Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Nadhmi Al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM Company, said that NEOM will be the first place in the world to rely entirely on digitization, and it has developed an advanced medical system under the name “Doctor NEOM.”

“NEOM is the land of the future, which is to connect different destinations, big data and artificial intelligence,” he said while emphasizing that NEOM will be the first place to be powered 100 percent by relying on a fully protected system.

The CEO made the remarks while addressing a session titled “Smart cities designed to be safe” at the Global Cybersecurity Forum at the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh on Wednesday.

Al-Nasr said that NEOM has developed an advanced medical system under the name “Doctor NEOM” to collect health data for residents and predict their health problems before they occur.

He said NEOM would use modern devices for cybersecurity and work on a plan to train thousands of citizens so as to make available excellent services in the city.

Al-Nasr said regional plan for NEOM would be announced next month, which will be an advancement of lifestyle and not just a revolution.

“Everyone will see the extent of progress at NEOM as it will be a sophisticated smart zone where information is used to improve the standard of living of the population, and it seeks to attract a million residents by 2030.

“Huge packages of digital plans, starting with electronic transactions in all aspects of life, have been developed for NEOM,” he said.

Citing some examples of the NEOM development, the CEO said that apart from the “Doctor NEOM” medical system, the City will provide travelers with a very advanced travel system based on the passengers’ biometrical data so that NEOM visitors do not face any complications or go through lengthy procedures.

The highly advanced renewable energy system in NEOM would support smart networks to improve performance and effectiveness of electrical networks, he said, noting that all of these technologies depend on information.

“For this we will work to develop an advanced protection system through a partnership contract with the National Cybersecurity Authority to train and develop a full range of specialists to protect NEOM,” he said, adding that NEOM will work to forge more partnerships to develop local cadres in cybersecurity.

During the past three years, a strategy was developed for every part of NEOM, Al-Nasr said, while noting that 2020 is the year of construction and implementation.

“The work on plans and strategies took two years to complete due to the magnitude of the giant project, and there will be a trip with a 10-year duration to create the first futuristic region in the world designed with futuristic designs,” he added.

The NEOM futuristic mega city, spread over an area of 10,230 square miles in the northern region of Tabuk, is estimated to cost $500 billion. Phase one is due for completion in 2020 and the final phase is expected to be completed in 2025.