cereals and sugar with smaller increases in prices for vegetable oils, dairy and meats.
Sugar prices led December's monthly decline, dropping 5.1% month-on-month thanks to improving sugarcane crop prospects in the main producing countries to stand 10.6% below its December 2023 level.
Dairy prices declined after seven consecutive months of increases, losing 0.7% from November but still posting a 17.0% gain year-on-year. Vegetable oil prices dropped 0.5% month-on-month, but were up 33.5% on their year-earlier level.
Meat prices rose 0.4% in December from November and stood 7.1% above their December 2023 value.
The FAO cereal price index was little changed last month from November and was 9.3% below its year-earlier level, as a slightly uptick in maize quotations offset a drop in those for wheat, FAO said.
FAO did not provide a new forecast for global cereal production, with the next estimate due next month.