RIYADH — The second edition of the global tech event (LEAP) is scheduled to commence in Riyadh under the theme "Into New Worlds", from Feb. 6 to 9, 2023, at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Convention center.

LEAP is organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Saudi Federation for Cyber Security, Programming and Drones, and Tahaluf Company, with the participation of major government and private entities, and technology and communications companies.

This year's edition represents a huge economic leap within the Kingdom through several partnerships, deals, and investment tours.

In its second edition, LEAP conference brings together more than 700 speakers from more than 50 countries, representing the world's most important sides in technology, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation, such as Joseph Bradley, Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy, Abdulrahman Al-Thaiban, Sofia Graflund, and Rajiv Ramaswami, where women’s participation exceeds 35 percent of the total speakers.

Over 900 global and local companies, including Ericsson, STC, Huawei, IBM, Mobily, neoleap, NEOM, SAAB, Aramco, SITE, Elm, Google Cloud, Amazon, Dell, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Alibaba Cloud, and other technology companies, as well as more than 400 local and international emerging technology companies are participating in the conference.

LEAP will address many topics such as innovative economics, FinTech, smart cities, health techniques, the fourth industrial revolution, clean technology, and retail trade, as well as many other subjects such as the future of energy and educational techniques.

The conference contains seven platforms with more than 400 keynote speeches and interactive sessions, including the main stage, and four specialized platforms for specialized panels with two themes each.

The investor stage will see huge investment deals with the presence of major tech actors worldwide, and the DeepFest platform that will launch its business on Febr. 7 under the title "Beyond Imagination", where it will highlight AI initiatives, and the latest innovations in many sectors.

The platform will feature key tracks: The world of Metaverse, NFT, Space Technology and Women's Empowerment in Technology, where the DeepFest platform is a key place for AI technology, with a selection of data scientists, makers of change and technology, many large and emerging companies, and innovative entrepreneurs, thus making an important addition to the LEAP Conference, especially with regard to artificial intelligence.

The conference contributes to supporting startups through the Rocket Fuel competition, in which 90 startups compete for more than $1 million in awards, where LEAP supports many startups through the presence of more than 500 investors to assist startups. — SPA