The lack of dedicated CS datasets limits ASR performance, as most models rely on monolingual or mixed-language corpora that fail to reflect real-world CS patterns. This issue is critical in multilingual societies where CS occurs in informal and formal settings. A key example is Catalan-Spanish CS, widely used in media and parliamentary speeches. In this work, we improve ASR for Catalan-Spanish CS by exploring three strategies: (1) generating synthetic CS data, (2) concatenating monolingual audio, and (3) leveraging real CS data with language tokens. We extract CS data from Catalan speech corpora and fine-tune OpenAI's Whisper models, making them available on Hugging Face. Results show that combining a modest amount of synthetic CS data with the dominant language token yields the best transcription performance.

As part of ongoing efforts to diversify their economies and build a platform for sustainable future growth, MENA nations are increasingly turning towards artificial intelligence (AI). A slew of recent investment and initiatives – primarily in academia and the government, but also in the private sector – has reinvigorated interest from industry leaders around the globe in the potential for AI to strengthen the efficiency and sustainability of MENA economies. According to a report from the Economist Impact Unit (EIU) and Google published earlier this year, AI could bring about an additional $320bn in economic growth in the MENA region by 2030. Many long-term economic strategies in the region target high-value sectors with the potential to benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution – a raft of technological advancements in AI, data and cloud computing that merge the physical, digital and biological worlds. In recent years the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt have published ambitious, government-driven strategies to develop AI.

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With successful adoption of AntWorks' IAP solution, businesses will stand to save millions and realise increased performance and efficiency by automating and processing business data, including unstructured data, which will make up 80% of the world's data by 2025. The partnership will help the GCC become a blueprint for the AI economy in the rest of the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, especially as governments look to diversify and drive revenue from non-oil and gas sectors. "We are deeply honored to partner with The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum and SEED Group expanding our reach into the Middle East," said Asheesh Mehra, AntWorks Co-Founder and Group CEO. "We see our partnership with SEED Group as an incredible opportunity to bring AntWorks' leading expertise in artificial intelligence to the GCC - helping the UAE's Ministry of AI realise its 2031 Artificial Intelligence Strategy. This is a market that thrives on innovation and has taken some of the most ambitious steps in the world in adopting the use of AI across government and business as they seek to create new economic, social, and educational opportunities for citizens. We look forward to a powerful and productive relationship that will make straight-through processing a reality across the GCC."

The "Agricultural Techniques Hackathon" will be held from September 26-28, 2019 in the Al- Qassim region and is open for participation by programmers, designers, entrepreneurs, web developers, owners of innovative Ideas and specialists from GCC and Middle East markets. The Hackathon will consist of three tracks comprising marketing and growth, management and follow-up of agricultural projects, and use of Artificial Intelligence and data in pest and agricultural control. A jury will review the most prominent ideas and solutions provided for solving the challenges facing the agricultural sector. The outstanding projects within the three tracks of the Hackathon will be included into Badir's dedicated plan with its accelerators program, who will be provided with a range of advisory services and intensive programs such as training, workshops, guidance to develop entrepreneurial innovations and transform them into real projects within 90 working days, and up to the incubation of the projects to ensure their success. Nawaf Al-Sahaf, the CEO of Badir Program, commented: "Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 program aims to adopt a more sustainable, productive, and efficient food system. Our joint'Agricultural Techniques Hackathon' with Mujtami will help generate fresh innovative ideas and solutions to transform the existing food system in the Kingdom, which will lead to reduction of natural resources waste, increase in the efficiency and quality of production, and higher economic return."

Automation and AI-driven technologies are changing the face of Middle East's warehousing industry, pushing advanced inventory control high up the industry agenda and sharpening cost-control, space optimization and competitiveness, according to a UAE sector pioneer. Fadi Amoudi, Founder and CEO of IQ Robotics, one of the exhibitors at Materials Handling Middle East, the region's dedicated warehousing, intralogistics and supply chain solutions show, said, "The robotics industry is dramatically changing the global business landscape. Within the Middle East region, governments are focusing on digital transformation and the opportunity for fast-paced development, leveraging the potential offered by robotics. The UAE is already at the forefront in driving this change, with a clear strategy for the advancement of automation and next-generation technology development. IQ Robotics is one of the pioneering businesses in the region that is using the advantages offered by robotics to support business growth. We will showcase how this is transforming the logistics sector at Materials Handling ME 2019, which is the ideal platform to highlight advancements in robotics for business."

"DEWA supports the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who instructed Dubai Government to deliver services that are 10 years ahead of other cities, and to work under the leadership of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), and HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai. These directives have guided DEWA's strategy to shape the future and enhance its role in serving the community to become a globally leading sustainable innovative corporation. DEWA has achieved considerable progress in this and one of its most prominent achievements is the launch of Digital DEWA, the digital arm of DEWA, to redefine the concept of utilities and create a new digital future for Dubai, to become the premier digital organisation in the world; with autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage and the expansion of artificial intelligence and digital services," said Al Tayer. Al Tayer noted that Digital DEWA has a four-point strategy. The first is launching advanced solar power technologies in Dubai.

With AI's enormous potentials and amidst the growing demand for high-tech banking services from tech-savvy customers, a number of financial institutions are leaving no stones unturned in their quest for market leadership in the era of automation. Take for instance the highly important area of enhanced customer experience. Financial institutions have been harnessing the power of AI to deliver efficient and personalized services to achieve higher client satisfaction level and, more importantly, win customer loyalty. Banks are now more empowered to predict customer behavioural patterns by leveraging innovative AI tools-- a capability that allows for the delivery of customized products and services. In terms of customer interaction, financial institutions are utilizing'chatbots' applications acting as customer service agents.

Access Now is a growing international human rights organisation dedicated to defending and extending the digital rights of users at risk around the world, including issues of privacy, security, freedom of expression, and transparency. Our policy, advocacy, technology, and operations teams have staff presences in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East/North Africa (MENA), North America, and South/Southeast Asia, to provide global support to our mission. Access Now's Policy team works globally and supports our mission by developing and promoting rights-respecting practices and policies. The Policy team seek to advance laws and global norms to affect long-term systemic change in the area of digital rights and online security, developing insightful, rights-based, and well-researched policy guidance to governments, corporations, and civil society. The need to hold both the public and private sectors accountable leads the Policy team to use diverse fora, including domestic and regional courts, intergovernmental bodies, and expert offices to promote norms and best practices.