Future of technology going to be driven by India: UAE's AI minister

The future is going to have Indian fingerprints everywhere and for everyone due to India's progress in the field of technology, said Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, UAE’s minister of state for artificial intelligence, digital economy and remote work applications. He said many sectors including technology, finance and education are going to be reshaped by India.

“Our belief is that India is not just the past and the present, but India is also the future, and the future (will) have an Indian fingerprint on it for everyone and everywhere,” said Al Olama, at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022 that is being attended by industry leaders, investors, civil servants and technologists.

Al Olama became the world’s first minister of state for artificial intelligence when he was appointed in 2017. His role includes enhancing the government's performance by investing in the latest technologies and tools of AI and applying them in various sectors.

Though technology is driven from places such as Bengaluru, Al Olama said it is coming from the rest of the world as well. He said many Indians are shaping the future of technology from these places globally.

He said if one has to see the future of having a connected society, Indian platforms such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and ‘unique infrastructure’ like JAM (Jan Dhan Bank Accounts, Aadhaar and Mobile) and India Stack are good examples.

Al Olama said that the relationship between the UAE and India is very old and the two countries have deep-rooted ties in culture and trade.

India and the UAE this year also signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).CEPA is expected to increase the total value of bilateral trade in goods to over $100 billion and trade in services to over $15 billion within five years.

“We hope that the CEPA agreement that was signed between the two countries, is a great stepping stone for us and create a new era of technologies together,” said Al Olama.

There is also I2U2, a new partnership between the governments of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. It focuses on areas such as water, energy, transportation, space, health and food security. The name refers to the first letters of the four countries’ names.

“We do believe that I2U2 is going to be one of the role model agreements that many countries are going to build their collaborations on,” said Al Olama.

Al Olama also invited the industry leaders, investors, and startup founders at the event to look at the UAE as a “natural springboard”, if they want to bring their ideas to the rest of the world including Africa and the Middle East. He said that the startups in Bengaluru see UAE as a natural hub to tap Africa and UAE-based startups look at India for expansion.