Saudi Gazette report

MAKKAH — As part of its initiative, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority will hold training programs for 100 young Saudi men and women in the Makkah region in the field of data and artificial intelligence.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, the authority’s president announced it on Monday, in a virtual session during the launch of the fifth edition of the Makkah Cultural Forum under the theme “How to be a role model,” the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The session was held under the patronage of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, the emir of Makkah and adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. “We are now living in the era of the data economy and artificial intelligence. In 2015, the global data volume was 15 zettabytes, and in 2020 it has increased to 50 zettabytes, and in 2025 it will rise to 175 zettabytes,” he said.

Al-Ghamdi pointed out that the global economy has an opportunity to exploit this volume of data and release the potential energy from it through artificial intelligence techniques. According to studies, it is expected that the global economy would benefit from this with an amount of $15 trillion by 2030, expecting the Kingdom’s share of this economy to be 12.4 percent by that time.

He praised the wise Saudi leadership, which believed in the importance of data and artificial intelligence, by establishing SDAIA, to lead this alternative economy from that of the traditional economy by the year 2030. The Crown Prince is closely following up and updating all the achievements in this sector.

Al-Ghamdi said that 70 percent of the goals of the Kingdoms’ Vision 2030 is based on data and artificial intelligence, expressing his pride over the completion of a year after the establishment of the authority.

“Young Saudi men and women who have different educational qualifications have developed artificial intelligence techniques in SDAIA. The authority was able to earn revenues amounting to SR43 billion during the last year, and 100 data centers across the Kingdom were integrated into the National Information Center, saving SR1 billion during 2019,” he said while noting that these achievements have culminated in the approval of a data and artificial intelligence strategy by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and that will lead everyone to an economy based on data and artificial intelligence.