The Metaverse Institute is honoured to join a meeting in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia with representatives from UN Tourism Regional Office in the Middle East. Dr Christina Yan Zhang, CEO of The Metaverse Institute was invited to meet representatives from UN Tourism Regional Office in The Middle East to discuss collaborations opportunities.
Luis Nicolas Barrios Medina-Montoya Regional Manager UN Tourism met with Dr Christina Yan Zhang of The Metaverse Institute together with other UN Tourism Colleagues such as MD Khorshed Alam Senior Specialist – Innovation, Education & Investments, Peter Janetch, Coordinator, Deputy Director, as well as Megha Paul, Senior Communications Specialist.
About UN Tourism ▶is a specialised agency of the UN which promotes responsible, sustainable and universally-accessible tourism. ▶has 160 Member States ▶headquartered in Madrid, Spain ▶its middle east headquarter is in Riyadh, Capital of Saudi Arabia
About The Global Tourism Industry ▶contributes 9.1% Global GDPs in 2023 ▶In the first seven months of 2024, 790 million tourists traveled internationally, 11% more than in 2023, though 4% less than in 2019. ▶Export revenues from international tourism reached $ 1.8 trillion in 2023, almost matching pre-pandemic levels ▶Tourism’s direct contribution to GDP recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, reaching an $ 3.4 trillion ▶The Middle East remained the strongest-growing region, with international arrivals climbing 26% above 2019 levels.
About Saudi Arabia Tourism ▶ranked 12th by UN Tourism Barometre, 15 more places than before ▶welcomed 17.5 million international tourists in the first seven months of 2024, 73% increase compared to the same period in 2019. ▶International tourism revenue in Saudi Arabia surged by 207%. ▶achieved target of attracting 100 million tourists in 2023, seven years ahead of schedule.
The Middle East’s largest tech event concluded with unprecedented investments which will boost the region’s digital dominance.
The third edition of Saudi Arabia’s most-attended tech event continued to fuel ambitious innovators and their technology-enabled transformation. Building on over $9 billion of deals signed during the 2023 event, LEAP 2024 concluded with record-breaking investments totaling $13.4 billion and generative AI at the center of the attention. Over 1,800 trailblazers from around the world explored transformative innovations across seven laser-focused content tracks at the four-day event at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center.
This year, LEAP focused intensively on Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). In line with this focus, DeepFest returned on a grander scale in conjunction with LEAP and supported by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA). DeepFest welcomed over 120 companies and showcased government-led AI projects at the forefront of innovation. The wide-ranging events included a leadership conference, specialized track sessions, training workshops, live demonstrations, innovation showcases, start-up pitch sessions, and an exhibition. The exhibition hosted leading global tech companies at the forefront of AI innovation.
The conference witnessed significant investment announcements centered around AI, e-sports and gaming. Amazon Web Services put in a $5.3 billion investment to establish a high-capacity cloud zone while IBM announced a $250 million investment in a software development center. ServiceNow also dropped a $500 million investment to launch its first data hub in the region.
The National Development Fund, in collaboration with the Social Development Bank, launched two venture investment funds in the gaming and e-sports sectors, with a total value of $120 million in collaboration with Mirak Financial and Impact Financial (Impact46) further bolstering Saudi Arabia’s digital infrastructure and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The far-reaching economic impact of Leap 2024 goes beyond direct investments. It is estimated that the event has infused around $500 million into the local economy, uplifting various sectors, from aviation to hospitality, with hotel occupancy rates in Riyadh surging to 99 percent.
Meanwhile, one of the most exciting highlights at LEAP is the annual Rocket Fuel Startup Pitch Competition, with a total prize pool of $1 million. The third edition of the competition was powered by Saudi Arabia’s National Technology Development Programme (NTDP) in collaboration with the Kingdom’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and the Misk Foundation. This year’s Rocket Fuel Startup Pitch Competition saw four expert judges presenting awards across six categories with entrants selected from 90 international startups. American start-up Reme-D Inc. walked away with a prize fund of $250,000 after winning the coveted LEAP Award.
Building new businesses at a turbulent time
Focus on the opportunities brought forward by challenges, and don’t stop investing.
Can Kendi, Senior Partner at McKinsey
The rise of disruptive technologies has reshaped the landscape for new business building. As consumer needs evolve alongside shifting tech trends, business leaders around the world are finding themselves in a turbulent environment. Can Kendi, senior partner at McKinsey points out that challenges bring opportunities. “So don’t stop investing,” he says.
Shared at LEAP 2024, McKinsey’s new annual New Business Building report shed light on the core factors leaders should look at as they navigate this new landscape. New business building refers to the creation of new revenue streams through new products, services, or businesses that require new capabilities and has become a critical priority for business leaders. “[Our report] found that 67 percent of the businesses are topping up the game if they make new business building one of the top three priorities on their agenda,” says Sonia Wedrychowicz, partner at McKinsey.
Sonia Wedrychowicz, Partner at McKinsey
According to the report, over 50 percent of CEOs already consider business building one of their top three priorities. They have good reason to do so because the firm also expects that business building alone will help generate 30 percent of revenues by 2028.
Speaking at a keynote at LEAP 2024, Kendi and Wedrychowicz highlighted the key factors in successful business building. Discipline stands out as a key factor in building efficient and sustainable businesses. “Digital business building hates chaos,” speaking to WIRED, Wedrychowicz points out that, “It loves process and discipline.” McKinsey’s report found that businesses with formal mechanisms are 2.4 times more successful at new business building compared to those without. Experience is another key factor. The report defines an experienced expert builder as a business that launches three or more new businesses per year. Efficiency also plays a key role in successful business building. Around 40 percent of business builders are more likely to close an underperforming business than maintain it, the report says.
Elaborating on the three key factors, Kendi says that it’s crucial to keep fresh blood in the business building team. “Do not try to create a new business with the same old management team,” he advises. “The new business should come with a new and agile mindset with more freedom.” Wedrychowicz adds that business builders should not neglect the importance of partnership on the technical side of business building. “Don’t build it in-house if you can buy it,” she says. According to both Wedrychowicz and Kendi, building a product in-house, while feasible, is deemed to slow down the entire business building process due to structural issues that will inevitably occur along the way.
McKinsey’s report also examined the areas that business builders are looking at. Data, analytics, and AI remain the most anticipated types of new businesses. The report also hints that 45 percent believe the advancement of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) could increase their organization’s investment in new business building over the next five years.
Combining digital and physical
How do we bring the metaverse to its world-changing potential?
Dr. Christina Yan Zhang, CEO of The Metaverse Institute
The metaverse, the tech darling of 2022 more recently spurned in favor of AI, still holds a great deal of promise. Yet its quick rise to prominence brought questions for the public (what is the metaverse? Is it the same as the company Meta?), and for experts (how do we make sure hardware and software are on the same level?) alike.
Dr. Christina Yan Zhang of the Metaverse Institute looks at the biggest questions – how do we leverage metaverse to solve global challenges? Zhang has been at the forefront of researching applications of the metaverse and related technologies for over 15 years. The metaverse, in her eyes, is a convergence of new technologies including virtual reality, digital twins and the internet, “coming together to form the next generation of the internet, which is more immersive, interactive and intuitive.”
Zhang highlighted some of her early work using platforms like Second Life to develop international education strategies. She also explored using digital twins to simulate and optimize construction, engineering and architecture projects. “This issue is, like any frontier technology, when you are a little bit too early like me, people don’t always understand what you’re talking about.”
Reflecting on the shift in interest from metaverse to AI, Zhang sees it as a positive. “Instead of saying that generative AI killed the metaverse, generative AI has become the most powerful building block of the metaverse.” She predicts that the next mainstream use for AI will be text to 3D objects, avatars and environments –a boon to metaverse developers which would make the field far more accessible, allowing for unprecedented participation in building out virtual worlds.
Yet the metaverse shouldn’t be purely virtual, she asserts. It should be tied to the physical world using sensors and digital twins. Digital twins, a 3D, digital version of physical objects or locations, use sensors in the real world to transmit data and information digitally. Zhang says the future of the metaverse could include human digital twins.
One challenge she notes is the all-aboard mentality of both people and companies in the face of new technology – rather than questioning the best use for new technologies, it becomes applied in its most rudimentary form, often not reaping any rewards other than the completion of corporate box-ticking. “The challenge is, how do you identify the most effective use case of such frontier technology in a relatively short time?”
Zhang co-chairs a UN task group exploring how technologies can support smart, inclusive cities. Through the Metaverse Institute, she also advises organizations on identifying effective use cases that provide real-world benefits. Some focus areas include using digital twins at various scales from individuals to entire countries and planets.
Ensuring no one is left behind in the digital transformation is a major priority. Over a billion people lack reliable electricity access and billions more are not online. Zhang discussed how technologies may help address global digital divides and bring opportunities to underserved communities.
Public-private partnerships will be crucial to make progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. By championing collaborative approaches and using tech for good, emerging technologies can be harnessed to benefit all of humanity according to Zhang.
The future looks promising yet there is still much work to be done to bring this technology to its true potential.
Transforming business with generative AI
Ali Hosseini, Chief Technology Officer at PwC Middle East
Providing clarity on AI’s impact on workforce and business efficiencies is crucial amid the AI revolution.
Artificial intelligence was the hot topic at this year’s LEAP. PwC Middle East, a key player in the Middle East’s ongoing technological transformation, has set its sights on a particularly compelling frontier: Transforming businesses with generative AI (GenAI).
With the technology evolving at lightning speed and players in every industry trying to get in on the act, the AI space is getting crowded and somewhat chaotic, according to Ali Hosseini, Chief Technology Officer at PwC Middle East. Establishing its first AI Centre of Excellence in the city of Riyadh aimed at upskilling and scaling the AI capabilities of Saudi engineers and researchers, PwC believes that providing clarity on AI’s impact on the workforce and business to its clients is the key to maximizing the potential of AI.
“The way I see the impact of AI is two-dimensional,” says Hosseini, “One dimension is the workforce transformation, and the other is AI automation.” AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot have significantly increased the efficiency of employees across different industries by freeing them from some of the drudgery of office work, according to Hosseini. However, transforming the entire workforce with AI is not as easy as it sounds. Getting staff to understand what to adopt and how to adopt AI, requires both the understanding of the technology and the domain knowledge, he says. The current state of AI allows for the democratization of knowledge, which empowers individuals, regardless of their technical background, to engage with and leverage the power of these intelligent machines. “I think, first of all, no one is an expert in GenAI. No matter what anyone tells you,” says Moussa Beidas, Partner and Ideation Lead at PwC Middle East. “Every single second, every minute you open up your browser, you open up your phone, there’s something new,” he declares. “So everyone is learning at the same pace, which I think is a fantastic democratizer.”
“The opportunities are massive,” says Beidas when referring to AI’s capability. “Every day people are finding new use cases of how GenAI can impact industries and people’s lives.” Highlighting the future potential of AI automation in financial services, Hosseini shares that “[To automate actions like] account opening, mortgage application, or insurance risk assessment, you would need a technology that combines the knowledge and the actionable solutions,” he says. He points out that this is an evolution of AI from knowledge augmentation to action-oriented automation.
“When it comes to Gen AI, we want to make sure that we build capability at every level,” Hosseini adds. PwC’s long-term investment in AI and its deep, industry-specific knowledge allow it to combine technology and know-how to create customized solutions for its clients.
Positioning itself at the forefront of technological innovation, PwC is determined to remain a leading force in this exciting journey. As it embraces GenAI’s revolutionary potential, it also aims to be the force of change for the region’s future alongside this transformative technology.
Understanding AI
Seth Dobrin, formerly IBM’s first-ever Chief AI Officer, discusses the future of AI.
Seth Dobrin, CEO of Qantm AI
Amidst the hum of innovation and the buzz of anticipation at LEAP 2024, CEO of Qantm AI Seth Dobrin, shared his perspective on the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and its profound implications for humanity.
Dobrin’s upcoming book, AI IQ for a Human-Focused Future, stands as a testament to his dedication to demystifying AI and its transformative potential. “Over more than decade, I’ve been transforming companies through AI and data,” Dobrin explains. “Tying business strategy to technology and human outcomes.”
When it comes to AI’s impact on human society. Dobrin emphasizes the imperative of fostering a value-based AI future, one that transcends technological advancement to prioritize human well-being and equity. “AI impacts humans,” Dobrin asserts, “and when designing and implementing AI, we must consider its impact on individuals across diverse contexts and cultures. And so the companies need to understand that humans are using it, and others are impacted by it. And when they’re designing and implementing the AI, they need to consider that. And they also need to consider the location of the person, you know, kind of where that person lives. Because there’s different biases that exist in different parts of the world. There’s different moral and ethical constructs. And we can’t inflict Western ethos on the rest of the world,” he says.
Taking it a step further, Dobrin offered up his take on a wide range of biases and how we have to be very careful in creating a more equitable system, “And so what you need to think about is, okay, where do we control things like bias? Now, I think globally, we can agree that gender bias is the thing, and we want to control gender bias. Outside of gender bias, there are different constructs of bias around the world. So in the West, we look at black, brown, we look at race, we’ll get ethnicity, we look at religion. And so while if you’re considering western values baked into and regulated into pre-trained models, you’re ignoring other biases, other bias constructs and inflicting your own on those parts of the world. And you’re essentially in a new type of colonialism. It’s technological colonialism on south of the equator. And so we’re expanding the digital divide. And through these new gender of AI tools, or pre-trained models, we’re going to be expanding the digital divide if we don’t be more inclusive, include these people in the training and development of these models, and even looking in the Middle East.”
Finally, Dobrin shared his aspirations for the future of AI. He spoke passionately about empowering organizations to embrace AI strategies grounded in human-centric values, particularly in regions like the Middle East where technological innovation intersects with societal transformation. “It’s about enabling organizations to chart a course aligned with their broader vision,” Dobrin affirms, underscoring the pivotal role of AI in shaping our collective future.
Merging humanity and technology
How do we leverage technology, while respecting the human condition?
Yonah Welker, Public technologist
At LEAP 2024, Yonah Welker, a serial technologist, and a proponent of cross-cultural collaboration, shared his insights on the symbiotic relationship between technology and humanity, “Two years ago we started the global movement of AI for Humanity. And the main idea behind this movement was that no matter what type of algorithm or system I would love to build, we’d have people and humanity behind it, and it’s why it affects the data, the historical context behind it. The potential biases, positive or negative outcomes,” he says.
Welker’s journey traverses the divide between the western and eastern hemispheres, embodying the essence of a technology ambassador, “My personal focus is algorithms which focus on cognitive, sensory and physical spectrum such as AI for dyslexia, cognitive impairments, autism, medical technologist education, and on one hand, I oversee portfolios in technology transfer in this field on behalf of the government on behalf of my personal projects. Also, I work on policies to better understand how to adopt these technologies.” His mission? To infuse every algorithm and system with the essence of human experience, transcending mere lines of code.
The idea is that it is the worker, the everyday man or woman who will be using AI technologies is better informed, and so Welker works with UNESCO and governments to foster AI education, “I work on policies to better understand how to adopt these technologies. It was not only the system, but the classroom, the teacher or nurse who will use these technologies provide better understanding of literacy in capacities,” he says.
“I still believe that when we work together, then we respect the diversity behind the teams. We can create not only the human centered systems for hospitals, schools, workplaces, but actually solve bigger social challenges for more collaborative cooperation. at national and regional level. That’s my message,” he says.
In navigating the complexities of international collaboration, Welker confronts multifaceted challenges. He acknowledges the nuanced intersectionalities within data, emphasizing the imperative of gender-specific studies and the recognition of historically marginalized communities, “AI is just two lines of code. Everything that happens, whether positive or negative, is actually about society. An algorithm is just a reflection of society. For instance, when we build AI for autism, we discover cognitive impairments unique for girls. We need to conduct gender-specific studies to better understand the data in this area. For years, medical studies primarily focused on men, excluding women and disregarding intersectionality. When discussing cognitive spectrums, we often overlook comorbidities or underlying conditions, as well as how some specific conditions are unique to certain ethnicities, geographical locations, or communities that were historically excluded from access to hospitals and classrooms,” Welker says.
“Two years ago, when I first visited Riyadh and worked on the global AI Summit, the idea of human capacity was at the forefront. Two years ago, the Saudis signed the agreement and declaration of AI ethics with UNESCO. Now, through the Center of AI Ethics and Research here in Riyadh, we can see how it comes in parallel, not only with the EU and AI and digital services, but also actively working with our counterparts globally. We all agree that we should balance the facilitation of technology and the protection of people, because humanity is always behind the system,” he says.
A YouTuber and an AI interviewer
The rise of deepfakes and AI-generated avatars is a cause for concern.
Aaron Jones, co-founder of Yepic AI
At this year’s DeepFest, curious crowds saw Kwebbelkop, one of the world’s biggest gaming YouTubers, getting interviewed by his own AI avatar.
With the recent increase in deepfakes and AI-generated avatars on our social media feeds and messaging threads, Aaron Jones, co-founder of Yepic AI, was keen to stress that “it’s about the realism, to reach beyond novelty, to have an emotive connection, or to offer an experience that either excites and delights.”
Jones was discussing the endless possibilities for, and the inspiration behind, creating and being turned into an AI avatar. Yepic AI had just completed a remarkable project – The creation of an AI interviewer that would talk with YouTube sensation Jordi van den Bussche, aka Kwebbelkop, “[It] came together in a remarkably fast timeframe—literally days. As a company that specializes in this type of technology, we just needed one photo and less than two minutes of Jordan’s voice to create the clone.”
The mind-bending interview between van den Bussche, and a digital avatar based on his YouTube persona, Kwebbelkop, touched on the differences in gamers across the world and whether van den Bussche would like to clone his loved ones. “It’s fascinating to see how certain jokes or video games can be popular in one region but not in another. These cultural nuances definitely make the gaming and streaming landscape diverse and unique across different locations,” says van den Bussche. With regards to cloning a loved one, he agrees that it is “a little bit interesting and strange. But it can help people who have social anxiety or who are very lonely, even those with dementia,” battle with their dwindling grasp on their memory.
Creating an avatar from scratch is not a cakewalk, despite the assumption that it is just “custom promptings and instructions” typed into an AI model. The backend heavy task “is literally millions and millions of frames of people talking in hundreds of languages that create huge datasets that are trained over a long period of time to give us a foundation model that enables us to generate videos like this on the fly in real-time with very little GPU,” says Jones.
Jones even alluded to the possibility that “every single customer-facing knowledge job will be replaced by an avatar,” stating that the most obvious and logistically viable use cases of these AI avatars would be in “customer service and airport kiosks.” As the “smartest video model in the world,” Yepic AI works tirelessly to ensure that “people can access the world through AI avatars without giving over their data sovereignty,” according to Jones. That’s a good thing, considering how widely he anticipates AI avatars to be used.
Yepic AI intends to launch their system, Jordi 2.0, on mainstream platforms soon after its inauguration on the LEAP main stage. The updated avatar is “dynamic and even more lifelike, trained on just a few minutes of video that also works in real-time. Running on an RT x 4080, which requires very little computation, Jones adds that the demo they are “working on right now will run on the new iPhone. So it’s really an exciting time to be at the cutting edge of the new UI.”
Overall, Yepic AI’s goal is simple: to bring APIs (that support 84 percent of the world’s internet) to LLMs in a personified way to create deeper connections.
Princess Haifa bint Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid, Saudi vice minister of Tourism, announced that there are currently 925,000 individuals employed in the tourism sector, of which 45 percent are women. She highlighted the commendable efforts of these individuals in empowering human capital and fostering skills and capabilities for both the present and the future.
These remarks were made during her participation in the ‘Creating a Future-proof Workforce in the Tourism Industry and Beyond’ dialogue session, which took place as part of the Human Capacity Initiative Conference held lately in Riyadh.
The session included other notable participants such as Dr. Christina Yan Zhang, CEO of the Metaverse Institute; Alistair Gosling, founder and CEO of EXTREME International; Hanin Al-Subaie, founder of the Darent application; and Mohammed Al-Mulhim, founder of Pangea Tourism and Adventure Company.
Technological transformation of global jobs
The Vice Minister underscored that, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), around 33 percent of global jobs will undergo transformation due to technological advancements, necessitating reskilling and skill development. She further explained that technology will play a crucial role in the tourism sector, enabling entry into new domains and necessitating adaptation. By investing in technology and integrating it into the field, those working in tourism can enhance their development and progress, including utilizing data science for informed decision-making.
Investing in future-oriented opportunities in tourism
Throughout the session, the speakers stressed that cities worldwide are striving to develop their tourism sectors and leverage tools to attract diverse groups of tourists. They emphasized the convergence of virtual reality with the real world and the importance of investing in future-oriented opportunities within the field. Furthermore, they highlighted the need for skilled technicians who can fully harness these capabilities and adapt modern technologies to benefit humanity in various aspects of life.
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA), established in 1971, is a prime reference for those interested in local news and events. The agency provides accurate and real-time media content in several languages. It operates according to professional best practices and makes use of the latest effective communication techniques. SPA seeks to be an influential voice of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Arab and Islamic worlds, as well as globally.
The Smart City Expo World Congress held in Barcelona from Nov. 7-9.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will showcase its achievements in building smart townships at a global event in Spain through the participation of its artificial intelligence authority.
According to the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, it will display its AI expertise at the Smart City Expo World Congress to be held in Barcelona on Nov. 7-9.
Essam Al-Wagait, director of the National Information Center, will shed light on SDAIA’s contributions in deploying the latest technologies to enhance the quality of life of the Kingdom’s residents.
As a global event partner, SDAIA will also demonstrate its commitment to aligning with the UN’s sustainable development goals and achieving the objectives outlined in Saudi Vision 2030.
The authority will showcase its efforts in the field of digital transformation, including the national smart cities platforms — Sawaher and Baseer.
The event will feature sessions on transforming cities through AI, with participation from Yasser Al-Onaizan, deputy CEO of the National Center for Artificial Intelligence at SDAIA, along with other industry experts.
Among them are Christina Yan Zhang, CEO of the Metaverse Institute, and Patricia Molina, who serves as the director of city, territory, and environment at TECNALIA. Additionally, Greg Wilson, who holds the position of worldwide public sector government chief technology officer at Microsoft, and Charbel Aoun, the director of smart city and spaces at NVIDIA.
Another session, titled “Smart Governance Responding to Citizen’s Needs,” will feature Sattam Al-Subaie, CEO of the Smart City Excellence Center at SDAIA, along with other distinguished speakers.
In a separate session focusing on the evolution of modern urban living, experts will emphasize the importance of creating comprehensive ecosystems that cater to the varied needs and aspirations of urban populations.
The Smart City Expo World Congress is one of the largest and most influential gatherings dedicated to urban innovation and cities, with more than 25,000 multi-sectoral participants from 140 countries.
Dr. Christina Yan Zhang is the CEO of The Metaverse Institute, which is made up of a group of pioneers in the Metaverse, AI, digital twin, Smart Cities assisting organizations using related technology to improve the real world. She was also the speaker at this year’s Tomorrow Conference in Belgrade, where she gave a presentation titled “Generative AI for the Metaverse – Hype, Hope or Hell?”
Christina is a pioneer in the metaverse. She started her master’s research on the topic in 2006 using metaverse to develop international strategies for universities. In 2012, she completed a PhD in using digital twin services in the metaverse to simulate projects in the AEC industry.
“Metaverse can also be used for our wellbeing. For example, let’s say that you want to start eating healthier. Based on what food you eat, how many calories you’re taking in, how much you exercise and so on, you could project exactly what you will look like in ten years. Wouldn’t that be quite a motivation?”, she asked enthusiastically.
As one of the greatest contemporary examples, she mentioned the planned smart city called Neom in Saudi Arabia.
“If we talk about smart cities development, look at Saudi Arabia. They are building Neom, the city of the future. It’s the world’s first cognitive city, which simulates the whole city infrastructure within the metaverse environment before they put it in the real world. That’s quite an interesting way to explore – to give citizens the opportunity to see how their city will look before they implement it”, she explained.
However, she reminded that many people today still don’t have access to the internet and pointed out that we as a humanity need to be careful not to create an even wider gap between those who do have access and those who don’t.
“That’s the mistake we made in the past and we must be careful not to repeat it. On the other hand, Metaverse has also created more opportunities for people who weren’t as equal because it made the world more accessible to them and gave them opportunities for interaction”, she told us.
Finally, she made a point that we’re only familiar with only 5% of the internet which is accessible through standard search engines. Therefore, when we’re talking about cybersecurity, we shouldn’t only think about those 5% that we’re familiar with.
Irina Bokova, from the International Science Council and a former director general of UNESCO, speaks to Arab News in Riyadh. (Abdulrahman bin Shalhoub)
Younger generations can drive collaboration, former UNESCO chief says
New technology provides medium for greater youth engagement, Metaverse Institute CEO says
RIYADH: Engaging young people in the business of finding solutions to global challenges like climate change is one of the key themes of the inaugural Future of Education, Science and Culture International Organizations Forum, which opened in Riyadh on Wednesday.
The topic of youth engagement is at the forefront of several panels at the two-day conference, including sessions on “The Future is Digital — Building Capacity in Organizations,” “Youth and Inclusion in the Education, Science, Technology and Culture Sectors” and “Greening the Agenda — Future of Education.”
“The global and regional organizations that have staged this forum have the same mandate across several continents,” Irina Bokova, from the International Science Council and a former director general of UNESCO, told Arab News.
“We have different challenges in achieving the same sustainable development goal, which is universal, not just for the Global South, but for everybody. While listening to the debate this morning, I am even more convinced that nowadays, we should go beyond our discussions about cooperation and collaboration. We need to find synergies.”
Bokova said that young people around the world were key to building such synergies and must be educated in the art of collaboration so as to bring people closer together, especially in scientific fields.
“I sincerely hope that concrete partnerships or ideas will emerge from this conference,” she said.
“Placing an emphasis on science and research is something that I want to happen, particularly in the Arab world because it can provide great access to education for young people as well as others,” Bokova added.
“Technology is also crucial and we know that it is very unevenly distributed across the Arab region. I hope from this conference we can find ways to bridge the gaps.”
Dr. Christina Yan Zhang, CEO and founder of The Metaverse Institute in the UK, highlighted how new technology could help to boost youth engagement.
“I think all the latest technology to do with Web3 and the Metaverse can really provide an unprecedented level of opportunity for the younger generation to have greater and better opportunities to become involved in solving various key issues in society,” she told Arab News.
While policy decision-making had traditionally taken a top-down approach, with the help of new technology there was now the opportunity for other generations and segments of society to get involved in major decisions that affect our planet,” Yan said.
She cited the development of Smart Cities as an example.
“Our young people can actually see how their future city will look like in five and 10 years’ time by navigating the metaverse,” she said.
“They can also see if they will be able to reduce their own carbon footprint by 20 percent each day and how it will be visualized in 3D in their city to create a really sustainable future.”
According to the UN Development Program, 75 percent of the more than 120 countries that have signed up to its Climate Promise scheme now prioritize youth in developing their nationally determined contributions — the plans they have to reduce emissions and adapt to the impact of climate change.
Arab News, Saudi Arabia’s first English language daily newspaper was founded in 1975 and has become the Middle East’s leading English daily. It is one of 30+ brands by Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG). From 2016 with the joining of Faisal J. Abbas as the Editor-in-Chief, Arab News has gone through major digital transformation and a complete rebranding to become popular not only among Saudi Arabia’s society and the Arab World, but also reaching policy makers and business leaders in the United States and the United Kingdom making it one of the primary sources in the Arab World to be quoted by US and UK media outlets and policy makers. Because of its wide readership profile with over 10 million website monthly readers, it is a much sought-after medium for advertising and brand building. It is a pioneer and has developed unique content, shows and programs becoming the first, what was once a traditional newspaper, to produce video talk shows and radio shows, including: Frankly Speaking video show hosted by Katie Jensen, digs deep into the insights of some of the most important policy makers and business leaders in the Middle East and Worldwide. The Mayman Show is a personable podcast by Arab News hosted by reporter Hussam Al-Mayman. The show revolves around personal and relatable conversations between the host and his celebrity guests that include actors, comedians, models, athletes and more.
Dr. Christina Yan Zhang, CEO and founder of The Metaverse Institute in the UK, speaks during a session at FESCIOF. (AN photo)
Expert praises Kingdom’s use of metaverse in presenting smart cities
“When you have this strong digital platform, everyone will participate,” Culture Ministry official says
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has been praised for its use of digital technology to present smart city developments to prospective investors.
Speaking on Wednesday at the Future of Education, Science and Culture International Organizations Forum (FESCIOF), CEO and founder of The Metaverse Institute in the UK, Dr. Christina Yan Zhang said the Kingdom was embracing the technology.
“In Saudi Arabia, we have many amazing smart city projects, where we use digital today in the metaverse environments to simulate the whole city,” she said.
“Even before the city is constructed, all citizens who are planning to move to a city, either here in Saudi Arabia or from other parts of the world, they can see how the city is going to look like, either as public transport or housing or health care or as fiction.”
She said that the metaverse brought together a range of new technologies to create an intuitive, immersive and interactive interface that was very user-friendly.
“We are seeing the hallmark of this icon system through things like artificial intelligence, 5G connections, cybersecurity and different user interfaces like VR, AR, XR,” Zhang said.
Jasir Alherbish, CEO of the Heritage Commission at the Saudi Ministry of Culture, said: “When you have this strong digital platform, everyone will participate. These technological advancements help us manage our sciences.”
Lawrence Eta, vice president of digital analytics at the Royal Commission of AlUla, said the point of the conference was to discuss the future of education and sciences, and the need for digital literacy.
He said in AlUla the RCU was working closely with telecommunications providers to develop the infrastructure needed to be able to present the region and its culture to the outside world.
“AlUla is the size of Belgium, so the first thing we have to have is internet penetration.”
He added that digital connectivity allowed telecommunications to bring value to the world.
“For example, let us take a look at autonomous pods. It is less about the autonomous cars and more about the digital economy that’s being created, because now we have local people in AlUla that are actually powering those ports.”
Arab News, Saudi Arabia’s first English language daily newspaper was founded in 1975 and has become the Middle East’s leading English daily. It is one of 30+ brands by Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG). From 2016 with the joining of Faisal J. Abbas as the Editor-in-Chief, Arab News has gone through major digital transformation and a complete rebranding to become popular not only among Saudi Arabia’s society and the Arab World, but also reaching policy makers and business leaders in the United States and the United Kingdom making it one of the primary sources in the Arab World to be quoted by US and UK media outlets and policy makers. Because of its wide readership profile with over 10 million website monthly readers, it is a much sought-after medium for advertising and brand building. It is a pioneer and has developed unique content, shows and programs becoming the first, what was once a traditional newspaper, to produce video talk shows and radio shows, including: Frankly Speaking video show hosted by Katie Jensen, digs deep into the insights of some of the most important policy makers and business leaders in the Middle East and Worldwide. The Mayman Show is a personable podcast by Arab News hosted by reporter Hussam Al-Mayman. The show revolves around personal and relatable conversations between the host and his celebrity guests that include actors, comedians, models, athletes and more.
