Weekly News Blast – 23rd May 2024

Welcome to the GDCA Weekly News Blast! Check out the latest industry news from the GCC region below. Have any Middle East data centres news you’d like to share? Email yours to imogen@gulfdca.com with NEWS in the subject line.

Sponsor News

RED Engineering Design

Congratulations to our Platinum sponsor RED Engineering Design who have been recognised as a Sustainability Champion by UKREiif. Their Sustainability Solutions & Climate Change team makes every effort to evaluate project parameters for environmental resilience, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, bridging the gap between existing and new legislation, and with sustainability and renewables such a topical issue, these efforts have never been more important…Read more

 

Industry News

UAE

Mubadala invests in Japanese renewable energy

Abu Dhabi Sovereign investor, Mubadala, has made a cornerstone investment in PAG’s Asia Pacific renewable energy platform (PAG REN 1), supporting Japan’s ambitious solar plans to install 108GW of solar capacity by 2030. The provision of sustainable energy solutions is a key theme for Mubadala, with this investment further highlighting their growing portfolio of renewable energy companies and technologies across EMEA, and North America…Read more

AI to contribute 14% to UAE’s GDP by 2030

In his recent statement, the Minister for AI, digital economy, and remote work applications Omar Sultan Al Olama, announced that the UAE expects AI to contribute 14% to the country’s GDP by 2030. With economic returns of AI predicted to reach $320Bn in the Middle East, the opportunities of this technology to shift the landscape of economies and sectors globally are unprecedented…Read more

G42 and Microsoft to invest $1Bn in Kenya

Abu Dhabi’s leading Artificial Intelligence company, G42, and Microsoft have partnered to invest $1Bn into a green data centre in Kenya. This data centre, built by G42, will be equipped with Microsoft’s computing platform Azure through their new East Africa cloud region. As part of the industry’s ongoing efforts in sustainability and renewables, the data centre will solely run on geothermal energy and is designed with water conservation technology…Read more

 

Saudi Arabia

IBM enters a partnership with Saudi Arabia

Taking a different approach to monetising AI than their rivals (like Microsoft who frugally guard and charge for access to their AI models), IBM provides theirs free of charge and open to all, including their recently created ‘Granite’ family of AI models. As of Wednesday, it will release Granite as open-source software; and as part of its new deal with the Kingdom, it will help the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority train its ‘ALLaM’ Arabic language model – adding new language skills to IBM’s offerings…Read more

 

Qatar

Qatar announces a $2.47Bn AI incentive package

Qatar is moving steadily towards a comprehensive digital transformation, investing heavily in technology, innovation, and AI. At the recent Qatar Economic Forum Conference, the government announced the creation of its AI incentive package, valued at a significant $2.47Bn. In line with the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030, also launched was the ‘Start in Qatar’ project – designed to attract startups globally to the country, with over 250 companies already registered, Qatar is certainly heading in the right direction…Read more

 

We value your privacy
We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience, serve personalized ads or content, and analyze our traffic. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to our use of cookies. Read More