Thailand has announced its ambitious aim of introducing broadband access to every village in the country by 2018. The Thailand government has recognized the power of the digital economy in terms of creating innovation - which can significantly reduce the gap between rich and poor in the region. It has declared its long-term commitment to embracing technology and will attempt to bring connectivity to even the most remote parts of Thailand.

Startups in Jordan and the Palestinian Territories will be vital in driving the Levant's Digital Economy and job creation for technology talents, SAP announced at the Start-up Focus Event in Amman, hosted by startup enabler and technology company SAP and supported by Zain Innovation Campus (ZINC) and USAID West Bank and Gaza through its Compete Project.

The UAE has been ranked the top country in the Arab world for its preparedness for the future by the Future Readiness Economic Index report, produced by Washington-based Portulans Institute and Google. It placed UAE in the third position among 27 emerging global economies and 27th out of 123 other countries, according to a news report.

e& enterprise, part of e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group), and Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, have launched the region’s first AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE). The AI center aims to pursue partnerships and collaborations with businesses, governments, investors, and startups to create a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through the co-creation of industry-specific and use case-driven AI solutions.