Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 06 | Page 10

NEWS QATAR Machine Learning and Data Analytics Symposium held in Qatar Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), a national research institute under Hamad bin Khalifa University, and Boeing completed the third annual Machine Learning and Data Analytics Symposium (MLDAS) in Qatar. Open to students, researchers and industry experts, the event took place on March 14 and 15 in Doha, Qatar, and featured top global experts discussing applications, recent advances and new solutions in the fields of machine learning and data analytics. “Our goal has been to share knowledge about machine learning and data analytics and provide university students with first-hand experiences that equip them to be part of the next wave of innovators in this field,” said Bernard Dunn, President of Boeing Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. “We have helped contribute to building an innovative future generation in the country.” The first day of the symposium was focused on applied data analytics and machine learning. There were several talks on intelligent data analytics led by Chris Jermaine from Rice University and Cheng Soon Ong from Data 61/National ICT Australia (NICTA). The second day of the symposium was focused on healthcare and how machine learning can be applied to aircraft maintenance and airspace procedures. Hugh DurrantWhyte from the University of Sydney, a pioneer of autonomous flight and former director of NICTA, gave a talk on “Data, Knowledge and Discovery: Machine Learning meets Natural Science”, while Byron Wallace from the University of Texas at Austin spoke about machine learning for automating clinical evidence. Discussing future trends at the symposium that will shape all walks of global and Qatari life, Hugh DurrantWhyte, University of Sydney said: “In order to optimise infrastructure we Qatar’s Hamad airport set to go ‘smart’ A major initiative is underway to transform Hamad International Airport (HIA) into a “smart airport”, enabling passengers to have a speedier and hassle-free experience. HIA has stated it had “commenced the testing phase of its programme” to transform into a ‘smart airport’ by integrating best of breed technologies that would offer passengers more control and independence over their journey. HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, along with HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti, attended a trial session at HIA. The new technologies at the a