Amazon Web Services, the world’s biggest cloud services provider, is to launch an AWS infrastructure Region (AWS Region) in Saudi Arabia, it was announced at the Leap 2024 technology conference, which began in Riyadh on Monday.
“We’re proud to bring AWS to the kingdom,” said Abdullah Alswaha, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, who addressed a packed auditorium at Leap.
According to Amazon, AWS will invest $5.3 billion in Saudi Arabia and establish two innovation centres in the kingdom.
The new AWS Region will allow businesses, organisations and start-ups to serve their customers by using Amazon's data centres within the kingdom to host various applications or services, the company said.
“With this announcement, the kingdom today is the only nation in the region that has all hyperscalers,” he said, referring to information technology infrastructure projects from companies such as IBM, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, Dell and Datavolt, among others.
“The new AWS Region will give developers, start-ups, entrepreneurs, and enterprises, as well as healthcare, education, gaming, and non-profit organisations, greater choice for running their applications and serving end users from data centres located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said a statement from Amazon on Monday.
The world’s biggest e-commerce company has been in talks about increasing its presence and investment in Saudi Arabia since 2017.
In 2023, Amazon launched an academy in the kingdom to support its efforts to train 30,000 Saudis through a technology development platform.
The announcements made during the opening keynote speech delivered by Mr Alswaha were plentiful and featured several guests.
Rayyanah Barnawi, the first female Arab astronaut to spend time on the International Space Station, briefly shared the stage with Mr Alswaha during the opening speech, showcasing Saudi Arabia’s efforts to increase the percentage of women participating in science and technology fields throughout the kingdom.
According to Mr Alswaha, women make up 35 per cent of the technology workforce in Saudi Arabia as of 2024. In 2022 it was just 10 per cent.
Artificial intelligence also took up a large portion of the opening keynote speech, with a new AI Large Language Model being introduced.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, announced AramcoMetabrain, an LLM based on 90 years' worth of public and proprietary data.
It was also announced that Aramco would be partnering with Groq, a US-based AI chip company that it says can offer a speedier implementation of AI.
Jonathan Ross, Groq’s founder and chief executive spoke briefly about the partnership, giving Mr Alswaha a high five on stage.
“What you’re seeing are the fastest language processing unit chips on the planet,” he said.
“We started Groq in Silicon Valley because of the opportunity, but as you deploy this technology here, this could be the place where the opportunity is going forward,” he added.
It is expected that at least 172,000 people will attend the Leap technology conference, which is now in its third year, over four days.
Approximately 600 start-ups, 1,100 speakers and 1,800 technology exhibitors are also expected to take part.
"This is Vision 2030 in action," Mr Alswaha said, referring to Saudi Arabia's plan, announced in 2016, to diversify its economy away from oil, improve female workforce participation, boost non-oil revenue and reduce the unemployment rate.
According to Mr Alswaha, between 2021 and 2023, Saudi Arabia's digital economy grew from $111 billion to $123 billion.
"We've taken headwinds and turned them into tailwinds," he enthusiastically told the crowd, noting the tougher-than-usual climate many start-ups are working within, amid rising interest rates and other factors.
"We've shown resilience ... we've become the largest, fastest, and highest tech success story of the 21st century," he said.
A video accompanied Mr Alswaha's speech, showcasing older video clips of Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, Apple chief Tim Cook, and IBM chairman Arvind Krishna, among others, discussing their companies' previous investments and plans for Saudi Arabia.
Another announcement was made by Alat, a sustainable technology manufacturing company backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which has joined forces with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology to boost the development of semiconductor industry in the kingdom.
The agreement aims to grow and diversify the Saudi economy and make it a global centre for the semiconductor industry.
It will support national goals for research, development and innovation in the energy and industry sectors, through the localisation of the semiconductor industry, and by fostering talent for the sector, a joint statement said.
In another announcement made at Leap, Eviq – an electric vehicle infrastructure company – teamed up with ICT infrastructure provider Tawal to build the future of electric mobility in the kingdom.
Brief scores:
Arsenal 4
Xhaka 25', Lacazette 55', Ramsey 79', Aubameyang 83'
Fulham 1
Kamara 69'
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib
Stars: Shadi Alfons, Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab
Two stars out of five
RESULTS
6.30pm UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) US$100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Final Song, Christophe Soumillon (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (Turf) 1,000m
Winner Almanaara, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
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Winner Grand Argentier, Brett Doyle, Doug Watson.
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Winner Major Partnership, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
8.50pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Gladiator King, Mickael Barzalona, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m
Winner Universal Order, Richard Mullen, David Simcock.
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
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Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
'THE WORST THING YOU CAN EAT'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
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The specs
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Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
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Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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Price: From Dh149,900
THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
Brief scores:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
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What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
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How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
