NEWS
Alawwal Bank offers Artificial
Intelligence training for all staff
STC wins award
for mobile
network speed
O
OKLA, the Global Internet Broadband
Speed test company, has awarded
STC with the ‘Fastest Mobile Network in
KSA’ award. STC achieved a speed score of
29.99 Mbps, with average download speeds
of 32.95 Mbps. This is the outcome from
millions of tests which are actively initiated
by consumers daily across the network
to test the Internet speeds using various
applications and platforms.
The speed test awards for top providers
are determined using a speed score that
incorporates a measure of each providers
network speeds (download and upload) to
rank network speed performance.
Despite STC’s success it has plans to further
increase speed in the next couple of years
to incorporate future services with KPIs
targeting higher data rates, low latency,
massive device connectivity, IoT and energy
efficiency services.
To achieve this, STC is transforming its
existing network, upgrading its 4G-LTE
network and rolling out 5G network.
A
lawwal Bank, which is based in
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has
partnered with leading global tech firm,
Reaktor, to train its entire workforce on
the potential uses of Artificial Intelligence
(AI) in banking.
Through the AI training, Alawwal Bank
hopes to lead the Kingdom’s financial
services industry in adopting a technology
estimated to contribute US$135 billion
(12.4%) to Saudi GDP by 2030.
Staff at Alawwal Bank will have access
to an online course as well as several
workshops developed and led by experts
from Reaktor and Helsinki University.
The aim of the training is to provide an
overview of the key elements of AI for
employees without a professional
digital background.
www.intelligentcio.com
Soren Nikolajsen, Managing Director,
Alawwal Bank, said: “The best Digital
Transformation strategies start with
people – not technology. Innovation will
come much easier to an organisation
whose staff share a common
understanding of how technologies work.
“As few industries handle more data than
banks, the opportunities for AI in banking
are almost endless. Instead of a few
people in our digital or IT teams looking
for opportunities to improve our business
with AI, we can have an entire workforce
doing this – that’s going to give us a
huge competitive advantage.”
As well as the managing director
taking the course himself, staff across
all departments of the bank are being
encouraged to take the course.
Eng Haithem Al Faraj, Senior VP, Tech & Ops,
STC, said: “Our mission has always been
to enrich society by providing second-to-
none experience with the network. We are
continuously improving our network speeds
and rolling out new network technologies
and services.
“STC 4G network is transforming all the
time to provide remarkably faster speeds.
We are also commercially rolling out the 5G
network to introduce innovative services to
our deserving customers in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, and across the region.
“This OOKLA esteemed award is a true
manifestation of STC efforts to continually
improve the network and get the
network ready for the total digitisation
transformation era, and to meet the KSA
National 2030 Vision.
“We are very proud of this award and
look forward to many similar awards and
successes in the near future.”
INTELLIGENTCIO
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