The Communications Ministry is planning to inaugurate in three months Egypt’s first artificial intelligence (AI) research center in Smart Village, the minister’s AI advisor Saly Radwan told the press. The center will be operational in 1Q2020, and will relocate to a new R&D center in the new administrative capital at some point in the future. Little is known about the ministry’s broader research goals, but part of its work will focus on teaching machines to receive and follow commands in Arabic. The government is currently working with Japan, France, Germany and China to develop its AI research base. It hopes that the technology will help it meet its Vision 2030 development goals in the education, agriculture, water, and health sectors.