There will be more than 26 smart cities across the world by 2025
The smart city market will grow over $2.46 trillion in 2025, presenting significant opportunities for solution providers operating within the smart city space, according to a recent analysis by Frost & Sullivan.
The research and consultancy firm also noted that the coming decade will see a widespread uptake of smart city solutions, especially in medium-sized cities and cities in developing nations.
Read more: Smart Cities to serve as an economic engine for Saudi Arabia
Josh Giegel says Saudi Arabia is a 'big market' for futuristic transport ambitions
Virgin Hyperloop is targeting 2024 for the launch of its first commercial pilot systems, said the company’s new CEO.
“We will deploy the working system and afterwards the passenger systems will shortly come into play in the late 2020s,” Josh Giegel, co-founder, told Arabian Business, adding that the first route may be launched in Saudi Arabia as “it’s a big market for us.”
Read more: Saudi Arabia could see Virgin Hyperloop commercial pilot by 2024, says CEO
Acceleration of digital adoption across infrastructure development in Saudi Arabia has been multifold, implemented at the supply chain level, in building smart cities, and leading to strengthened investments towards "digital infra," panellists deliberated on the first panel of Day 1 of Construction Week's recently-concluded virtual KSA Infrastructure Summit.
The first panel of the conference - Analysing the Current State of Saudi Arabia's Infrastructure Sector - comprised Depa Interior's Director, Abdoullah Albizreh, the KSA Country Manager at ACCIONA Cultural Engineering, Daniel Orti, Mohamed Saad, Senior Development Director at Diriyah Gate Development Authority, and finally Autodesk's Senior Director for Infrastructure and Business Strategy, Theo Agelopoulos.
Read more: SA: "Investing in digital infra is not a luxury anymore"
The principles of walkability and livability behind THE LINE, Saudi Arabia's revolutionary zero carbon city project, could be a blueprint for urban design, said Florian Lennert, head of mobility in NEOM, a planned Saudi city.
"We face the need of globalization to build new cities for 3 billion people for the next 30 to 40 years. There are places around the world that are thinking about city design, and THE LINE could be a blueprint," Lennert told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Saudi Cabinet approval on Tuesday for the establishment of Digital Government Authority (DGA) proves the Kingdom’s commitment to becoming a leading digital economy, experts said.
This will be achieved by adopting digital transformation in government services on a par with international standards, according to Mohammed Khurram Khan, a professor of cybersecurity at King Saud University, Riyadh.
Read more: Saudi Arabia sets sights on becoming leading digital economy