Saudi Arabia To Embrace AI-Driven Innovation By 2030
The inaugural edition of the Global AI Summit was conducted virtually on the 21st and 22nd October, 2020. And it was in this summit that Saudi Arabia announced its super-ambitious projects and aspirations with the most in-demand technology of today — Artificial Intelligence Development.
Speaking at the Global AI Summit, the SDAIA President (Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority), Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi, shared some of key goals with respect to the kingdom’s national AI strategies. Called the National Strategy for Data and AI, Dr. Al-Ghamdi revealed that he has some really ambitious visions for the nation’s AI-driven innovations and applied technologies, and this includes the goal of raising close to $20bn in investments (both by foreign direct and local funding) by the year 2030.
On a global scale, Saudi Arabia joins the bandwagon of nations to have a forthcoming AI implementation plan that includes Iceland, Australia, Poland, Hungary, Chile, Colombia and more.
Among its ambitions with respect to AI-based projects and innovations, the nation intends to rank in the top 15 countries for AI by the year 2030. Simultaneously, it also intends to train over 20,000 AI and data specialists and raise an AI cluster of over 300 startups and data centers.
In the Summit, Dr. Al-Ghamdi urged the participants to push their limits, challenge themselves, think, work together and reshape the future of AI for the collective good.
The Role of AI in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030
The kingdom is at the brink of its most historic economic reform and transformation process. Tons of super-ambitious initiatives and programs are being conceived and rolled out to support the realization of this vision. And digitization and AI are key enablers of these visions.
Artificial intelligence is at the fulcrum of all the proposed reforms and measures as the kingdom is keen on implementing diverse applications of AI for its projects. Through other allied technologies like blockchain, data science, machine learning and more, it intends to catapult its industries’ operations and functioning dynamically in the next ten years.
The digital transformations proposed at the Summit are beyond just speeches and keynote events. They are being looked at lifestyle and mindset changes as every company, startup and venture out there is being encouraged to think out of the box, push limits and incorporate digital transformations in every way possible.
To realize this vision for 2030, the NSDAI will gradually launch a multi-phase plan that addresses and fixes the unique demands and requirements popping up in this sector in the next 5 years. NSDAI has identified six strategic aspects it intends to work on for this.
Ambition: the ambition for the vision is to place Saudi Arabia in the radar of top 15 countries for AI and arrive as a global leader in this sector by 2030
Skills: Upskilling the current talent pool to more relevant tools and technological implementations and transform workforce to meet the increasing demands by generating over 20,000 AI and data experts by 2030
Policy and Regulations: Conceive and develop world-class regulatory frameworks for the fair and ethical use of data for AI and foster economic growth
Investments: raise over $20bn in funding from both foreign direct investments and local funding
Research and Innovation: establish the kingdom as a hub for AI-driven research and innovation and propel it to rank among the world’s top 20 nations for peer-reviewed AI and data publications
Digital Ecosystem: development of an environment that fosters the commercial application of AI and data, creating a cluster of over 300 AI-powered startups by 2030
As part of the strategy, the NSDAI also intends to accelerate the implementation of AI in healthcare, education, energy and mobility sectors.
The Impact of Digitization on Innovation in Saudi Arabia
From its reforms and strategies, it is starting to appear that Saudi Arabia is looking at innovations more as a culture and mindset. The major impact digitization and innovation will have in Saudi Arabia is the inculcation of an entrepreneurial spirit in its citizens. For instance, several labs are being built across the nation to foster the ideas and thought processes of students and entrepreneurs and serve as an avenue for them to explore the potential of their ideas. All these ideas will contribute to the realization of the Vision 2030 for Saudi Arabia.
In fact, the steps to realizing this have already been taken.
To encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to come up with ideas and develop an entrepreneurial spirit, the kingdom rolled out a platform called FekraTech — which literally translates to Your Idea in Arabic. The platform has received over 4000 proposals and counting. Through this initiative, the kingdom wants its people to think as problem solvers and entrepreneurs rather than simply being job seekers.
The Impact of AI
Dr. Ahmed Al Theneyan, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Technology, shares that AI and robotics have the potential to elevate our lives and boost our productivity when implemented the right way.
He reveals that concepts like automation and digitization are not new and that they have been since the 1980s. Unlike the popular opinion, the onset of AI and robotics will not just take up jobs but pave the way for more niche and specific job roles that have higher values. Automation will only take up redundant and dangerous tasks that have been demanding manual intervention for so long. This will only free up more space for value and purpose-driven manpower deployment across businesses and industries.
The Deputy Minister also revealed that specific measures have been taken to encourage more women to be part of the digitization sector.
The Major Challenges in Implementing Digitization and AI
Anything that is new has its fair share of learning curves and pros and cons associated with it. Though AI and innovation are charming, measures have to be taken to ensure their implementations are valuable and don’t backfire. In this giant piece of jigsaw puzzle, the major challenge seems to be the introduction of digital skills in the current workforce.
Bringing about a paradigm shift in educating and making the current and upcoming workforce learn trending technologies and know how to solve real-world problems with them is a challenge. Businesses in the kingdom should not only now alter their visions and goals to contribute to the nation’s Vision 2030 but work on educating and upskilling their talent pool as well.
Companies and ventures should also simultaneously start looking at ways they could gradually bring in different digital transformations in their operations such as advanced Point of Sale systems, upgraded enterprise software applications, connected devices, automation mechanisms and more. Such massive tech deployments should also involve coordination with tech specialists, vendors and consultants from across the globe.
Lastly, the upcoming generation should also be instilled with digital skills right from early stages to make an impact in the next ten years.
Wrapping Up
The goals are huge for Saudi Arabia and the entire world is watching the kingdom gradually embrace new technologies. But the nation has always offered us instances of awe in their ambitions and their realizations. It will be really interesting to witness Saudi Arabia rising as a global leader in data and AI in the coming months and years.
And if you’re a business owner in the kingdom looking to further bring in tech advancements into your operations, X-Byte Enterprise Solutions can be your ideal tech solutions provider. They understand the technology of tomorrow and would help in setting the right strategies and foundations today to help your business realize and be part of the historic Vision 2030.
With X-Byte Enterprise Solutions, you would be able to leverage the potential of Artificial Intelligence Development and its allied technologies to the maximum and benefit your business operations in terms of cutting down expenses, simplifying products, optimizing talent pool for productivity and morale and nail your business presence in the market.
If you would be interested in a consultation about the potential within your business, please feel free to get in touch.
Reach out to us today.
