stc Group participated in the Misk Global Forum, the region’s largest youth forum. As the event’s official digital enabler, stc Group showcased the inspireU business accelerator, which supports digital startups across the Kingdom, and the impactU social accelerator, which incubates digital startups focusing on key areas relating to Saudi Arabia’s sustainability.

The Misk Global Forum, an annual flagship event hosted by Misk Foundation — a nonprofit organization established by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is dedicated to empowering and connecting young leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs globally. Taking place in Riyadh at Malfa Hall on Nov. 18 and 19, the forum brought together more than 150,000 attendees to collaborate and activate positive global change through innovation. This year’s theme, “By Youth, For Youth,” highlighted the importance of youth-led initiatives, showcasing how young people can motivate and support one another to drive growth and innovation.

This year, stc Group featured a dedicated space for inspireU, the stc Group business accelerator, which offers support to select high-potential digital startups with resources and mentorship in their early stages of establishment.

stc Group also spotlighted their social accelerator, impactU. The program offers training and mentorship to entrepreneurs that align with stc’s Sustainable Development Goals. impactU brings more than 40 mentors to train 15 incubated digital startups selected from a competitive application process, offering successful candidates a financial grant of up to SR100,000 ($26,640), free access to services from stc’s partners, as well as the opportunity to attend workshops and exhibitions.

Together, impactU and inspireU highlight stc Group’s commitment to sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia.

The Misk Global Forum has provided a platform for vibrant discussions, the exchange of ideas, and networking opportunities across a range of industries to nurture potential and activate innovation among the youth of Saudi Arabia. stc Group’s strategic partnership as the digital enabler of the forum underscores the group’s commitment to powering youth initiatives to support the Kingdom’s digital transformation in line with Vision 2030 objectives.

SAMINavantia, the joint venture between Saudi Arabian Military Industries and the Spanish company Navantia, announced the development of a new combat management system, “HAZEM Lite.” This solution is designed for low and medium warfare vessels, as well as vessels with space restrictions.

This achievement is the result of the efforts of Saudi engineers who worked on developing the new system at SAMINavantia’s Naval Systems Integration and Development Center of Excellence in Saudi Arabia.

The new “HAZEM Lite” system can be used and installed on new ships or integrated into the existing systems of modern vessels. The new system is one of the latest technologies in combat systems, derived from the HAZEM CMS, but specifically tailored for smaller vessels, while maintaining the key features of the original HAZEM system. These include providing an open, scalable, customizable, and interoperable solution that is proven effective and robust.

Dr. Mohammed Al-Qahtani, chairman of SAMINavantia, said: “The new ‘HAZEM Lite’ system is the result of intensive development efforts by Saudi engineers, aimed at designing a simplified version of the advanced combat management solution previously used in the Sarawat-class vessels, by creating smaller platforms with different missions and capabilities. Additionally, ‘HAZEM Lite’ is the first product developed in the Kingdom, addressing the need to enhance the small vessel category. This achievement is part of SAMINavantia’s contribution to localizing over 50 percent of military spending by 2030, one of the key objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, as well as actively participating in the development of skilled technical workforce capabilities in Saudi Arabia and providing world-class combat system solutions.”

The achievement also aligns with the efforts of the General Authority for Military Industries to localize military spending in the Kingdom.

SAMINavantia’s efforts contribute to enhancing the readiness of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, the Border Guard, and other local or regional clients, in line with the strategic objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. This is achieved by launching a new era of advanced and effective defense capabilities to meet current and future challenges, while strengthening the national military industrial base.