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ATHKA Olympiad Achieves Record Enrolment in Kingdom with over 260,000 Saudi Students

ATHKA Olympiad Achieves Record Enrolment in Kingdom with over 260,000 Saudi Students
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ATHKA Olympiad Achieves Record Enrolment in Kingdom with over 260,000 Saudi Students

ATHKA Olympiad Achieves Record Enrolment in Kingdom with over 260,000 Saudi Students

National Olympiad for Programming and Artificial Intelligence (ATHKA) has set a record with over 260,000 Saudi male and female students from intermediate and secondary levels participating.

Representing over 10,000 schools in the Kingdom, this makes it the largest national Olympiad to reach such extensive participation. The surge in involvement indicates a significant rise in the Kingdom's youth awareness and interest in programming and AI technologies, SPA reported.

The substantial engagement with ATHKA highlights the successful collaboration between the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), the Ministry of Education, and the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba).

Together, they aim to bolster ATHKA as a national initiative nurturing a generation proficient in programming and AI, aligning with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 for human capacity development.

In April 2023, the Kingdom secured the second position globally in societal awareness of AI. This achievement follows a survey demonstrating increased confidence among Saudi citizens in utilizing AI products and services.

The Artificial Intelligence Index's sixth edition report by Stanford University indicates a high level of trust among Saudi citizens in embracing AI within the Kingdom.

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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)
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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.