LONDON: The Arab world needs to fast-track regulations that suppors the opportunities created by the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Jordan heard on Sunday.
Protecting data privacy should be an essential part of that process, a panel heard.
“It’s a very nuanced situation,” said Wafa Ben-Hassine, regional counsely at Access Now, who said that governments must ensure privacy and freedom from surveillance and censorship.
Bahrain was recently selected as the site for new Amazon data centers after passing a law allowing data stored there by foreign companies to be governed by laws of their home country.
“We think that is going to be a ground-breaking law,” said Khalid Al Rumaihi, CEO of Bahrain Economic Development Board. “We, of course, have to manage risk but we have to not ignore opportunity.”
The so called Fourth Industrial Revolution describes a new era of technological development that is driven by artificial intelligence, robotics and biotechnology. It follows similar historical shifts in the ages of steam, mass production and information technology.
“I view the Fourth Industrial Revolution as our opportunity to catch up, as our opportunity to leapfrog and actually get to parity with the rest of the world,” said Mudassir Sheikha, co-founder and CEO of ride-hailing firm Careem.
Careem became the poster-child for the Arab digital economy after it was acquired last month by Uber for $3.1 billion. It followed the $580 million purchase of Dubai-based e-commerce company Souq by Amazon in 2017.
In a region known for its big governments, it is important that regulations do not create stumbling-blocks to optimizing the benefits of technology, according to Murat Sönmez, managing director and head of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Global Network, World Economic Forum. “We need to make sure we don’t get in the way of the potential.”
The World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa was held this week at the Dead Sea in Jordan in partnership with the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD).
from Business & Economy http://bit.ly/2I5FgFE
via Latest News of Dubai
0 Comments