Page 125 - SAMENA Trends - Jan-Mar 2024

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Sri Lanka

The Ministry of Education says arrangements have been made to the ministry to provide the necessary assistance in this regard.
revise the IT curriculum in state schools. Minister of Education He pointed out that the introduction of the new IT Curriculum will
Susil Premajayantha announced that the pilot project in this enable imparting the subject knowledge according to international
regard will be launched on March 19, 2024. He further said standards. “When making changes in the field of education, it is
that under the pilot project, steps have been taken to introduce essential to provide children with modern technical knowledge.
Information Technology, including Artificial Intelligence, in Especially in the fields of Nano Technology, Biotechnology,
the education system of state schools from Grades 08 to 13. genetic Engineering, and Artificial Intelligence,” the education
Minister Premajayantha said that Microsoft has partnered with minister added. (March 14, 2024) www.newswire.lk

Tunisia

African countries are working hard to deploy 5G. Technology studying the economic feasibility of launching ultra-broadband
has the potential to accelerate digital transformation with and determining the price of the license. The advent of 5G is part of
new applications in several areas, including transport, health, the implementation of Tunisia's “National Digital Transformation
education and agriculture. Tunisia now has a roadmap for Strategy 2025”. This strategy aims in particular to accelerate
the commercial deployment of fifth generation (5G) mobile the digitalization of administration, secure national cyberspace,
technology. The plan was unveiled on Monday March 18 by ensure digital sovereignty and establish a climate of digital trust
Nizar Ben Neji (photo), Minister of Communication Technologies, essential to the implementation of digitalization projects. “5G
during a workshop organized for this purpose. According to the will represent an important qualitative leap in strengthening the
roadmap, the licensing and commercial launch of 5G are planned infrastructure to be able to absorb the developments of different
for September and November 2024 respectively. The government digital applications in various strategic areas such as digital
has tasked the National Frequency Agency (ANF) with identifying health, smart industry, smart agriculture, distance education,
and providing frequency bands required. For its part, the National intelligent transportation and other areas,” the Ministry of
Telecommunications Authority (INT) will be responsible for Communication Technology said. (March 21, 2024) www.agenceecofin.com

United Arab Emirates

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory wise leadership directives that people’s happiness is the central
Authority (TDRA) has unveiled the second phase of the "U Ask" emphasis of governmental efforts.” H.E. Mohammad Al Zarooni,
platform, the virtual assistant available on the unified digital TDRA Deputy Director General for Information and Digital
portal U.ae. In this phase, the implementation of generative AI is Government Sector, said: “U Ask uses generative AI and answers
extended to government portals in alignment with the updated questions related to government services in a conversational form,
version of the Unified Design Language System (DLS). This allowing seamless integration on any government portal using the
development follows the remarkable success of the "U Ask" DLS version 2.0. U Ask supports multilingual conversations with
platform on U.ae. H.E. Eng. Majed Sutaln Al Mesmar, TDRA Director over 57 languages. The "U Ask" platform on every government
General, emphasized the significance of leveraging the expansive website provides answers to questions for which answers are
opportunities offered by generative AI to enhance government available on the respective website, pertaining solely to the
services. He said: “The utilization of artificial intelligence, information accessible within it. It does not just answer queries;
especially generative AI, presents a significant opportunity to it anticipates user needs, providing intelligent suggestions for the
enhance efficiency in government operations. TDRA has been a questions that may follow, making interactions more intuitive,
pioneer in implementing this technology, and we are committed efficient, conversational and user-friendly. U Ask won Gartner
to extending this experience. H.E. Al Mesmar added: “We thank Eye on Innovation Awards for Governments 2023. The award
the government entities collaborating with TDRA in adopting recognizes governmental initiatives that make innovative use of
cutting-edge technologies, such as generative AI. We reiterate data and emerging technologies to advance tangibly their digital
our readiness and eagerness to consistently collaborate with government ambitions at the local and regional levels.
them to realize the 'We the UAE 2031' vision, which stipulates (March 424) www.tdra.go
the establishment of Forward Ecosystem, and in line with the
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