Leading In Innovation And Artificial Intelligence
Accelerating innovation and AI requires heavy investment. Saudi Arabia has taken steps towards that, which started by announcing NEOM—the city of the future. The Saudi Venture Capital Company has also pledged $750 million to stimulate new startups in the kingdom. PIF has a record of investments, including one in invested in a Saudi-Japanese investment fund known as the Vision Fund.
These investments will go beyond creating jobs for Saudi men and women. They will create opportunities to transfer global skills and expertise to the citizens of Saudi Arabia, which will encourage local innovation and manufacturing. On top of that, the Intellectual Property Authority was established to regulate this sector and encourage innovators, which plays a vital role in growing the economy, attracting investments in research and development, and raising the competitiveness index of the kingdom.
In light of rapid development in the world, and the kingdom specifically, and its pursuit to excel among data-driven economies, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority—SDAIA—was established to keep pace with the rapid changes and provide an infrastructure that empowers decision-makers with access to data-driven insights. This has the potential to generate revenues and reduce government costs by more than $10 billion. The National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence seeks to make the kingdom a model and incubator for AI in the world by creating regulations that encourages innovators. Not only that but Saudi Arabia is also enabling developing countries to adopt AI to support economic and development goals.
The world is witnessing unprecedented changes that have made innovation based on advanced technologies such as AI a competitive advantage, prompting governments to think about how to excel and lead the future economy. Saudi Arabia is taking bold steps, and the kingdom's vision and initiatives today will position it in an unrivaled place of strength in the future.
Saudi’s Vision 2030 is a roadmap towards the goals of the kingdom that aims to diversify its economic base and guarantee its sustainability to enable its citizens to achieve their hopes in a vibrant society. The government has committed to providing the right environment to facilitate the journey towards creating a larger economy and contributing to the development of the world at all levels.
This forward-looking step is similar to the one that occurred in 1933 when King Abdulaziz signed the concession agreement for oil exploration. This step made the kingdom one of the fastest-growing economies at that time, and one of the most important oil-producing and exporting countries in the world.
Amidst the changes taking place and the advancement of technology, thinking in a new and different way is not anymore a luxury but a necessity. There is a growing interest in innovation based on modern technologies such as AI, which has become a priority for governments to maintain and expand their power globally . Although some governments differ in how they view this topic , there is a kind of global agreement on supporting the progress of AI, as its adoption could raise global GDP by up to $13 trillion by 2030, according to McKinsey estimates.
In the context of enabling and encouraging innovation, Saudi Arabia is building an ecosystem that enables entrepreneurs. It has for example established the Small and Medium Enterprises Authority, which is responsible for supporting, developing, and nurturing this sector. The kingdom's vision seeks to develop human capital, and in recent years training programs have been launched to educate young people in future skills and sciences. This reflects the Crown Prince's words: “We have impressive, wonderful and honorable Saudi mindsets. Especially among the younger generation.” Attention can be drawn here to the role startups can play to work side-by-side with the government in training and empowering talent in emerging fields to contribute to building the future of their country.