Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 84 | Page 11

NEWS

SDAIA and Ministry of Energy partner with IBM to accelerate sustainability initiatives in Saudi Arabia using AI

Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence

Authority ( SDAIA ) and IBM have announced the signing of a strategic agreement to drive adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the carbon capture and industrial domains across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia .
Announced at the second Global AI summit in the Kingdom , the first use case under this agreement will be in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy in Saudi Arabia . SDAIA , Ministry of Energy and IBM will use Artificial Intelligence technology to detect , map and eventually reduce carbon emissions across the country .
Dr Majid Al-Tuwaijri , CEO , National Centre for AI , said : “ This agreement with IBM will contribute to creating opportunities by addressing key challenges in circular carbon economy , petrochemical and industrial domains , through the development of innovative solutions in the field of data and Artificial Intelligence and the exchange of shared experiences and investment opportunities in this vital area to support achieving the goals of Vision 2030 .”
“ This agreement would allow us to leverage IBM ’ s expertise in technologies like Artificial Intelligence ,” said Eng . Ahmed Al-Zahrani , Ministry of Energy ’ s Assistant Minister for Development and Excellence . “ This will play a key role in promoting the adoption of the Circular Carbon Economy , achieving the goals announced during the Saudi Green Initiative .”

neutrality . one expands its global network presence into Jeddah to support KSA ’ s Vision 2030

neutrality . one , a cloud networking

company delivering software-defined infrastructure , has expanded its global network to Jeddah , Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ( KSA ) with the launch of a Point of Presence ( PoP ) in stc ’ s Jeddah Centre3 data centre . The PoP will provide direct lowlatency connectivity between Jeddah and Marseille , France .
“ KSA has emerged as one of the most exciting markets in the Middle East and has one of the world ’ s fastest growing digital economies . Our presence in Jeddah will provide low-latency connectivity that supports the KSA Vision 2030 and enables local and global organisations to seamlessly connect their applications and services across the region and around the world ,” said George Szlosarek , CEO at neutrality . one . “ Jeddah has emerged as a critical hub for serving our customers and we look forward to helping them to accelerate Digital Transformation and benefit businesses , users and society .”
The move will support the KSA ’ s Vision for 2030 by accelerating Digital Transformation in Saudi Arabia ’ s rapidly evolving digital economy . neutrality . one is serving international service providers and enterprises throughout the Kingdom and enabling their connectivity requirements locally and globally . With its presence in the KSA , neutrality . one is able to provide international customers with a cost-effective , turn-key solution that supports last-mile access and brings the region closer to its digitalisation goals .
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