Collaboration will focus on three key pillars: Natural
Language Processing (NLP) including Arabic, AI applications in the
healthcare industry, and sustainability
ABU
DHABI, United Arab Emirates, May 25, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial
Intelligence (MBZUAI)—the world's first graduate, research
university dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI)—has announced
plans for a strategic collaboration with IBM (NYSE: IBM).
Senior leaders from both organizations signed a Memorandum of
Understanding aimed at advancing fundamental AI research,
as well as accelerating the types of scientific breakthroughs that
could unlock the potential of AI to help solve some of humanity's
greatest challenges.
Professor Eric Xing, President of
MBZUAI, delivered short remarks, as did Jonathan Adashek, IBM's Senior Vice President
and Chief Communications Officer, and Saad
Toma, General Manager, IBM Middle East, and Africa. The agreement was then signed by
Sultan Al Hajji, Vice President for
Public Affairs and Alumni Relations at MBZUAI and Wael Abdoush, General Manager IBM Gulf and
Levant.
"We're excited to to be among the first research universities in
the MENA region to host a Center of Excellence for AI research and
development with technology and expertise from a world-leading
technological giant like IBM. This center will provide highly
valuable resource and collaborative environment to our faculty and
students to broaden their work in AI. IBM has a long history of
technological innovation, and we look forward to joining their
latest efforts in our region and together advance AI technology and
commercialization for mutual good," MBZUAI President, Professor
Eric Xing said.
Saad Toma, General Manager, IBM
Middle East and Africa, said:
"This collaboration will help drive innovations in AI which is
critical for the future of business and society. We're bringing
together some of the brightest minds across both the industry and
academia, while reinforcing IBM's commitment to promoting knowledge
and skills in critical areas for the UAE's development, where the
use of technologies like AI is fundamental."
Central to the collaboration is the establishment of a
new AI Center of Excellence to be based at the university's Masdar
City campus. The Center will leverage the talents of IBM
researchers, in collaboration with MBZUAI faculty and students, and
will focus on the advancement of both fundamental and applied
research objectives.
The initiative seeks to develop, validate, and incubate
technologies that harness the capabilities of AI to address civic,
social, and business challenges. Further, the collaboration aims to
provide real-life applications, particularly in the fields of
natural language processing, as well as AI applications that seek
to further climate and sustainability goals, and accelerate
discoveries in healthcare.
IBM will provide targeted training and technologies as part of
the initiative, which supports the university's vision to be a
global leader for advancing AI and its application for the good of
society and business. For example, through the IBM
Academic Initiative, IBM will provide MBZUAI students and
faculty with access to IBM tools, software, courseware and
cloud accounts for teaching, learning, and non-commercial research.
In addition, through the IBM Skills Academy program,
MBZUAI will have access to curated AI curricula, lectures, labs,
industry use cases, design-thinking sessions, and an AI
Practitioner certification.
The planned relationship is subject to the parties reaching
definitive agreements.
About IBM
IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business
services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries
capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business
processes, reduce costs, and gain the competitive edge in their
industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in
critical infrastructure areas such as financial services,
telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud
platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital
transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's
breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing,
industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver
open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by
IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility,
inclusivity, and service. Visit www.ibm.com for more
information.
About Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence
(MBZUAI)
MBZUAI is a graduate, research university focused on artificial
intelligence, computer science, and digital technologies across
industrial sectors. The university aims to empower students,
businesses, and governments to advance artificial intelligence as a
global force for positive progress. MBZUAI offers various graduate
programs designed to pursue advanced, specialized knowledge and
skills in artificial intelligence, including computer vision,
machine learning, and natural language processing. For more
information, please visit www.mbzuai.ac.ae
For press inquiries,
please contact:
|
|
|
|
Nicholas Demille
|
Jumana
Akkawi
|
Associate Director of
Communications at
|
Communications
Director, IBM Middle East
|
MBZUAI
|
and Africa and Central
Eastern Europe
|
nicholas.demille@mbzuai.ac.ae
|
jumanaak@ae.ibm.com
|
|
|
Aya Sakoury
|
|
Head of Communications
at MBZUAI
|
|
aya.sakoury@mbzuai.ac.ae
|
|
|
|
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ibm-and-mbzuai-join-forces-to-advance-ai-research-with-new-center-of-excellence-301554466.html
SOURCE IBM