The Robust Artificial Intelligence System Assurance (RAISA) workshop will focus on research, development and application of robust artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems. Rather than studying robustness with respect to particular ML algorithms, our approach will be to explore robustness assurance at the system architecture level, during both development and deployment, and within the human-machine teaming context. While the research community is converging on robust solutions for individual AI models in specific scenarios, the problem of evaluating and assuring the robustness of an AI system across its entire life cycle is much more complex. Moreover, the operational context in which AI systems are deployed necessitates consideration of robustness and its relation to principles of fairness, privacy, and explainability.

Oil and gas (O&G) sources will still supply around 50% of the global energy demand by 2040.a In this article, we make the case for why the Arab region is well positioned for building world-class data science teams to fill the supply shortage of data professionals,5 especially in the O&G field critical to region's economy. This article presents challenges facing O&G industry players, such as governments, regulatory bodies, operators, and investors, and shows how Raisa Energy (with its Egypt-based data science team) is efficiently and effectively solving these challenges. Such challenges aim at assessing the economic viability of an O&G asset that depends on several factors (as shown in the accompanying figure) such as estimating well production, O&G prices, and risks associated with inputs uncertainty. It is worth emphasizing that the challenges presented here are global in nature and yet are tackled with a team fully formed from the region working at a world-class research and development level.

The highly anticipated comprehensive study on robots, artificial intelligence and service automation in hospitality and tourism, edited by Varna University of Management's Vice Rector (Research) Prof. Stanislav Ivanov and Assoc. Prof. Craig Webster from the Department of Management at Ball State University, USA, is finally out today! "Robots, artificial intelligence and service automation in travel, tourism and hospitality" (RAISA in TTH) comprehensively covers the theoretical problems of RAISA adoption in tourism, principles of service automation, impacts of RAISA on business processes and competitiveness, and more, and at the same time focuses on the practical side of utilization of RAISA technologies in diverse tourism and hospitality entities. The book consists of 13 chapters, written by 31 researchers from 16 institutions and companies in 7 countries on 3 continents. Divided into two sections, the book first concentrates on the theoretical aspects surrounding the use of RAISA in travel, tourism and hospitality. Following on from this, the second section concentrates on current and future use of RAISA technologies in specific subsectors of the tourism economy: hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, museums, and events.