As a part of its efforts to diversify the economy away from oil, Saudi Arabia is stepping up its efforts to push innovation and artificial intelligence (AI) in the kingdom.
At Gitex Technology Week in Dubai, the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the US multinational technology company Dell Technologies to accelerate the growth of engineering and technology projects in the Gulf State.
The move comes as a number of initiatives have been undertaken by Saudi Arabia to help its ongoing socio-economic transition and modernization strategy. The National Data and Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NSDAI) recently announced that by 2030, it aims to attract some $20 billion in foreign and local investment.
In the new agreement with Dell, SDAIA will get consulting services that will help them leverage solutions within AI, cloud, data analytics, enterprise storage and more, to fuel the state’s digital transformation journey.
“This strategic collaboration will also witness an exchange of industry best practices and expertise needed to develop integrated projects that will serve the needs of public sector entities’ technology across Saudi Arabia,” a joint statement from SDAIA and Dell Technologies said.
The MOU was signed by Dr. Esam Al-Wagait, director of Saudi Arabia’s National Information Center (NIC) and Mohammed Amin, senior vice president of the Middle East Dell Technologies.
“We are delighted to partner with Dell Technologies on our ongoing digital journey. Dell Technologies has long been a leader and pioneer in information technology,” said Al-Wagait.
Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies’ products include personal computers, servers, smartphones, televisions, computer software, computer security and network security, as well as information security services. Dell ranked 35th on the 2018 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
