From telegrams to digital services: IT has traveled a long way in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia established a wireless network in 1925. (SPA)
Updated 23 September 2018
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From telegrams to digital services: IT has traveled a long way in Saudi Arabia

  • Telecommunication system has always been vital for the country, and will continue to play a key role in future

JEDDAH: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always paid great attention to the communications and information technology (IT) sector, which is one of the oldest governmental sectors. Since the era of founder King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, the postal and telecommunication services have been an essential link between the Kingdom’s sprawling regions, separated by great distances. An order was issued in 1926 to establish the Directorate of Posts, Telegraph and Telephones (PTT), to take care of all the postal and telecommunication services. In 1934, 22 wireless stations were opened to link 22 cities and villages in the Kingdom through telegraph services.
King Salman also showed great interest in the sector and launched in 2016 the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which was adopted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The vision focuses on developing the sector in the Kingdom in accordance with international developments.
With the flourishing economy, Vision 2030 reflected the state’s concern to develop its digital infrastructure, as this is vital in building advanced industrial activities, attracting investors and improving the competitiveness of the national economy.
Therefore, communications and IT infrastructure will be developed through partnerships with the private sector, especially high-speed broadband technology, to increase coverage in cities and outskirts and optimize the quality of the calls. The Vision aims for a coverage of more than 90 percent of houses in densely populated cities and 66 percent in other areas.
The state will promote the governance of the digital transformation through a national council that supervises the process and will also support the transformation at the governmental level.
The communication and IT sector in the Kingdom has seen important changes, including the first negotiations with companies abroad to buy wireless devices and establishing a wireless network in 1925. The state then worked on expanding the international telegraph service through submarine cables across the Red Sea between Jeddah and Port Sudan, where the Port Sudan Conference was held in 1926 for this purpose.
Up until 1934, when the telephone service was first introduced to the country, the phone lines linked to the manual telephone exchanges in Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and Taif did not exceed 854 in number.
During this era, the magnetic phone was used, which was dry-cell powered. This phone operated within the same neighborhood or city, through operators working around the clock to connect calls through a manual switchboard.
In 1984, a royal decree was issued to build an international wireless station in Jeddah. The state’s great interest in the sector led to the creation of the Communications Ministry, led by Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz. The Directorate of Posts, Telegraph and Telephones (PTT) became part of the ministry in 1953. King Saud Al-Saud inaugurated the first phone calls between the Kingdom and Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Bahrain in 1955.
King Al-Saud also introduced the first “telex” teleprinters, the Loren 2133 and the Siemens T37h with Arabic alphabets.
Telegraph remained the main means of communication until phone services were developed.
The state established the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone (PTT) to handle the sectors of telegraph and communications in 1975, at a time when phone lines did not exceed 130,000, with revenues of SR250 million ($66.7 million).
In 1984, the first optical fiber cables were used, and call centers were established in all the regions of the Kingdom.
In 1987, King Fahd Satellite Telecommunications City was launched between Makkah and Jeddah. In 1995, mobile telephones were introduced in the Kingdom.
To provide trusted and developed services, the Communications Commission was established in 2001, to handle the organization of this sector and the issuance of licenses for companies. Information Technology was added to the commission’s missions and it became the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) in 2003.
CITC has developed a strategic plan aiming to organize the sector to take it to high levels of competitiveness and ensure a suitable environment for investors. The Communications and IT Ministry is looking to extend the fiber optic system to 2.1 million houses in urban areas by 2020, to develop the infrastructure of communications, speed up the transfer toward the cognitive economy and match the goals of the National Transformation Program 2020.
The ministry has linked 400,000 houses with fiber-optic networks and 110 thousand houses with broadband wireless networks, and is also working on covering 70 percent of the remote houses with broadband wireless networks by 2020.

In 2016, more than SR130 billion ($34 billion) were spent on communications and IT services, where the sector’s contribution in the GDP reached 6 percent, and 10 percent in the non-oil domestic product.

The expenditure allocated for communications and IT is expected to increase due to big investments by the governmental and private sectors, and to become compatible with the National Transformation program 2020, as one of the main programs supporting the Vision 2030.


Saudi Arabia’s NEOM gigaproject a ‘generational investment,’ minister says

Updated 57 min 57 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia’s NEOM gigaproject a ‘generational investment,’ minister says

  • The world’s top oil exporter has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into development projects through the kingdom’s $925 billion sovereign fund

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s NEOM gigaproject, a futuristic region being built in the desert, is a “generational investment” with a long timeline, the country’s investment minister told Reuters on Monday, adding that foreign investment will pick up pace.
“NEOM was not meant to be a two-year investable opportunity. If anybody expected NEOM to be foreign investment in two, three or five years, then they have gotten (it) wrong — it’s a generational investment,” Minister Khalid Al-Falih said on the sidelines of the World Investment Conference in Riyadh.
“The flywheel is starting and it will gain speed as we go forward, as some of the foundational assets come to the market,” he said.
The world’s top oil exporter has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into development projects through the kingdom’s $925 billion sovereign fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), as it undergoes an economic agenda dubbed Vision 2030 to cut dependence on fossil fuels.
NEOM, a Red Sea urban and industrial development nearly the size of Belgium that is meant to eventually house 9 million people, is central to Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia has scaled back some lofty ambitions to prioritize completing elements essential to hosting global sporting events over the next decade as rising costs weigh, sources told Reuters earlier this month. NEOM announced this month its long-time chief executive, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, had stepped down, without giving further details.
Asked what effect the departure would have on investors, the minister said the executive had done “a respectable job” but that “there is a time for everybody to pass on the baton.”
Asked if PIF will continue to do much of the spending on NEOM until more foreign funds come in, Al-Falih said it was not binary.
“I think foreign investors are starting to come to NEOM, they’re starting to channel capital. Some of the projects that the PIF will be doing will be financed through global capital pools, through some alternative and private capital. That’s taking place as we speak,” he said.
“So I urge you not to look at NEOM as being 100 percent PIF and then suddenly there will be a cliff and it will go private.”
Saudi Arabia, which is racing to attract $100 billion in annual foreign direct investment by the turn of the decade — reaching about a quarter of that in 2023 — has recently seen more co-investment deals between state entities and foreign investors.
“It’s always been the intent,” Al-Falih said of foreign inflows alongside state funds.
He noted that foreign investors were at times “still looking, still examining, still sometimes questioning,” but that now there was confidence in the profitability of investment opportunities and that “the risk-return trade-offs are very, very fair and positive to them.”


Saudi crown prince extends condolences to Kuwaiti counterpart on death of Sheikh Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah

Updated 26 November 2024
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Saudi crown prince extends condolences to Kuwaiti counterpart on death of Sheikh Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah

RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent a cable of condolences to Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on the passing of Sheikh Mohammed Abdulaziz Hamoud Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah.
In the cable, the crown prince extended his deepest sympathy to Sheikh Sabah and the family of the deceased.


Saudi tech diplomat meets Iraqi PM to discuss digital cooperation

Updated 25 November 2024
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Saudi tech diplomat meets Iraqi PM to discuss digital cooperation

  • Deemah Al-Yahya, head of the multilateral Digital Cooperation Organization, commended Iraq’s investment in human capital as driver for growth and expansion of digital economy
  • Iraq has been working in recent years to develop a strategy for digital transformation to help support the private and public sectors and grow the economy

RIYADH: Saudi senior tech diplomat Deemah AlYahya, the secretary-general of the multilateral Digital Cooperation Organization, held talks on Monday with Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, about support for Baghdad’s plans to develop its digital business and artificial intelligence sectors.

They discussed Iraq’s strategy for digital transformation, and the need to create and develop a workforce with the tech skills required to help grow the Iraqi economy effectively, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Though Iraq is not a member of the DCO, an international body that focuses on the digital economy, Al-Sudani said his country is keen to work with the organization to meet the nation’s needs for a skilled workforce in the business sector.

AlYahya commended Iraq for the progress it has already made in terms of investment in the human capital needed to develop the digital skills that are essential to drive growth in a digitized economy.

Iraq has been working in recent years to develop a strategy for digital transformation to help support the private and public sectors and grow the economy. Authorities this month organized the first Digital Space Iraq Forum, which focused on the use of advanced technologies, including AI, to help build a comprehensive digital economy.

The DCO says that since it was founded in November 2020, it has been at the forefront of efforts to curate policies and initiatives to support the digital economy in several countries. Currently, 16 nations are members, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Oman. It also has 39 observer partner organizations.

DCO member states have a collective gross domestic product of $3.5 trillion and serve a combined market of nearly 800 million people, more than 70 percent of whom are under the age of 35.


Saudi FM pushes for regional stability at G7-Arab foreign ministers meeting

Updated 25 November 2024
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Saudi FM pushes for regional stability at G7-Arab foreign ministers meeting

  • In his address, Prince Faisal highlighted the ongoing crises in Gaza and Lebanon

RIYADH: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan took part in an expanded session of the second meeting between G7 foreign ministers and their counterparts from Arab nations on Monday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The meeting was hosted in Italy under the theme “Together for the Stability of the Middle East.”

The session, which addressed pressing regional and international challenges, was held with the participation of Saudi, Jordanian, Emirati, Qatari and Egyptian officials, as well as the secretary-general of the Arab League.

In his address, Prince Faisal emphasized the importance of strengthening partnerships to address these challenges effectively.

He highlighted the ongoing crises in Gaza and Lebanon, urging the international community to act immediately to secure a ceasefire, facilitate unrestricted humanitarian aid, and progress toward establishing an independent Palestinian state.

He also called for respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty, and renewed international efforts to resolve the crisis in Sudan and alleviate the resulting human suffering.

The meeting was also attended by Prince Faisal bin Sattam bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi ambassador to Italy, the SPA reported.


Scientists awarded for sustainable water innovation at Saudi conference

Updated 25 November 2024
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Scientists awarded for sustainable water innovation at Saudi conference

  • Research aims to improve desalination efficiency
  • Makkah’s deputy emir in attendance

JEDDAH: Scientists were awarded prizes for their work in researching desalination and wastewater treatment technologies during an event in Jeddah on Monday.

The third edition of the Innovation-Driven Water Sustainability Conference was attended by 480 experts, scientists, researchers, specialists and 40 leading organizations in the water sector, from 20 countries.

The grand prize — the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination 2024 — went to Lee Nuang Sim from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University for his project “uncovering the power of centrifugal reverse osmosis,” and Sue Mecham, CEO of NALA Membranes, for her project “chlorine stable new membranes for sustainable desalination and wastewater treatment/reuse.”

Visitors attend the third Innovation-Driven Water Sustainability Conference in Jeddah on Nov. 25, 2024. (Supplied)

Mecham, from North Carolina, US, spoke to Arab News after receiving her award, saying: “We are honored to be selected for the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination 2024. Our mission is to bring new membranes to market and reduce the cost and complexity of water purification.”

Meanwhile, Saudi Ghadeer Al-Balawi from the University of Tabuk was another one of this year’s prizewinners with her project “novel heterogeneous catalysts for improving wastewater treatment plants in Saudi Arabia.”

Al-Balawi told Arab News: “I am incredibly honored to be one of the recipients of the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination 2024. This recognition means so much to me. This project has been conducted at the University of Sheffield with hard work and dedication with the assistance of my supervisor, Dr. Marco Conte.”

The event’s opening ceremony was attended by Makkah Deputy Emir Prince Saud bin Mishal and Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, as well as other senior officials.

Following the opening, Abdullah Al-Abdulkarim, chairman of the Saudi Water Authority, said that the event reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to promoting scientific and research innovation as a pillar for achieving water sustainability and security.

Through the conference, the SWA aims to share the impact of innovation in promoting the sustainable supply of water, according to SWA spokesperson Sultan Al-Rajhi.

“This conference discusses the latest global practices and innovative solutions in the water industry, with the participation of experts, scientists and specialists, who emphasize the pivotal role of innovation in accelerating the future prosperity of water and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for water and the environment,” he said.

The two-day conference will continue to feature discussions on more than 180 research papers, as well as a water hackathon organized by the Saudi Water Innovation Center.