Good morning,

Here’s your weekly roundup of Middle East AI News!

I’m excited to share this week’s news of the UAE’s ‘National Program for Coders’, not just because it’s a great idea to incentivise coders and build national capacity, but because how it supports the many other initiatives that have already been set in motion.

The one criticism that I’ve heard over and over - in the past - about the UAE’s efforts to build a technology sector was that it was all too real estate-focused and not focused enough on building the right ecosystems. These days, there’s a breadth and depth of UAE tech initiatives. From government policy and regulation down, through to open data projects, startup incentives, efforts to shape the venture capital ecosystem, investment in R&D and programmes to attract, train and retain talent - one can see the tremendous amount of care and effort being taken to develop a tech sector that invents and innovates.

This week’s announcement to attract and train 100,000 coders in the UAE and offer 100,000 coders ‘Golden Visas’ looks particularly meaningful, when you consider the the other programmes already in place to develop and retain talent: the ongoing AI and digital training for government leaders; a surge in AI-focused university programmes in the UAE over the past five years; the scholarship-only AI university in Abu Dhabi (MBZUAI); and, of course, the One Million Arab Coders programme launched in 2017.

As I noted in an article in The National last year, it’s the new positioning of the UAE as an enabler, not simply a destination, that is going to serve the country well in the war for tech talent.

Scroll down for all the National Program for Coder’s stories and more!

Stay safe and have a great weekend!

/Carrington