IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

To provide civils and environmental testing for the Neom new city projec

Global inspection specialist, Element Materials Technology (Element) has invested $1 million in a new laboratory in north western Saudi Arabia to provide civils and environmental testing for the Neom new city project.

The project will create a futuristic destination and community incorporating smart city technology and entirely fuelled by renewable energy.

Many of the region's governments have recognised IT as a necessity to improve and sustain an economy and a robust infrastructure where communication takes place with speed and ease is fundamental to enabling this goal.

This has led to numerous information and communications (ICT) initiatives, especially within government and many countries in the Middle East are taking advantage of the lack of legacy issues by leapfrogging to the latest technologies and investing in the latest infrastructure.

An economic report released by the Arab Advisors Group, a specialised research, analysis and consulting company focusing on communications, media, technology and financial markets throughout the MENA region, revealed a 9.3 per cent current growth in the KSA’s Information Technology (IT) sector. The report ranked the Kingdom first among Arab countries in terms of e-Commerce growth, as the value of e-Commerce transactions in Saudi has peaked at SAR 12 billion. It further showed that 3.5 million internet users or 14.26 per cent of the Saudi population were engaged in e-Commerce transactions. The results affirmed the country’s emergence as an ideal market for regional e-Commerce activities.

Gulf states ranked first in the Arab region in a UN index that measures the maturity of government electronic and mobile services, according to a UN statement released on Monday.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar secured the top three spots in the Government Electronic and Mobile Services (GEMS) Maturity Index, which is compiled by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), according to a statement.

• The Line will be 170 km long and will form part of the metropolis of NEOM;
• Project is promoted by Mohammed bin Salman, prime minister and crown prince of the country;
• Saudi Arabia wants to create the world’s first fully smart city.

In January 2021, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the construction of a futuristic megacity called The Line. The project shocked the world by proposing an urban construction in a straight line, which would dispense with the use of cars by residents.

With the Internet claims an ever-greater share of daily life, opportunities for cybercrime have increased greatly

The internet is home to some extremely malevolent behavior. A range of bad actors is intent on stealing people’s money, information and identities, and on crippling essential services.

Of the countless entities and individuals targeted, some of the more prominent are Saudi Aramco, Bangladesh Bank, Colonial Pipeline, the Democratic Party of the US, and the UK’s House of Commons. In 2015, the self-proclaimed Yemen Cyber Army attacked the Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

These visionary projects pioneer eco-friendly innovations without compromising luxury, aiming to create ethical urban paradigms for tomorrow

Major cities worldwide, once envisioned as the locus of advancement, are no longer immune to nature’s wrath. From increased water levels to temperature rise to overpopulation, climate change has the world in a chokehold.

A report published by the World Bank, titled “Thriving: Making Cities Green, Resilient and Inclusive in Changing Climate,” indicates that the frequency of extreme heat increased across cities globally from the 1970s to 2020, whereas the sea-level rise of about 0.125 millimetres per year has also increased the risk of flooding for coastal cities. These effects have been quadrupled with the impacts of overtourism, which include resource depletion and increased pollution. Several destinations that have always been on a traveller’s radar are facing the brunt of this. Be it the romantic city of Venice or the buzzing capital of Jakarta and the serene Maldives, they are all staring at a grim future.

There are currently only a few IT training opportunities for Saudi youth, who represent a large and important segment of society.

The sector also aims at achieving 50% growth of the IT sector and raising the Saudi workforce to 50% by 2023

The strategic goals of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Strategy, approved by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, include increasing the ICT sector’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) by SR 50 billion over the coming five years, according to Abdullah Al-Sawaha, minister of information and communications technology.

With more than 200 senior executives, government leaders, and digital transformation (DX) experts participating online, the event -- which took place on Monday, December 7 -- took a deep dive into the Kingdom's innovative DX journey and examined the progress of its National Transformation Program (NTP)

With the giant leaps Saudi Arabia is taking in its drive towards digitalization, International Data Corporation (IDC) this week hosted the virtual edition of its IDC Saudi Arabia Government Congress 2021. With more than 200 senior executives, government leaders, and digital transformation (DX) experts participating online, the event — which took place on Monday, December 7 — took a deep dive into the Kingdom's innovative DX journey and examined the progress of its National Transformation Program (NTP).

Two airports in Saudi Arabia, King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, have officially introduced an e-Gate system. This electronic system allows foreigners who hold activated e-Gate cards to complete their immigration passport control on arrival and departure more efficiently without a need to wait in line to have the documents stamped. An e-Gate card contains its holder’s biometric information which is used for identification.

The e-Gate system aims to speed up registration of arrivals and departures, and to bring more control over entry and exit processes to and from the Kingdom.

Increased investment in infrastructure is essential to securing Saudi Arabia’s digital future, said leading experts at a key virtual roundtable discussion hosted by Cisco, a worldwide leader in IT technology.

Titled ‘Securing the Internet for the Future: Investing in the Road to Recovery’, the event saw leading telecommunication service providers and industry regulators explore key learnings from recent events and evaluate the capability to meet expected demands of future work and communication.

The major initiatives taken by the Saudi Arabia government towards Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) include a contribution of US$ 2.1 billion for The National Plan for Science and Technology and considerable allocations to establish technologically equipped schools and hospitals.

The country can certainly learn from Canada’s e-Government initiatives, which have transformed the delivery of information and services over the last 13 years.

The adoption of a multi-channel approach that allows Canadian citizens to take up services online (through web and mobile), by telephone or in person has led to a high level of end user satisfaction. For this reason, Canada has stood out in terms of e-Government initiatives and has ranked amongst the best over the last few years. The initial goal of these initiatives was to provide information via the Internet that citizens could access at any time.

Jacobs and Jasara will deliver project and construction management consultancy services for The Line project.

Saudi Arabia-based Neom Company has appointed US-based technical professional services company Jacobs and Jasara to provide project and construction management consultancy services for The Line project.

The Line is a linear smart city under construction in Neom in the Tabuk province of Saudi Arabia.

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, who is also chairman of the Central Hajj Committee, said that the Kingdom is making all efforts to serve the Hajj and Umrah pilgrims

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, said that Saudi Arabia is striving to transform Makkah into the first smart city in the Islamic world. Speaking to Al-Arabiya channel, he said that Makkah is open to any Muslim wishing to perform Hajj.

The forum is designed to discuss prospects of introducing e-government cloud computing in Saudi Arabia. It will provide a rich environment for discussion and exchange of experience relevant to this concept. The forum will seek ways to introduce this concept in e-government services. Government trends will be reviewed in addition to the best international experience and practices. During the forum major features of the second action plan will be highlighted. Prospects of creating and delivering cloud computing services to government agencies will be discussed.

“GCC states have upgraded their performance in the field of information technology which became one of their key national industries,” WEF pointed out in its report.

Saudi Arabia obtained 29th position globally in political and regulatory environment and 25th in business and innovation, according to the forum’s report data.

"The United Nations E-Government Survey 2012: E-Government for the People" pointed to many major achievements made by the Saudi government in the past 2 years--from creating more options for mobile access to the high-functionality of the Saudi National portal. For all of these advancements, the Kingdom is now among top-performers in e-government as an "emerging eGovernment leader".

Jeddah Governorate Portal came in second in the best e-content, while the e-Government Program (Yesser) of Saudi Arabia came first In the best e-project category for its governmental integrated channel and in e-economy category, the payment system in Saudi Arabia (Sadad) came first in addition to SaudiEDI (Saudi Electronic Data Interchange) project which won award of appreciation.