Invited Talk 1 by Ahmed Elmagarmid (Executive Director of Qatar Computing Research Institute): AI Beyond the Hype: Building a Sustainable Tech Future in Qatar

The presentation overviews Qatar's National AI Strategy, which aims to position the country as a regional AI hub through strategic initiatives in research, infrastructure, and talent development. The discussion begins by addressing the current state of AI, highlighting the disconnect between Arabic speakers' digital presence (5.2% of internet users) and available Arabic content (0.6% of online content).

Second, we will discuss the development of Fanar, Qatar's National Arabic Large Language Model, which represents an advancement in Arabic-centric AI technology. Built from the scratch with over 1.3 trillion words of training data, Fanar demonstrates how AI can be developed to preserve and promote cultural values while advancing technological capabilities. Fanar speaks our language, understands our culture and respects our values.