Dubai, 27 March 2019: Smart Dubai, the government body tasked with transforming Dubai into the worlds smartest and happiest city through innovation, organised the first meeting of its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ethics Advisory Board, with the inaugural gathering finalizing an operational roadmap to govern the boards future direction.

Comprising representatives of leading government departments and private sector entities, the board has been formed to shape the development and deployment of human-centered ethical AI to encourage fairness, transparency and accountability in AI systems in Dubai. The first of three meetings to be held in 2019 took place on Thursday, March 19, during which the board members discussed the vision, mission and objectives they aspire to achieve.

The advisory board has been designed to create a multi-stakeholder collaborative platform and ongoing dialogue, enabling board members to share knowledge and expertise around human-centered AI and to explore viable policy instruments that can more readily adapt to evolving AI technologies. Dubai. The boards remit covers the exploration of practical application and considerations of AI ethics in Dubai and the offering of strategic advice on the development path from soft regulation to responsible and trustworthy innovation in AI field.

Smart Dubais AI Ethics Advisory Board is chaired by H.E Younus Al Nasser, Assistant Director General of Smart Dubai and CEO of Smart Dubai Data, with board members including Hessa Al Balooshi, Director of Smart Services Department at Smart Dubai; Dr. Okan Geray, Strategic Planning Advisor at Smart Dubai; Fadi Salem, Director of Policy Research and Future Government at The Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government; Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President, Innovation and the Future at Dubai Electricity and Water Authority; Khaled AlRazooqi, General Director of the Artificial Intelligence Department at Dubai Police; and Dr. Marwan AlZarouni, Director of Information Services at Dubai Electronic Security Centre; Cyrus Hodes, Expert Group member from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Board members from the private sector include Bashar Kilani, Region Executive at IBM Middle East; Hazar Alzaki, Head of Government Affairs at Microsoft Gulf; Selim Edde, Head of Public Policy and Government Relations at Google; and Erica Crosland, Senior Associate at Eversheds Sutherland.