Saudi Arabia wants to take its “smart city” project to another level, because after the announcement of the creation of a smart city in 2017 with an estimated investment of $ 500,000, ‘Neom’ would become the “spearhead” of the technology worldwide, and with a view to reaching that goal, the country has announced an alliance with the startup Volocopter to implement the first customized transport service with eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft).
The agreement was concluded and signed between Nadhmi Al-Nasr, executive director of the NEOM project, and Christian Bauer, responsible for commercial affairs at Volocopter. This first agreement contemplates the design, implementation and operation of an air taxi service that “will be fully integrated with the general multimodal public transport system and zero emissions in Neom,” they explain in a statement.
France’s Thales has signed a memorandum of understanding with stc (Saudi Telecom Company) to collaborated on a broad range of technologies including digital identity solutions, e-SIMs, national security technologies, smart cities, IoT, payment solutions and 5G satellites, reports Arab News.
stc has the twin objectives of providing its customers which span mobile, internet and landline with cybersecurity solutions and close collaboration between the companies to improve digital skills training in these technologies at the stc academy.
Read more: Thales signs MoU to develop digital identity, smart cities in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s smart city NEOM has hosted its first UK roadshow event in London to promote investment opportunities.
It was attended by over 250 leaders from the country’s business, financial, environmental and political circles.
Read more: Saudi Arabia showcases NEOM in its first roadshow in London
Quantum security company Arqit has won a deal to provide security for the Saudi Arabian project to build a new smart city, Neom.
Arqit says that, once developed, its software will be able to defend other so-called cognitive cities against cyber-attacks. The system has global export potential, said the company.
David Williams, founder and chairman of Arqit, said the company will use a distributed ledger technology called Quantum Blockchain, which is “designed to deliver financial payments and smart contracts in a way that is sustainable, energy-efficient and can manage instantaneous transactions at close to zero cost”.
Read more: Arqit in ‘smart city’ deal with Saudi Arabia’s Neom project
A gathering of stars, businesspeople and dignitaries from Baroness Helena Morrissey to adventurer Bear Grylls celebrated the creation of a $500 billion “smart city” called Neom on Tuesday night.
The city, which will be run using robots and free of cars, might read like something from a utopian sci-fi novel but according to executives at this week’s ‘Discover Neom’ event at Spencer House in central London, it’s about to become a reality in Saudi Arabia, where the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has already designated an area in the country’s northwest region close to the Suez Canal, near its borders with Jordan and Egypt.