Within the efforts of Arab Economic Unity Council to pave the road for the implementation mechanisms of some programs stemming from the strategic Arab common vision for digital economy, which was prepared and reviewed along with number of Arab and international organizations and establishments. A delegation led by H.E. Dr. Ali Mohamed Al-Khouri, Council Advisor, performed a visit to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to review the prospects for cooperation, paving the road to build smart labs in the Arab world.

MIT is famous for its research labs of electronics, communication technology, digital economy, computer science, and artificial intelligence (AI). The institute’s research centers have also a major role in biomedical engineering and smart labs development.

The programs of smart labs are among the outcomes of the strategic Arab common vision for digital economy, which the council and the league of Arab states, launched its first draft in collaboration with number of international organizations and experts. These programs were prepared within pillars of innovation, and among the collaborative technology groups, to build the technological capacity, locally and regionally, and to support knowledge networks.

And the research centers of MIT prepare orientations programs, designed to work as accelerators to help providing technological solutions to improve innovation and competitiveness, and instructions to help developers, and small companies developing technologies, through the processes of developing programs and solutions. That would enable those companies to quickly reach markets, and would give them better understanding of the rules and expectations of the market, and the requirements of governing digital strategies and cybersecurity.

Those programs also work as working environment for the process of designing products and services, as well as technological solutions, and provide consultancy roles for the technology suitable for each target sector, including blockchain, cloud technology, machine learning, application programming interface (API), and training programs.

H.E. Dr. Ali Mohamed Al-Khouri welcomed this cooperation with MIT, which will pave the road for the Arab region to the maximum utilization of knowledge on its digital transformation. Also, the strategy includes an agreement to support member states of the council through the phases of the project, by providing the consultancy, and defining and evaluating the available applications for the design, and for infusing the tools of fourth industrial revolution in projects’ operation, and utilizing the centers as a platform for testing disruptive technologies.