Over 1,800 digital professionals attend 6th edition of ArabNet Riyadh
Over 1,800 regional and international digital professionals, leaders and entrepreneurs gathered at ArabNet Riyadh — the largest and most influential digital conference in the Kingdom — to discuss the future of digital business in the region.
The event kicked off on Monday and the main conference day started on Tuesday at Burj Rafal Hotel Kempinski.
The event is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), hosted by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), supported by Badir Program for Technology Incubators and sponsored by top companies in the Kingdom, including the strategic sponsor, STC, and other sponsors like InspireU, Al-Ahli Bank (NCB), Digital Media Services (DMS) and Al-Khaleejiah.
The opening ceremony featured an interactive session between Badir CEO Nawaf bin Attaf Al-Sahhaf and ArabNet CEO Omar Christidis.
Al-Sahhaf highlighted the efforts of Badir in enabling entrepreneurs and individual investors to effectively communicate and build sustainable strategic partnerships in order to support and develop successful technology projects in the Kingdom. He said that both Badir and ArabNet share the mission of helping grow the knowledge economy in the region.
Christidis said the conference highlighted the latest trends and opportunities in the Saudi market, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020, focusing on the development of the ecosystem and transformation of the Kingdom’s economy into a knowledge-based economy.
The opening ceremony was followed by a panel that tackled building an innovation economy. The panel, part of the Digital Transformation Forum, featured prominent public and private sector leaders such as Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud, deputy of planning and development — General Sport Authority, and president of Mass Participation Federation; Basem Al-Sallom, deputy governor for marketing and communication at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA); and Ahmad Al-Faifi, managing director, SAP Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen.
Speaking about the digitization of education were Yousef Al-Ohali, CEO of Tatweer Education Technology Company (TETCO); Nasser Alluwaishiq, chief officer, content and digital solutions at Tatweer for Educational Services Company (T4edu); and Yasser Alobaidan, CEO of Jawraa.
ArabNet Riyadh featured the Innovation and Investment Forum with a dedicated track focusing on the investment landscape and improving the ecosystem and access to LPs and growth capital; as well as a track focused on startup growth strategies and development.