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Thursday, 18 April 2019

Different themes occupied Egypt’s talking heads last night

Artificial intelligence, Mohamed Salah and universal healthcare all got the attention of the talking heads.

An Egyptian company is among the world’s top 20 AI developers: AvidBeam, firm specializing in video analytics and founded by four ex-Intel employees, was recently ranked among the world’s “most important” artificial intelligence (AI) startups, Yahduth Fi Misr’s Sherif Amer said in a sit down with two of its founders (watch, runtime: 5:34). AvidBeam specializes in analyzing camera surveillance footage in real-time, and develops AI platforms with applications in the fields of security, retail, marketing, and self-driving cars, CEO and co-founder Hani El Gebaly told Amer.

“The most promising market for us is in Egypt,” Amr Qais, a second co-founder and the company’s strategic affairs vice president added, (watch, runtime 2:11). The company is headquartered in Beavertown, Oregon but has offices in Maadi and Dubai for it’s EMEA and North Africa-focused operations. We noted last month that Cairo-based VC fund Egypt Ventures invested in AvidBeam’s series A round. AvidBeam was named one of the “20 most promising big-data startups in the world” for 2017 by CIOReview

Salah wasn’t the only Egyptian on Time’s 2019 most influential list: He was joined by Academy Award winner Rami Malek, Al Hayah Al Youm’s Khaled Abu Bakr was sure to point out (watch, runtime: 1:47). For his impressive turn as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, the 37-year-old actor became the first Arab American to score an Oscar win, Abu Bakr noted.

The government is planning to set up a factory to locally manufacture plasma derivatives. News came following a meeting between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, Health Minister Hala Zayed, and head of the Administrative Control Authority Sherif Seif El Din, Abu Bakr noted (watch, runtime: 1:32). Plasma derivatives are used to treat HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.

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