Participants at sovereign AI summit outline long-term digital strategies
<p>Doha, Qatar: Participants at the Sovereign AI and National Digital Strategies Summit, held yesterday alongside the second edition of MWC26 Doha, discussed how countries are developing long-term strategies for AI, data, infrastructure, regulation and talent to strengthen economic resilience and diversification.</p> <p>They also examined efforts to strengthen their countries’ positions in…
Doha, Qatar - Representatives gathered at the Sovereign AI and National Digital Strategies Summit, in conjunction with MWC26 Doha, to deliberate on long-term AI, data, infrastructure, regulation, and talent strategies. These countries aimed to bolster their economies and diversify by fortifying their positions in the rising AI domain while maintaining a balance between innovation, security, and strategic autonomy.
Uzbekistan's Minister of Digital Technologies, H.E. Sherzod Shermatov, unveiled his nation's AI prowess and aspirations to emerge as a global AI and technology hub. Uzbekistan boasts a robust pipeline of youthful technology and AI talent, and is devising plans to integrate AI across various sectors, including education, healthcare, and industry.
Thomas H. Perez-Ducy, a board member of the Dominican Republic's Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (INDOTEL), elucidated his country's sovereign AI strategy, which hinges on three pillars: nationwide digital infrastructure, government personnel adept in securely utilizing AI, and local expertise to create, assess, and employ technology. The Dominican Republic envisions becoming a regional AI hub for the entire Americas, capitalizing on its robust infrastructure, particularly its submarine cable network.
Greece's Secretary-General for Telecommunications and Post at the Ministry of Digital Governance, Konstantinos Karantzalos, emphasized that digital sovereignty can only be attained through trustworthy international partnerships that bolster local expertise and grant countries greater confidence in the technologies they employ. He stressed the significance of collaboration in infrastructure, skills enhancement, and application development to aid countries in sculpting the global AI landscape.
Karantzalos underscored that their triumph will be gauged by countries, businesses, and individuals' assurance and competence to shape their digital destiny.
During a panel discussion, General Manager for North Gulf (Qatar and Kuwait) at Dell Technologies, Travers Nicholas, clarified that sovereign AI revolves around countries' control over their AI usage, not isolation. Sovereign AI could also entail collective or global infrastructure for managing non-sensitive datasets and tasks. Scale AI's Director of Engineering, Hisham Mohamed, highlighted that sovereign AI depends on countries' ownership of data, control over its governance, and full control over it without external interference.
The second pillar involves constructing their own AI infrastructure and technological competencies, while the third pillar encompasses having skilled professionals versed in operating AI-related technologies.
Vodafone Qatar's Head of Technology Strategy, Planning, Excellence, and Fixed & PMO, Ersen Omuris, asserted that sovereign AI hinges on countries' capability to govern the technology, yet it is impractical to achieve without international alliances.
Written by urgent.news from The Peninsula Qatar Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
