Saudi Arabia will launch some of the region’s largest technology initiatives for programmers and entrepreneurs next week as it looks to broaden its digital economic base.
The kingdom’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology will present the technology initiatives at a ceremony it is hosting next Wednesday, according to a state-run Saudi Press Agency report.
The Saudi Federation for Cyber Security, Programming and Drones will also join the ministry’s initiative, along with several local public and private entities, as well as international companies.
Participants will be able to “seize opportunities of the digital economy and serve the technology communities in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa region”, the ministry said.
Saudi Arabia, Opec’s top oil exporter, is trying to develop its technology sector and boost its digital economy. The kingdom regards digital transformation to be among the central pillars of its Vision 2030 agenda that aims to cut its dependence on oil.
The kingdom is investing heavily in big projects such as the $500-billion futuristic city, Neom. It is also building the Red Sea, Qidiya and Waad Al Shamal developments, which are all tech-first projects with smart city infrastructure.
Riyadh has boosted spending on the digitisation of government services and has opened up its technology sector to foreign investors as part of its economic diversification agenda.
The country's communications ministry said the initiatives being unveiled next week will “contribute to strengthening the kingdom's role as a regional technology hub embracing innovators, programmers and entrepreneurs from various technology sectors”.
Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, is competing with other regional technology centres such as the UAE, which offers long-term visas to technology entrepreneurs and professionals from around the globe.
The UAE recently signed a deal with a host of technology companies such as Google and Amazon to train 100,000 programmers and coders within the next five years and create 1,000 digital companies to boost its economy.
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
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Stage 5 results
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 3:48:53
2 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team -
3 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott -
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:04
5 Ilnur Zakarin (RUS) CCC Team 0:00:07
General Classification:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 20:35:04
2 Tadej Pogacar (SlO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:01
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 0:01:33
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:48
5 Rafał Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:11
Usain Bolt's World Championships record
2007 Osaka
200m Silver
4x100m relay Silver
2009 Berlin
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2011 Daegu
100m Disqualified in final for false start
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2013 Moscow
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2015 Beijing
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
