At the Budget Forum 2023, His Excellency Al-Tamimi: Generous Support from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince Has Strengthened the Kingdom's Position as a Regional Hub for Technology and Innovation
The Governor of the Communications, Space and Technology Commission, Dr. Mohammed bin Saud Al-Tamimi, explained that the generous support for the communications, space and technology sector from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister - may God protect them both - was, after God's grace, a direct reason for the Kingdom attaining its status as a regional hub for technology and innovation in the region, as the Kingdom ranked second in the Digital Competitiveness Index among G20 countries according to the report issued by the World Economic Forum, and is also classified as the most advanced country in digital regulation in the Middle East and Africa region, with the Kingdom ranking sixth among G20 countries in digital regulatory excellence according to the International Telecommunication Union index.
This came during his participation in the sixth dialogue session on strengthening the technology sector to enable the digital economy, as part of the Budget Forum 2023, where His Excellency Al-Tamimi extended his warmest congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister - may God protect them both - on the occasion of the issuance of the state's general budget for fiscal year 2023, affirming that the leadership's approach was reflected in the telecommunications and information technology sector as it is a cornerstone of the digital economy, with the market value of the telecommunications and information technology sector reaching SAR 144 billion in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of 8% over the past five years, adding that the volume of venture capital investments in the Kingdom rose to reach SAR 3.33 billion in the first ten months of 2022, an increase of more than 62% compared to the whole of 2021, which proves to investors the attractiveness and safety of the investment environment in the technology sector in the Kingdom.
In his participation, His Excellency addressed many economic growth indicators in the sector, where cloud computing saw data center capacity grow by nearly 30% compared to 2021, noting that the past focus was on listing telecommunications companies on the capital market, as 11 technology companies were listed on the stock market with a growth rate of 350% compared to the previous year.
His Excellency Al-Tamimi also addressed what the Kingdom has achieved in universal service, where voice communication services and internet services have been delivered to more than 21,000 villages and hamlets across the Kingdom, home to more than 5 million people, in addition to visitors and users of those areas, and achieving a coverage rate for telecommunications and internet services exceeding 99% of the Kingdom's population, while the domestic roaming service, currently benefiting more than 250,000 users daily, has been provided without the end user bearing any additional costs.
His Excellency noted the strategic importance of the space sector, whose support from the wise leadership has been of great significance, as the space sector represents the next global trillion-dollar economy by 2040 and is one of the most important sources of inspiration for generations and a spur for innovation and creativity, with the governance of the space sector in the Kingdom carried out through the Supreme Space Council chaired by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the regulatory and supervisory mandate handled by transferring the regulatory and supervisory competencies for the space sector from the Saudi Space Commission to the Communications, Space and Technology Commission, to unify efforts in regulating the frequency spectrum, non-terrestrial networks, orbital slot reservation and satellite networks, and adopting emerging space technologies, in addition to converting the Saudi Space Commission into the Saudi Space Agency.
Al-Tamimi highlighted the space sector's most notable achievements, represented by the signing of the “Artemis” agreement with the American space agency “NASA,” the launch of the Space Scholarship Program to accelerate the building and qualification of national cadres, the launch of the Astronaut Program, alongside the launch of an accelerator for entrepreneurs in the space sector, with distinguished international partnerships, and the National Space Strategy will be announced soon.
Al-Tamimi indicated that the Kingdom has witnessed qualitative leaps in its journey to build the digital economy, as the Commission conducted several trials of modern technologies from space communications to provide broadband services to areas without coverage, including, but not limited to, conducting the world's first live trial to provide 5G network coverage via High-Altitude Platform Stations (5G HAPS) in the Red Sea project, and the first trial in the Middle East and North Africa region using (5G Backhauling) technology through low-earth-orbit satellites, with the trials providing high-speed, low-latency connectivity. It also held the world's first-of-its-kind auction for (2100) MHz band frequencies, by offering 60 MHz in the (2100) MHz band frequency auction for 5G non-terrestrial networks (NTN).
Al-Tamimi noted that the Commission, stemming from Saudi Vision 2030 and its continued reliance on promising Saudi youth as one of its most important and largest core groups, has launched numerous initiatives and projects to empower women and youth and support entrepreneurship, leading to an increase in the localization rate in the telecommunications and information technology field to 60.3% in the third quarter of 2022, with women's participation in the telecommunications and information technology sector reaching 30.5%, and training more than 30,000 people in specialized technologies such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and data science through more than 600 training programs in partnership with more than 20 training partners.
This came during his participation in the sixth dialogue session on strengthening the technology sector to enable the digital economy, as part of the Budget Forum 2023, where His Excellency Al-Tamimi extended his warmest congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister - may God protect them both - on the occasion of the issuance of the state's general budget for fiscal year 2023, affirming that the leadership's approach was reflected in the telecommunications and information technology sector as it is a cornerstone of the digital economy, with the market value of the telecommunications and information technology sector reaching SAR 144 billion in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of 8% over the past five years, adding that the volume of venture capital investments in the Kingdom rose to reach SAR 3.33 billion in the first ten months of 2022, an increase of more than 62% compared to the whole of 2021, which proves to investors the attractiveness and safety of the investment environment in the technology sector in the Kingdom.
In his participation, His Excellency addressed many economic growth indicators in the sector, where cloud computing saw data center capacity grow by nearly 30% compared to 2021, noting that the past focus was on listing telecommunications companies on the capital market, as 11 technology companies were listed on the stock market with a growth rate of 350% compared to the previous year.
His Excellency Al-Tamimi also addressed what the Kingdom has achieved in universal service, where voice communication services and internet services have been delivered to more than 21,000 villages and hamlets across the Kingdom, home to more than 5 million people, in addition to visitors and users of those areas, and achieving a coverage rate for telecommunications and internet services exceeding 99% of the Kingdom's population, while the domestic roaming service, currently benefiting more than 250,000 users daily, has been provided without the end user bearing any additional costs.
His Excellency noted the strategic importance of the space sector, whose support from the wise leadership has been of great significance, as the space sector represents the next global trillion-dollar economy by 2040 and is one of the most important sources of inspiration for generations and a spur for innovation and creativity, with the governance of the space sector in the Kingdom carried out through the Supreme Space Council chaired by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the regulatory and supervisory mandate handled by transferring the regulatory and supervisory competencies for the space sector from the Saudi Space Commission to the Communications, Space and Technology Commission, to unify efforts in regulating the frequency spectrum, non-terrestrial networks, orbital slot reservation and satellite networks, and adopting emerging space technologies, in addition to converting the Saudi Space Commission into the Saudi Space Agency.
Al-Tamimi highlighted the space sector's most notable achievements, represented by the signing of the “Artemis” agreement with the American space agency “NASA,” the launch of the Space Scholarship Program to accelerate the building and qualification of national cadres, the launch of the Astronaut Program, alongside the launch of an accelerator for entrepreneurs in the space sector, with distinguished international partnerships, and the National Space Strategy will be announced soon.
Al-Tamimi indicated that the Kingdom has witnessed qualitative leaps in its journey to build the digital economy, as the Commission conducted several trials of modern technologies from space communications to provide broadband services to areas without coverage, including, but not limited to, conducting the world's first live trial to provide 5G network coverage via High-Altitude Platform Stations (5G HAPS) in the Red Sea project, and the first trial in the Middle East and North Africa region using (5G Backhauling) technology through low-earth-orbit satellites, with the trials providing high-speed, low-latency connectivity. It also held the world's first-of-its-kind auction for (2100) MHz band frequencies, by offering 60 MHz in the (2100) MHz band frequency auction for 5G non-terrestrial networks (NTN).
Al-Tamimi noted that the Commission, stemming from Saudi Vision 2030 and its continued reliance on promising Saudi youth as one of its most important and largest core groups, has launched numerous initiatives and projects to empower women and youth and support entrepreneurship, leading to an increase in the localization rate in the telecommunications and information technology field to 60.3% in the third quarter of 2022, with women's participation in the telecommunications and information technology sector reaching 30.5%, and training more than 30,000 people in specialized technologies such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and data science through more than 600 training programs in partnership with more than 20 training partners.
Date
11/12/2022
Hijri Date
17/05/1444
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