Here’s how Saudi is emerging as the tech hub of the future

Here’s how Saudi is emerging as the tech hub of the future

In August, Saudi Arabia launched a series of technology initiatives worth over $1.2bn as part of efforts to establish the kingdom as a global technology hub. From announcing events such as LEAP and @HACK to the launch of the Tuwaiq 1000 Bootcamp and CoderHub, the kingdom is also partnering with several multinational corporations including Amazon, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, Informa and Microsoft to create digital capability centres and innovation hubs for tech startups. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) also established the National Technology Development Programme with a budget of SAR2.5bn, with the goal of making the kingdom the world’s leading technology country. The kingdom’s efforts within the sector have already started to see traction – Saudi climbed to the 43rd position on the United Nations E-Government Development Index (EGDI) in 2020, up from the 52nd spot in 2018. The index, which ranks the 193 UN member states in terms of digital government, found that the kingdom had jumped into the ‘very high EGDI group’ mainly due to a significant acceleration in its e-government services. “The pandemic has renewed and anchored the role of digital government – both in its conventional delivery of digital services as well as new