The National Council for Artificial Intelligence, chaired by the Minister of Communications, held Monday a meeting to review the second phase of the National AI Strategy. The meeting discussed the preparation of the strategy to keep up with the rapid developments in the field of generative artificial intelligence, especially big data models and their various applications. This comes as the first phase of the strategy is expected to be completed in May 2024.
The meeting was attended by council members and experts from various economic and technological fields. The National AI Strategy aims to use artificial intelligence technologies to support Egypt’s sustainable development goals, with the second phase lasting for three years. The preparation efforts included a comparative study of the experience of developing artificial intelligence in six leading and similar countries. Moreover, an analysis of the development of national artificial intelligence was done in light of the executive status of the first phase of the national strategy.
The first phase initiatives, which used artificial intelligence techniques to address societal challenges in critical areas such as early tumor detection and diabetic retinopathy in healthcare, urban and agricultural planning decision support, and processing colloquial Egyptian Arabic, helped Egypt advance seven positions in the global AI index released by Tortoise Media.
During the meeting, Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of the National Council for Artificial Intelligence, explained that the second phase aims to improve the national AI index through the implementation of initiatives across six key pillars: governance, environmental systems, information structure, data, human resources, and technology.
He highlighted the adoption of several priority initiatives within these pillars, such as expanding investment scope, raising public awareness of artificial intelligence, attracting investments in data centers, enabling the management of local data life cycles, continuing to develop capabilities in artificial intelligence, and building a technological platform based on the development of big data model technology.
The meeting also reviewed aspects of the second phase of the strategy related to the use of big data models in government services and the tourism, health, agriculture, industry, and information and communication technology sectors. Additionally, the council discussed the importance of establishing a specific law for artificial intelligence, especially the proposed European Commission law that adopts a three-level model for the risks of artificial intelligence systems.
The meeting touched upon the Egyptian Charter for Responsible Artificial Intelligence launched by the National Council for Artificial Intelligence in April. It is worth mentioning that the council was established in November 2019, according to a decision by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, to formulate and govern the national artificial intelligence strategy. The council coordinates relevant entities to develop a unified strategy that reflects government priorities and the interests of all parties involved in the use of artificial intelligence applications. The council is also responsible for overseeing the implementation, monitoring, and updating of the strategy in line with global developments.
