Nothing to fear from the new era of artificial intelligence
Hatem Dowidarm the CEO of the Etislat Group (e&) was is in bullish form as he addressed the world’s biggest gathering of technology expertise at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) on October 10th. Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to contribute $320 billion to the economic growth of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by 2030, said Dowidar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will benefit most from this promising technology, securing $120 billion of business.
Dowidar was inspiring the masses at the opening day of the Gitex Global event which runs until 14 October 2022 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). The world’s largest tech show features every major technology player, trend and vertical, the organisers claim. It also covers all the sectors which could benefit most from AI, such as smart cities, cybersecurity, data economy, mobility, health and telecoms.
Dowidar cited a recent report by Omdia which ranked UAE as a Top 4 fiber player and another by the FTTH Council Europe which actually ranked the kingdom as the world number one for Fiber to the Home (FTTH) penetration, beating even Singapore, China, South Korea, and Hong Kong. Dowidar said there is nothing to fear from AI technology which will change societies for the better. However, this rapid adoption of AI can only be achieved if the metaverse is used as the vital first step. It may be a small step but it represents a starting point to explore the new limits of the digital world, according to Dowidar.
Dowidar said e&, formerly known as the Etisalat Group, has chosen a strategic transgalactic location for the metaverse platform, which is to be hosted virtually on Mars, specifically in the red planet’s Arcadia Planitia. The logic of this unusual address is that scientific research shows that Arcadia Planitia might be the most suitable location for future life on the red planet, said Dowidar.
The CEO further stressed keenness to diversify investments and empower companies to shift to cloud systems instead of traditional telecom and IT systems, in cooperation with regional and global partners such as Microsoft.
Dowidar told the Mubasher News Agency that capital spending in e& amounted to 3.50 billion UAE Dirham (€1billion) during the first half (H1) of 2022. The group’s international subscriber base stands at about 160 million subscribers. Dowidar said that e& is now in the world top 10 telecom firms, in terms of capital market value. The group’s partnership with Meta will digitise subscribers’ services and enhance the experiences of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and e-commerce. In the next five years, the telecom sector in the UAE will undergo compound annual growth rate at 3.50%, Dowidar said.