April 18, 2024 - Within the framework of the joint technical cooperation agreement signed between the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to build and develop the system supporting artificial intelligence in Jordan, which aims to enhance the use of emerging technologies, especially artificial intelligence, and apply artificial intelligence use cases in priority sectors in Jordan. Today, Thursday, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship (MODEE) witnessed the signing ceremony of the contract to implement the project to use artificial intelligence in the planning and operation system for electrical loads between the executive team of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the “Algebra Intelligence” company specializing in energy monitoring solutions, under the patronage of the Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Ahmed. Al-Hanandah and the chief representative of the JICA Jordan office, Morihata Shingo. The signing ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Samira Al-Zoubi, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Energy, Amani Al-Azzam, the Director-General of the National Electricity Power Company, Amjad Al-Rawashdeh, and the Commissioner in charge of the duties of the Secretary General of the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC), Wafaa Al-Bakhit, and a number of consultants from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Al-Hanandeh explained during the signing ceremony that the “Project on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Planning and Operation System for Electrical Loads” is the first experimental model project “PoC” for the case of using artificial intelligence within the agreement between the Japanese and Jordanian sides, and it was chosen due to the importance of the energy sector and its direct and significant impact on the national economy. The project aims to help in making decisions to operate conventional and alternative energy generation systems through the use of artificial intelligence in the planning and operation system for electrical loads and to predict electrical loads and their impact on weather conditions with regard to monitoring and control center operators. Al-Hanandeh also stressed that this project is an implementation of the technical agreement between the two sides in the field of artificial intelligence, and there will be a group of future projects in various sectors that will enhance the applications of artificial intelligence in various fields such as health, agriculture, education, and others, and that these joint efforts will contribute greatly to drive technological progress and promote economic development, and will open new doors for innovation and economic opportunities in Jordan. For his part, the chief representative of the JICA Jordan office, Morihata Shingo, expressed his confidence in the cooperation between the two countries, stressing that the signing of the contract today is the beginning of a true partnership with the government and the private sector, which will pave the way for future advances in the field of artificial intelligence and advanced technology in Jordan to constitute a new standard for innovation in the face of different challenges and reaching a smarter and more connected infrastructure to benefit the economy and society. In turn, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, stressed the importance of developing the Jordanian electrical network and using artificial intelligence in the planning and operation system for electrical loads, in an effort to maximize the benefit from the large generating capacity of renewable energy plants and manage them by harmonizing generation centers and consumption centers, and the ability to predict consumption patterns. In the future using artificial intelligence. Al-Kharabsheh pointed out the efforts of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, in cooperation with partners, to transform the energy sector into a smart sector, expressing his thanks to the Japanese side for providing support to Jordan in various sectors, especially in the energy sector. For his part, the CEO of Algebra Intelligence, Eng. Ahmed Al-Tawafsheh, spoke about the project as the first project to use artificial intelligence to help make decisions to operate traditional and alternative power generation systems and predict electrical loads and their impact on weather conditions with regard to monitoring and control center operators. Al-Tawafsheh pointed out that the company, which invests about a million dollars in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, had previously created the “TaqTak” platform to overcome the challenge of lack of data in the field of energy, to later work on analyzing data related to energy efficiency, monitoring renewable energy projects, extracting indicators, and forecasting demand for energy and generation using... Artificial Intelligence, expressing his happiness at signing the project implementation contract. Regarding the companies that applied for the project, the Director of the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technologies Directorate, Engineer Lama Arabiyat, said that 16 local companies expressed interest in participating in the project with the Japanese side, and 11 companies qualified to participate in the bidding for the project and submitted their offers and were evaluated by the Japanese side according to specific criteria, and it was signed. The Japanese side selected Algebra Intelligence to implement the project.