Issue 30: The Kids Are Alright
Welcome to Backstory, a weekly newsletter turning global technology shifts into a three-minute read. This week, we’re thinking about how Abu Dhabi’s new artificial intelligence university will transform the global education landscape – Joseph Dana, Senior Editor
THE BIG TAKE
The Kids Are Alright
Have you heard of the Institut auf dem Rosenberg? Didn’t think so. The Institut is Switzerland’s best-known private school and has been run by the same family since 1889. The stunning campus perched above the town of St. Gallen (pictured above) has trained some of the leading minds of the world. For a cool $130,000 per year, children learn the skills that will help them change the world. Unsurprisingly, the curriculum is focused heavily on future industries including artificial intelligence (AI), programming, and robotics.
Education for the masses: You might be thinking, what does this have to do with me? Yes, the school has the best teachers money can buy and incredible facilities, but the fact is that similar schools are being set up far beyond Europe and the United States to equip young learners with the skills required to lead in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Future industries are being studied from China to the UAE. Abu Dhabi has even opened the world’s first university focused on AI (more on that below).
The next generation at home: For the UAE, education in future industries starts from the earliest age possible and continues for a lifetime. Ora, a project that spearheads early-child development in Dubai known globally as the nursery of the future, is one such example. Building a knowledge-based economy capable of rising to the challenges posed by innovations in everything from blockchain to advanced robotics requires a rigorous educational environment that starts early. While Ora prepares future generations, Abu Dhabi’s new AI university will accelerate learning for today’s workforce.
World’s first AI university: The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence is a new graduate-level AI research institution in Abu Dhabi, that will begin classes in September 2020. The ambitious programme is designed to compete with leading research institutions around the world and is part of a larger UAE-wide mandate to develop AI research and usage across the country. Above all else, the programme demonstrates that research and development in critical sectors such as AI can take place anywhere in the world. You no longer have to travel to elite institutions in the US or Europe. We can look closer to home and train our local workforce in the skills that will define tomorrow’s global economy
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It is our moral obligation to give every child the very best education possible.”
Desmond Tutu
OUR VIEWS THIS WEEK
Internet infrastructure: Google is under investigation in the United States Congress for potential antitrust behaviour connected to its recent overhaul of DNS protocols in its Chrome web browser. Sounds pretty technical, right? We thought so too. This week, we unpack this important case to highlight how the technical aspects of the internet’s infrastructure are coming into sharp focus in data regulation debates. TL;DR: It’s time to brush up on how the back-end of the internet operates.
Open for business: With the proliferation of smartphones and communication platforms like Slack, companies around the world are going remote. The traditional definition of the workplace is out the window. This is a boon for business, workers, and countries. We reviewed Dubai’s new e-business visa that will enable companies and freelancers to register virtually in the city. The ambitious visa will be a boon for the local economy and is a sign of more changes to how business is done.
SPOTTED ELSEWHERE
Future library: There is always excitement when a popular writer releases a new work. But when it comes to Elif Shafak, Margaret Atwood, and Karl Ove Knausgaad, fans will have to wait until 2114 to read their latest books. That’s right, a project in Norway called the Future Library has commissioned novels from these literary superstars that will be locked away for nearly 100 years until anyone can read them. Moreover, 1,000 spruce trees have even been planted in Oslo’s Nordmarka forest to supply the paper for these works when they finally see daylight. Cultural projects charting our future are critical but this might be the most unusual one we have come across.
Call me later? Sometimes we can innovate ourselves in a circle. Consider the humble phone call. Who makes phone calls in the age of WhatsApp and iMessage? Not many of us. But the Wall Street Journalis reporting that some app developers are creating new platforms around “open audio”. These applications are basically modern versions of traditional telephone calls. Of course, there are some bells and whistles, but the fact is that millennials are rediscovering the tried and tested phone call to communicate with their friends. On this point, we’ve come full circle.
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