عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Technology

Saudi MCIT and TONOMUS Announce I.D.E.A. Initiative

The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and TONOMUS announced The Immersive Digital Environments and Assets (I.D.E.A.) Initiative. (SPA)
The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and TONOMUS announced The Immersive Digital Environments and Assets (I.D.E.A.) Initiative. (SPA)
TT
TT

Saudi MCIT and TONOMUS Announce I.D.E.A. Initiative

The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and TONOMUS announced The Immersive Digital Environments and Assets (I.D.E.A.) Initiative. (SPA)
The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and TONOMUS announced The Immersive Digital Environments and Assets (I.D.E.A.) Initiative. (SPA)

The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and TONOMUS, the NEOM-born cognitive technology company, announced The Immersive Digital Environments and Assets (I.D.E.A.) Initiative.
The initiative, originally showcased during a keynote presentation at LEAP 2024, is envisioned to propel the Saudi immersive technology sector among the leading nations and fuel the Kingdom’s digital economy ambitions as part of economic diversification, realizing Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Through the initiative, MCIT, TONOMUS, and partners will work closely to activate a national partner network to engage policymakers, researchers, technology providers, and end users in the participatory design of ecosystem interventions.
The initiative will create a unified strategic plan and activation roadmap across public- and private-sector partners to jumpstart immersive tech economy development as well as to develop a comprehensive solution blueprint for national immersive tech developments and establish standards to unite a diverse array of technology stakeholders.
MCIT and TONOMUS have already onboarded more than 15 potential partners across Saudi Arabia’s tech landscape and have issued a call to interested organizations to engage.
I.D.E.A. spans immersive experiences, virtual collaboration spaces, industrial digital twin and metaverse applications enabled by the convergence of several emerging technologies, including mixed reality, artificial intelligence (AI), three-dimensional (3D) modeling, and spatial computing, among others.
“The launch of this initiative is a testament to The Kingdom’s ambition to harness technology in building a thriving digital society and economy,” said MCIT Undersecretary for Technology Mohammed Alrobayan.
“For MCIT, this initiative is directly aligned with our objectives of growing the technology sector and supporting localized technology development. The involvement of TONOMUS and our plan for this partner network reinforces MCIT’s support for collaboration across the public and private sectors. We want to be at the forefront of immersive technology and accelerate a new wave of digital transformation”, he added.
“At the core,” said TONOMUS chief commercial officer Yousef Khalili,” this initiative is an effort to develop a local immersive tech ecosystem by driving technology adoption and supporting next-generation tech solutions. This partnership has been more than a year in the making and is based on a shared vision at the intersection of MCIT’s goal to unlock more value for the Kingdom through technology, and TONOMUS’ ambition to be a home-grown cognitive technology champion. TONOMUS is committed to developing innovative, next-generation technology solutions to propel Saudi organizations into the future”.

Most Viewed

 
 
Technology

South Korea Summit to Target ‘Blueprint’ for Using AI in the Military 

Guests attend the opening of an international conference on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military domain, in Seoul, South Korea, 09 September 2024. (EPA/Yonhap)
Guests attend the opening of an international conference on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military domain, in Seoul, South Korea, 09 September 2024. (EPA/Yonhap)
TT
TT

South Korea Summit to Target ‘Blueprint’ for Using AI in the Military 

Guests attend the opening of an international conference on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military domain, in Seoul, South Korea, 09 September 2024. (EPA/Yonhap)
Guests attend the opening of an international conference on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military domain, in Seoul, South Korea, 09 September 2024. (EPA/Yonhap)

South Korea convened an international summit on Monday seeking to establish a blueprint for the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military, though any agreement is not expected to have binding powers to enforce it.

More than 90 countries including the United States and China have sent government representatives to the two-day summit in Seoul, which is the second such gathering.

At the first summit was held in Amsterdam last year, where the United States, China and other nations endorsed a modest "call to action" without legal commitment.

"Recently, in the Russia-Ukraine war, an AI-applied Ukrainian drone functioned as David's slingshot," South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said in an opening address.

He was referring to Ukraine's efforts for a technological edge against Russia by rolling out AI-enabled drones, hoping they will help overcome signal jamming as well as enable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to work in larger groups.

"As AI is applied to the military domain, the military's operational capabilities are dramatically improved. However, it is like a double-edged sword, as it can cause damage from abuse," Kim said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said discussions would cover areas such as a legal review to ensure compliance with international law and mechanisms to prevent autonomous weapons from making life-and-death decisions without appropriate human oversight.

The Seoul summit hoped to agree to a blueprint for action, establishing a minimum level of guard-rails for AI in the military and suggesting principles on responsible use by reflecting principles laid out by NATO, by the US or a number of other countries, according to a senior South Korean official.

It was unclear how many nations attending the summit would endorse the document on Tuesday, which is aiming to be a more detailed attempt to set boundaries on AI use in the military, but still likely lack legal commitments.

The summit is not the only international set of discussions on AI use in the military.

UN countries that belong to the 1983 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) are discussing potential restrictions on lethal autonomous weapons systems for compliance with international humanitarian law.

The US government last year also launched a declaration on responsible use of AI in the military, which covers broader military application of AI, beyond weapons. As of August, 55 countries have endorsed the declaration.

The Seoul summit, co-hosted by the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya and the United Kingdom, aims to ensure ongoing multi-stakeholder discussions in a field where technological developments are primarily driven by the private sector, but governments are the main decision makers.

About 2,000 people globally have registered to take part in the summit, including representatives from international organizations, academia and the private sector, to attend discussions on topics such as civilian protection and AI use in the control of nuclear weapons.