SDAIA, UNESCO Discuss ICAIRE Efforts

SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi met with UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences Gabriela Ramos. (SPA)
SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi met with UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences Gabriela Ramos. (SPA)
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SDAIA, UNESCO Discuss ICAIRE Efforts

SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi met with UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences Gabriela Ramos. (SPA)
SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi met with UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences Gabriela Ramos. (SPA)

Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi met with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences Gabriela Ramos, SPA said on Wednesday.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) organized by UNESCO and Slovenia’s Ministry of Digital Transformation under the theme "Changing the Landscape of AI Governance."
During the meeting, participants reviewed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's efforts in supporting UNESCO and its targets across various fields, including AI.
They also addressed efforts to enhance the role of the International Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Ethics (ICAIRE), which was classified under the second category of UNESCO, and SDAIA's efforts in this regard, such as organizing workshops on AI ethics in collaboration with the Arab League, the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the ICAIRE.
Additionally, SDAIA's efforts in the field of data and AI were discussed.



Latest Tests Show Seine Water Quality Was Substandard When Paris Mayor Took a Dip

 Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Latest Tests Show Seine Water Quality Was Substandard When Paris Mayor Took a Dip

 Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

Tests results released Friday showed the water quality in the River Seine was slightly below the standards needed to authorize swimming — just as the Paris Olympics start.

Heavy rain during the opening ceremony revived concerns over whether the long-polluted waterway will be clean enough to host swimming competitions, since water quality is deeply linked with the weather in the French capital.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a highly publicized dip last week in a bid to ease fears. The Seine will be used for marathon swimming and triathlon.

Daily water quality tests measure levels of fecal bacteria known as E. coli.

Tests by monitoring group Eau de Paris show that at the Bras Marie, E. coli levels were then above the safe limit of 900 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters determined by European rules on June 17, when the mayor took a dip.

The site reached a value of 985 on the day the mayor swam with Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, joined her, along with swimmers from local swimming clubs.

At two other measuring points further downstream, the results were below the threshold.

The statement by Paris City Hall and the prefecture of the Paris region noted that water quality last week was in line with European rules six days out of seven on the site which is to host the Olympic swimming competitions.

It noted that "the flow of the Seine is highly unstable due to regular rainfall episodes and remains more than twice the usual flow in summer," explaining fluctuating test results.

Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century. Since 2015, organizers have invested $1.5 billion to prepare the Seine for the Olympics and to ensure Parisians have a cleaner river after the Games. The plan included constructing a giant underground water storage basin in central Paris, renovating sewer infrastructure, and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.