The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, is a government ministry in Saudi Arabia responsible for the sustainability of the environment and natural resources in the Kingdom. The ministry is also in charge of developing and applying policies that contribute to achieving water and food security. The current Minister is Abdulrahman Al-Fadli, who was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture on 15 January 2015 and kept his position after amending the name of the Ministry to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture in May 2016. Because of its areas of responsibility, H.E. the Minister chairs the boards of several vital organizations related to the Ministry’s fields of operation, such as the Presidency for Meteorology and Environment, the Saudi Wildlife Authority, the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, National Water Company, Saudi Arabian Grains Organization, the Agriculture Development Fund, and the Irrigation and Drainage Authority.
The Ministry implements environmental, water production, and agricultural plans and programs across the Kingdom with a focus on sustainability and value creation. It has widened its contribution to the national economy through numerous programs, especially in the areas of food security, water preservation, and environmental protection. Within these vital industries, it has created millions of viable, value-adding, sustainable jobs for the citizens of Saudi Arabia.
Signing ceremony
The signing ceremony took place at The Global AI Summit, held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, at King Abdul-Aziz Conference Center in Riyadh from the 13th through the 15th of September.
The memorandum was signed by the Director of the General Administration of Information Technology and Digital Transformation at the ministry, Dr. Abdul Hamid Bin Abdullah Al-Alaiwi, and the General Manager of Intel Corporation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Eng. Ahmed Al-Abdul-Jabbar. Dr. Al-Alaiwi pointed out that the signing of the memorandum represents one of the aspects of cooperation between the government and private sectors in the fields of modern and emerging technology such as the Internet of Things, augmented reality, remote sensing, and AI. The agreement is in line with the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and achieves the goals of the Ministry’s digital transformation strategy for the next four years.
“The MoU represents one of the many ways of fostering public-private collaboration on cutting-edge and emerging technologies, such as the Internet of Things, enhanced reality, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence, as well as e-government best practices and bolstered digital infrastructure capabilities,” said Dr. Elaiwi. He further added, “The MoU is in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and the Ministry’s digital transformation strategy for the next four years.”
Why this agreement and understanding?
The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the Global AI Summit, organized by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) at the King Abdul-Aziz International Conference Center in Riyadh.
A statement to the press mentioned, “The MoU aims to facilitate the mutual recognition of educational qualifications, periods of study undertaken, documents related to academic degrees or qualifications, and accreditation by educational institutions within the two countries.” It will also facilitate the establishment of joint or dual degree courses between higher education institutions, one of our objectives under NEP 2020 for the Intel-nationalization of Education.”
The signed MoU seeks to bring about a bilateral exchange of information concerning the educational structure, programs, and standards and increase the mobility of students and professionals between the two countries. It also aims at encouraging cooperation in the education sector, and the creation of newer study programs as mutually agreed upon by the signatories.
At the Ministerial Roundtable at the Global AI Summit, member states of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) agreed to adopt the Riyadh AI Call for Action Declaration (RAICA), which seeks to use AI technology to benefit people, communities, nations, and the world as a whole. The declaration was signed by all members of DCO including Bahrain, Cyprus, Djibouti, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Jordan, Rwanda, and Saudi Arabia. The call to action aims to advance the DCO’s commitment to identify and address present, emerging, and future humanitarian issues in the field of AI.
Deemah Al Yahya, Secretary General of DCO, said: “DCO was created with the ethos of establishing an inclusive digital economy through collaboration across diverse entities at all levels. The RAICA declaration is this idea put into practice. By signing this declaration, all DCO member states are reaffirming their shared desire to usher in a brighter future for all by harnessing the huge potential of AI to improve the lives of people around the world.”
DCO has developed a series of action areas to help these pillars to be implemented. To do this the member countries will push to provide all individuals with the resources they need to obtain AI literacy; work with organizations to identify how to employ AI to advance human rights; improve digital infrastructure; adopt comprehensive AI ethical guidelines; develop AI-supported initiatives to address global challenges; use AI to reduce human impact on the climate; and setup multilateral collaboration to accelerate AI accessibility across nations.
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