Saudi Arabia Ranks First Globally by Winning Largest Number of Medals in WAICY

Saudi Arabia Ranks First Globally by Winning Largest Number of Medals in WAICY
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Saudi Arabia Ranks First Globally by Winning Largest Number of Medals in WAICY

Saudi Arabia Ranks First Globally by Winning Largest Number of Medals in WAICY

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was awarded the first position for winning the largest number of medals in the World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY), in which 18,000 male and female students from 40 countries in the world participated, topping the United States, India, Greece, Canada, and Singapore.

In the global competition organized by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) in cooperation with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), 18 Saudi projects won, including 11 got gold, silver, and bronze medals, and 7 other projects were in advanced positions out of 6,039 projects, while the United States won 10 medals, India and Greece won two medals for each country, and Canada and Singapore won one medal for each country, according to SPA.

The Kingdom was represented in the competition by general education students from the levels, primary, intermediate, and secondary schools from the schools of Misk, Dhahran, Madac, KAUST, Aramco, AlUla, and NEOM. They all competed in the three competition tracks: AI Showcase, AI-Generated Art, and AI Large language model.

In light of this Saudi excellence, SDAIA and KAUST received the Outstanding Organization Award at the global level for their efforts and commitment to developing artificial intelligence education.



Paris Olympics Expected to Face 4 Billion Cyber Incidents

A general view of the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower a day before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Paris, France June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
A general view of the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower a day before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Paris, France June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Paris Olympics Expected to Face 4 Billion Cyber Incidents

A general view of the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower a day before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Paris, France June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
A general view of the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower a day before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Paris, France June 25, 2024. (Reuters)

As the Paris 2024 Olympic Games approach, cybersecurity officials are bracing for over 4 billion cyber incidents. They are setting up a new centralized cybersecurity center for the Games, supported by advanced intelligence teams and artificial intelligence (AI) models.

Eric Greffier, the technical director for Paris 2024 at Cisco France, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Tokyo 2020 Games saw around 450 million cyber incidents. He added that the number of incidents expected for Paris is at least ten times higher, requiring a more efficient response.

Greffier explained that a single cybersecurity center allows for better coordination and a faster response to incidents.

This approach has proven effective in other areas, such as banking and the NFL, where his company also handles cybersecurity, he added.

The Extended Detection and Response (XDR) system is central to the company’s security strategy.

Greffier described it as a “comprehensive dashboard” that gathers data from various sources, links events, and automates threat responses.

It offers a complete view of cybersecurity and helps manage threats proactively, he affirmed.

The system covers all aspects of the Olympic Games’ digital security, from network and cloud protection to application security and end-user safety.

In cybersecurity, AI is vital for managing large amounts of data and spotting potential threats. Greffier noted that with 4 billion expected incidents, filtering out irrelevant data is crucial.

The Olympic cybersecurity center uses AI and machine learning to automate threat responses, letting analysts focus on real issues, he explained.

One example is a network analytics tool that monitors traffic to find unusual patterns.

Greffier said that by creating models of normal behavior, the system can detect anomalies that might indicate a potential attack. While this might generate false alarms, it helps ensure that unusual activity is flagged for further review.