SUAD Institutional Repository
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Your reference for the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi research output and research impact
Research outputs
850
Disciplines
9
Researchers
105
Recent Additions
- PublicationDo we really need Foundation Models for multi-step-ahead Epidemic Forecasting?(2024)The emergence of Foundation Models has radically transformed the Deep Learning scene and also accelerated its adoption in other domains. In particular, Large Language Models (LLMs) are being used in many time series forecasting tasks including Epidemic Forecasting. While the adoption of a new technology is generally a good sign, we must be scientific in analysing the benefits of doing so. We try two LLMs used in time series forecasting and show that on average, they perform almost similar or marginally better to the very popular classical statistical method ARIMA when applied to epidemic forecasting. We have performed extensive experiments on many Epidemic Forecasting datasets and thoroughly validated our conclusion that we need Foundation Models like LLMs for Epidemic Forecasting for the growth of the field even if the benefits are not proportionate to the costs immediately.
- PublicationBeing mixed Emirati in the UAE: "Too Arab for the Westerners, too Westerner for the Arabs"(2023)This study focuses on an indigenous population of the United Arab Emirates, commonly referred to as "half-Emiratis" in the common language and "mixed Emiratis" in an academic sociological context. Mixed Emiratis are the descendants of a mixed union composed of an Emirati parent and a non-Emirati parent. As a result of the multicultural context in which they grow up, their trajectories are often represented by interesting differences. These differences are sometimes judged or even stigmatized within the Emirati community or the extended family in question. These differences are also the result of an appealing open-mindedness in contrast to traditional Emirati families, who are sometimes more conservative. Through thirteen interviews with mixed Emirati individuals, who are children of an Emirati parent and a parent from another region of the world, this study traces how they grew up in order to understand how they perceive themselves within the Emirati local society today. Through the role of their parents, their extended family, their peers, and the social context in which they live, this study examines the complex way in which they define themselves in a society deeply rooted in its traditions and conservative values. We will see that while some feel totally Emirati, the vast majority feel that they belong to both cultures and build their lives on these two cultures, representing themselves as unique, while others feel more in tune with the society of their non-Emirati parent.
- PublicationDUBAI RESIDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN THE SMART DUBAI INITAIVE AND THE HAPPY DUBAI VISION FROM A DATA PRIVACY STANDPOINT(2018)Driven by its aspiration to become the smartest and happiest city in the world, Dubai launched the Smart Dubai initiative. It consists of a complete digital transformation of the city where smart applications provide services in the areas of security, health, business, community management and transport with the aim of facilitating residents’ lives. The purpose of the present study is to understand residents’ perceptions in regard to their privacy in Smart Dubai. Do the huge amounts of personal data collected about them negatively affect their lived experience in the city? This question is investigated mainly through a quantitative questionnaire aimed at the public coupled with interviews with officials at Smart Dubai. The paper concludes that privacy concerns are widely present and that they indeed have a negative impact on Dubai residents’ happiness.
- PublicationAttitudes of Abu Dhabi Emirate population to reading(2017)The study aims to provide an understanding of behaviours of reading in the UAE. It will measure the levels of reading activity for purposes other than study and analyse differences by demographic characteristics. It will also identify reasons why people in UAE do not read. The importance of this study comes from the importance of reading and its impact on people. In addition to that, reading is one of the important issues in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and of great concern. This study used both quantitative and qualitative methodology; Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (SCAD) collected the survey data twice, in the first quarter and second quarters of 2016. The results of the survey show that reading means culture for more than half of respondents (53.6%), while 34.5% believe that reading means knowledge and 30.0% consider it science. Of those who did not read regularly (58.3%), 36.9% of respondents said that the reason for not reading was that they did not have enough time, 21.2% because of work pressure, and 12.3% did not show any reason for not reading. The percentage of females who said that the reason for not reading was the lack of time, 40.6%, was greater than the 33.1% for males, while the percentage was similar for citizens (37.8%) and non-citizens (36.1%). Of those who read, more than two thirds of the respondents (67.3%) prefer the Internet as a source of reading, followed by printed books as a second source (34.6%) and newspapers (33.2%). Inter-regional views are somewhat similar. About reading topics, the study showed that cultural books are the most popular books for readers with 41.3%, followed by Islamic books 37.2%, and stories and novels 36.0%. Fiction and excitement books were the least favored by readers.
- PublicationWHEN A FRIEND BECOMES AN ENEMY(2020)The development of the United Arab Emirates previous to the discovery of oil was almost non-existent, with internecine fighting between tribes and a disinterested, almost negligent attitude by the British, whereas Iran by contrast was flourishing economically and socially. That there had been a long-standing Iranian trading presence in the “Trucial States” was of significant benefit to both parties, with “naturalisation” of Iranians a common practice. Oil exploitation, the reign of Sheikh Zayed al Nahyan and the Union of the 7 Emirates steered the UAE over 40 years to a state of prosperity that is almost unequalled. Iran by contrast fell victim to the despotic rule of the Shah, suffered dramatic changes under the Islamic Revolution, War with Iraq and the concomitant repressive regimes that, along with subsequent antagonistic internal and foreign policy objectives, have left the country internationally vilified and economically isolated. The global Iranian diaspora has therefore seen the socio-economic collapse of a once thriving nation and, particularly within the UAE have been forced to accept a precarious state of “residence without nationality” and even though not directly involved become a “diaspora under conflict” and have been forced to remain isolated or “trapped” away from the “homeland” for fear of politico-religious reprisals or more simply, a lack of livelihood. The investigation within this paper looks at the meanings of diaspora and community from the perspective of Iranians living and working in the UAE, their current fears, hopes and aspirations for themselves and for Iran as a whole.