SDAIA, Google Cloud to launch initiative to reduce gender gap in artificial intelligence sector

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has announced its partnership with Google to launch a global program that will look to reduce the gender gap in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

Last month, SDAIA announced the new initiative named ‘Elevate’ during the 2nd Global AI Summit on September 15 during the 2nd Global AI Summit in Riyadh.

Elevate aims to use AI to reduce the gender gap by empowering more than 25,000 women globally in the next five years. The program will provide free accessible training to women in tech and science, empowering them and pursuing the growing number of job opportunities in data and artificial intelligence.

Speaking at the event virtually, Princess Haifa Bint Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, said that women are underrepresented in AI and technology.

“At the moment, when digital technologies are reshaping everyday life, we cannot deny that women are underrepresented in AI and STEM fields in general. Women only represent 3 percent of Nobel prize laureates in science and only 12 percent of artificial Intelligence researchers globally,” said Princess Al-Muqrin.

She said this inequality deprives the world of enormous untapped talent, insisting that women’s involvement and perspectives are needed in the technology sector to make it work for everyone.

The program has two tracks: the technical track for Data Engineer, Cloud Architect, ML Engineer & Data Scientist will make up 30% of the program trainees. The non-technical track for Cloud Business Enthusiast will make up 70% of the program trainees.

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