Amman, Sept. 16 (Petra) - NUJUM16 hosted its inaugural private forum, "Architecting Jordan’s AI Infrastructure," on Wednesday to map out Jordan's sovereign AI ecosystem.
The forum enforced NUJUM16's vision to anchor Jordan's AI future by pairing infrastructure development with ecosystem growth.
The event featured global and Jordanian experts examining the core layers needed to build a sovereign AI ecosystem.
Following opening remarks from Ahmad Bunnia, Founder of NUJUM16, and institutional remarks from Mehdi Paryavi, Chair and CEO of the International Data Center Authority (IDCA), the forum examined the development of AI through infrastructure, national capability, talent, education, organizational readiness and economics.
By uniting compute infrastructure, talent, policy, and investment, the company seeks to shift the focus from raw processing power to full ecosystem development. This foundation allows Jordanian institutions, startups, and researchers to transform AI infrastructure into scalable economic value.
A panel of leaders from technology, banking, and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship explored what a distinct Jordanian AI model requires to transition from concept to reality.
Pivoting from infrastructure to application, the Education and Ecosystem Building panel explored how to turn computing power into productivity, investment, and long-term economic value.
International voices including Anneloes Smitsman, Founder of EARTHwise; Ben Goertzel, Founder, CEO and Chief Scientist of SingularityNET; Dion Wiggins, Co-Founder and CTO of Omniscien Technologies; and Viktor Mirovic contributed perspectives spanning advanced intelligence, digital sovereignty, governance, organisational readiness and AI capability.
Delving into the practical realities of digital control, sessions debated data ownership, localized model hosting, and how institutions can scale AI on their own terms.
The afternoon program marked a transition from dialogue to tangible collaboration.
Sinan Kamal delivered the ministerial address on behalf of Sami Smeirat, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, addressing the national vision guiding Jordan’s AI ambition.
Three strategic memoranda of understanding were signed during the forum, targeting core layers of the regional AI ecosystem.
The first agreement between NUJUM16 and Al Hussein Technical University (HTU), connecting advanced computing infrastructure with applied education and national talent. The partnership will support access to AI computing capacity, technical expertise, specialised training, applied research, industry-led challenges, innovation and pathways into employment and entrepreneurship.
The second partnership, between NUJUM16, MDCS.AI and Lorentz Centers, establishes a framework for a sovereign, application-driven AI ecosystem in the Kingdom.
It connects infrastructure, secure high-performance AI architecture, specialist expertise, industry partners and application-focused programs, enabling government institutions, companies, researchers and entrepreneurs to access infrastructure and transform Jordanian data and ideas into deployable AI solutions.
The third partnership between NUJUM16, Samara and EARTHwise connects sovereign AI infrastructure with human-aligned AI, governance and institutional readiness, exploring programs that bring together compute, policy, talent and human capability in Jordan and the wider region.
The forum catalyzed a long-term alliance between government, industry, and academia to ensure Jordan's AI infrastructure yields broad-based societal and economic value.
//Petra// HA
