NEWS
ASUS and Intel partner with Oman Ministry of Education
ASUS, in collaboration with Intel, announced the opening of a state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence Lab at the Directorate- General of Education in Al Dhahirah Governorate in Ibri. This initiative marks the first AI-focused project by ASUS Education in the region, reiterating the company’ s commitment to driving innovation and advancing AI adoption across the education sector.
AI Lab supports the Sultanate of Oman’ s ongoing efforts to upskill students, empower educators and foster research. AI plays a key role in Oman Vision 2040, reflecting Oman’ s commitment to strengthening its position among the leading nations in AI readiness and building a knowledgebased economy.
ASUS designed the AI Lab to utilise its lineup of AIready devices. The facility includes rugged Chromebooks, AI PCs, and all-in-one( AiO) for classrooms and labs, and high-performance AI-ready devices tailored for advanced research. The devices are also sustainable, which helps reduce carbon footprint, and all come with long battery life and strong connectivity, perfect for hybrid learning. Using the capabilities of the new Intel Core Ultra processors, the devices come with AI features that make it ideal for creativity, productivity, and professional-grade performance. AI acceleration is built into the processor, using three engines( CPU, GPU and NPU) working together to power AI applications and features. The combination of ASUS’ s innovative hardware design, Intel’ s AI-optimised technologies, and Bahwan Projects and Telecoms’ trusted local expertise delivers a powerful AI-driven experience. Some of the ASUS products available at AI Lab include the award-winning ExpertBook P3405, P5405, B1403 and B3405 business laptops, as well as their line of All-in-One PCs.
Siada and Innovation City launch UAE’ s first sovereign AI data centre
Siada, an IOPn enterprise, and Innovation City, the UAE’ s AIpowered free zone, have announced the launch of the country’ s first sovereign AI data centre, providing businesses with immediate access to high-performance AI computing infrastructure hosted entirely within the UAE.
Located in Innovation City Ras Al Khaimah and operated by Siada, the facility is the first deployment in a planned network of sovereign AI data centres that will expand across the UAE and the wider region. The companies said the infrastructure is fully operational, allowing organisations to run AI workloads while ensuring all data remains under UAE jurisdiction.
The deployment includes NVIDIA B200 GPUs, enabling startups and enterprises to access AI computing capacity on demand, reserve long-term resources or deploy fully managed, isolated environments designed to meet sovereign data requirements.
Under the partnership, Siada will build, own and operate the sovereign AI infrastructure, while Innovation City will provide the ecosystem where businesses can adopt the technology. The initiative aims to address challenges such as limited access to AI compute, data residency requirements and growing regulatory demands.
Paul Dawalibi, CEO of Innovation City, said the partnership positions the free zone as a destination for AI companies seeking sovereign infrastructure and rapid access to advanced computing resources.
Mojtaba Asadian, CEO of IOPn, said sovereign AI is about enabling organisations to retain control over their data, identity and AI infrastructure. He added that the deployment provides a blueprint for sovereign AI infrastructure aligned with the UAE’ s vision for secure, trusted digital innovation. •
12 www. intelligenttechchannels. com / middle-east-africa