Region's businesses to rely on artificial intelligence in future, say experts

The British University in Dubai (BUiD) in partnership with Tejari, the online marketplace, are organizers of the unique artificial intelligence and information technology programme to all regional IT professionals.

"We are thrilled with the successful response to the opening of DAMAS, one of the first major events organised by BUiD's Autonomous and Adaptive Systems research group," said Dr. Abdullah Alshamsi, Vice Chancellor of BUiD. "The key DAMAS objective is to enable a wide range of local IT professionals to collaborate in an innovative learning environment, outside their regular places of work."

BUiD and Tejari cooperated throughout 2007 to advance research and development (R&D) in Dubai and the UAE, by using applied game-theory to chart to assess the behaviour of actual markets. The joint work around DAMAS extends the partnership to new levels of collaboration.

"The launch marks the latest phase of a grand design to complement the Dubai government's objectives of transforming the Emirate's knowledge economy within the next decade," according to conference co-organiser Dr. Iyad Rahwan, MSc Information Technology Programme Coordinator, The British University in Dubai. "This initiative is taken in support of the University's decision to create an intellectual environment that can meet the needs of enterprise in the region," added his colleague, Dr Sherief Abdallah, also of The British University in Dubai.

The DAMAS School - a series of lectures and dedicated research workshops for IT professionals - covers the latest techniques on distributed artificial intelligence and its applications, with a major focus on electronic commerce. The courses are being delivered by international experts from leading research teams, including those from Duke University, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Michigan.

"Tejari welcomed the opportunity to contribute to a programme of teaching and activity that has drawn IT leaders into practical opportunities for development of the most advanced thinking in this field while retaining a vocational edge," declared Luca Gorlero, Director of New Ventures at Tejari." "This is a unique opportunity to learn about the latest development in AI and its applications in a variety of field."

Agent-based Systems are computer systems comprised of several autonomous, intelligent, communicating systems. Researchers build on techniques and inspirations from such diverse arenas as game theory, economics, logic, and complex systems in order to design efficient multi-agent systems. The range of practical applications of multi-agent systems include automated trading in electronic markets, robotic football, distributed sensor networks, grid computing and intelligent workflow scheduling.

Exponential increases in research mixing game theory, microeconomics and computer science have improved the design of electronic markets, according to leading experts.

In an unprecedented move, BUiD bypassed conventional academic structures an invited all employees from the information technology sector to participate in lectures and workshops and received an overwhelming response from more than 40 attendees. The workshop also included a hands-on session on programming trading software agents.