The UAE’s government has announced the launch of the United Nations (UN) platform, “Big Data for Sustainable Development“, as part of their efforts to meet the data and technology needs of the Middle East and North African (MENA) region.
The UAE was one of four countries chosen to host a regional headquarters for the platform. The official announcement was made during the ‘Mobilising Big Data and Data Science for the Sustainable Development Goals’ forum, which is currently being held at Expo 2020 Dubai, in cooperation with the United Nations.
Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Chairperson of the National Committee for Sustainable Development Goals, said that the UN’s decision to make the UAE the MENA headquarters of the platform was testament to the country’s stature and will enhance the UAE’s position as a global hub for technology and big data. Al Hashemy also said that it reflects the UAE’s commitment to attaining the sustainable development goals (SDGs) through the use of AI and big data.
The UN’s SDGs include supporting comprehensive and sustainable manufacturing and promoting innovation, Al Hashemy noted, adding that the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology has adopted a strategy aimed at fostering innovation and adopting advanced industrial tech solutions.
Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Teleworking Applications, stated that data is the true wealth of governments of the future and the main tool for developing the next-generation government services. The UAE cooperates with several countries and international organisations to align data protection efforts, by drafting legislation and establishing partnerships to ensure aligning laws issued by countries that produce digital technology and social media platforms, he added.
Hanan Mansour, Acting Director of the Federal Centre for Competitiveness and Statistics, said that the centre’s experts collaborated with a UN team to create the ideal infrastructure for the platform. The UAE will aim to establish an environment conducive to fostering talents in advanced data to achieve the UN’s SDGs, by focusing on improving the efficiency of AI and big data utilisation across vital sectors. The new centre will manage 578 national statistical indexes and is connected to over 40 authorities to ensure data security, she added.
Bill Scudder of AspenTech recently wrote an editorial for ITP.net on the importance of big data and the role it can play in improving operations.
Source: https://www.itp.net/emergent-tech/big-data-uae-un-platform