MBZUAI, IBM join forces to advance AI research with new centre of excellence

emirates7 - Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) has announced plans for a strategic collaboration with IBM, an American multinational technology corporation headquartered in New York.

Senior leaders from both organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance fundamental AI research and accelerate the types of scientific breakthroughs that could unlock the potential of AI to help solve some of humanity's greatest challenges Professor Eric Xing, President of MBZUAI, delivered short remarks, as did Jonathan Adashek, IBM's Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, and Saad Toma, General Manager, IBM Middle East, and Africa.

The agreement was then signed by Sultan Al Hajji, Vice President for Public Affairs and Alumni Relations at MBZUAI and Wael Abdoush, General Manager IBM Gulf and Levant.

Central to the collaboration is the establishment of a new AI Centre of Excellence to be based at the university's Masdar City campus. The Centre will leverage the talents of IBM researchers in collaboration with MBZUAI faculty and students and will focus on advancing both fundamental and applied research objectives.

The initiative seeks to develop, validate, and incubate technologies that harness the capabilities of AI to address civic, social, and business challenges. Further, the collaboration aims to provide real-life applications, particularly in natural language processing, as well as AI applications that seek to further climate and sustainability goals, and accelerate discoveries in healthcare.

"The centre will provide a highly valuable resource and collaborative environment for our faculty and students to broaden their work in AI. IBM has a long history of technological innovation. We look forward to joining their latest efforts in our region and advancing AI technology and commercialisation for mutual good," Xing said.

Toma stated that this collaboration will help drive innovations in AI, which is critical for the future of business and society. "We're bringing together some of the brightest minds across both the industry and academia while reinforcing IBM's commitment to promoting knowledge and skills in critical areas for the UAE's development, where technologies like AI are fundamental."

IBM will provide targeted training and technologies as part of the initiative, which supports the university's vision to be a global leader in advancing AI and its application for the good of society and business.

For example, through the IBM Academic Initiative, IBM will provide MBZUAI students and faculty with access to IBM tools, software, courseware and cloud accounts for teaching, learning, and non-commercial research. In addition, through the IBM Skills Academy programme, MBZUAI will have access to curated AI curricula, lectures, labs, industry use cases, design-thinking sessions, and an AI Practitioner certification.