Inspired by the Vision of His Majesty and the Development of Scientific Research in the Knowledge Economy.. The Inauguration of BENEFIT Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing at UoB

Sakhir – University of Bahrain – Mansoor Al-Wani
25 December 2021
On Thursday (23 December 2021), the President of the University of Bahrain (UoB), Dr. Jawaher bint Shaheen Al-Mudhahki, inaugurated BENEFIT Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing, at the College of Information Technology at UoB in Sakhir, in the presence of Abdulwahid Janahi, the CEO of BENEFIT, and a number of the University and Company’s officials.
The President of UoB delivered a speech in which she expressed her thanks to BENEFIT for its cooperation with the University in funding this laboratory, stressing that the idea of the project was “inspired by the speech of His Majesty the King on the need for the Kingdom of Bahrain to adopt artificial intelligence technologies, and comes in implementation of the aspirations of the comprehensive development process established by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, in support of the steps towards a knowledge and innovation economy in our dear kingdom.
During the opening ceremony, Dr. Al-Mudhahki confirmed that “The inauguration of BENEFIT laboratory represents a new beginning for an advanced quality of university education. As with its superior capabilities, the laboratory shall contribute to teaching many specialized subjects in the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs and building the capacities of dozens of the ambitious Bahraini youth, explaining that the project will be invested in many educational, training and research activities.
Also, she indicated that “there will be awards within the educational, training and research activities, which will be announced to researchers in artificial intelligence research, in addition to an annual hackathon competition to activate projects in artificial intelligence, and a joint program to train and build the capabilities of employees chosen by Benefit in advanced specializations.”
The President of UoB thanked BENEFIT’s Board of Directors and the management team for their generous support to the higher education and scientific research sector, by establishing the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and noted the importance of continuing to implement the initiatives contained in the memorandum of understanding, which aims to invest the laboratory’s capabilities in scientific research, training and teaching in the areas of artificial intelligence.
For his part, the CEO of BENEFIT, Abdulwahid Janahi, expressed his pleasure at inaugurating the laboratory and equipping it with the latest technologies and technical resources, so it will be an important national model that serves scientific research in the academic sector, and enhances the partnership between the public and private sectors, through the implementation of research and studies that need advanced processing and analysis mechanisms and tools.
Furthermore, he added that “According to the directives of BENEFIT’s Board of Directors, support for national academic initiatives has been established as part of the Company’s social responsibility, and the launch of the laboratory today is in line with the insightful royal vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, on the need to invest in the knowledge economy and modern technologies, and supporting the national plans of the esteemed government under the leadership of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, which is what we hope to achieve through the set of initiatives implemented by BENEFIT in this regard.
On her part, the Dean of the College of Information Technology, Dr. Lamia Al-Jasmi, reviewed, during the inauguration ceremony, the areas of using the laboratory, and stated that these include: training specialists in artificial intelligence and supercomputing, organizing training courses and lectures to educate citizens in the field of artificial intelligence, and organizing annual national hackathon competitions in artificial intelligence research and solutions to support innovation in this field, and to organize awards for the best research in the field of artificial intelligence.
This laboratory is the only laboratory of its kind in the Kingdom of Bahrain to provide students and researchers at UoB with supercomputing capabilities, which facilitate the construction of artificial intelligence applications and advanced data analysis.
It is worth noting that the inauguration of the laboratory comes in accordance with the cooperation agreement between UoB and BENEFIT, which was signed in February 2021, on a set of initiatives including: establishing an advanced computer laboratory to serve researchers and trainees in artificial intelligence and advanced computing applications in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

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