The Saudi Space Agency (SSA) and KAUST held a workshop on September 19, 2023, to evaluate the Kingdom's space program and plan future initiatives. The SSA aims to propel Saudi Arabia's space program into the top 10 globally, focusing on six research areas. The partnership seeks to leverage KAUST's expertise to achieve Saudi Arabia's RDI vision in space exploration and set a roadmap to be available by January 2024. Why it matters: This collaboration signifies Saudi Arabia's commitment to advancing its space program and fostering local expertise in space-related research and development, aligning with the Kingdom's broader technology and innovation goals.
Hassan Sajjad from Dalhousie University presented research on exploring the latent space of AI models to assess their safety and trustworthiness. He discussed use cases where analyzing latent space helps understand the robustness-generalization tradeoff in adversarial training and evaluate language comprehension. Sajjad's work aims to build better AI models and increase trust in their capabilities by looking at model internals. Why it matters: Intrinsic evaluation of model internals will become important to improving AI safety and robustness.
KAUST Assistant Professor Ying Sun won the 2017 Section on Statistics and the Environment Early Investigator Award. The award recognizes early-career researchers making significant contributions to environmental statistics. The award was given by the American Statistical Association. Why it matters: This highlights KAUST's strength in interdisciplinary research and its faculty's recognition on the international stage.
Dr. Youcheng Sun from the University of Manchester presented on ensuring the trustworthiness of AI systems using formal verification, software testing, and explainable AI. He discussed applying these techniques to challenges like copyright protection for AI models. Dr. Sun's research has been funded by organizations including Google, Ethereum Foundation, and the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. Why it matters: As AI adoption grows in the GCC, ensuring the safety, dependability, and trustworthiness of these systems is crucial for public trust and responsible innovation.
Dr. Abdelrahman AlMahmoud from TII's Secure Systems Research Center (SSRC) will participate in a WGISTA webinar on adopting a digital mindset in auditing and fighting corruption. The webinar, organized by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), will discuss the impact of emerging technologies on public sector auditing. Dr. AlMahmoud will share insights on how AI and Big Data can enable auditors to process data at a new scale. Why it matters: This highlights the UAE's growing role in applying advanced technologies like AI and big data to improve governance and accountability in the public sector.
TII's Secure Systems Research Center (SSRC) has partnered with Purdue University on a three-year cybersecurity project focused on ensuring the safe and efficient use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in urban environments. The collaboration will study security and resilience in cyber-physical and autonomous systems, addressing vulnerabilities in communication, navigation, and command and control. The project includes four phases: modeling and analysis of UAS security, developing algorithms for high-assurance autonomy, constructing an experimental environment, and testing mitigation strategies. Why it matters: The partnership enhances the UAE's capabilities in securing critical digital systems and fosters the growth of commercial autonomous drones and robots, opening new opportunities for enterprises.