Saudi Arabia Partners with IBM to Boost Digital Skills in the Kingdom
Saudi Arabia Partners with IBM to Boost Digital Skills in the Kingdom :
Saudi Arabia Partners with IBM to Boost Digital Skills in the Kingdom
The Saudi Arabian government recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IBM to increase digital skills in the country. The agreement was jointly signed by representatives of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Fahad Alanazi, IBM Saudi Arabia’s General Manager, and Issam al-Thukair, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for International Cooperation, signed the MoU. According to both partners, the agreement is set to position Saudi Arabia as a hub for technological innovations in the Middle Eastern region.
Details on the Agreement
The agreement is set for five years and will be conducted in phases. The first phase involves identifying and deploying innovative applications across the Saudi Arabian kingdom. The second phase involves joint research activities related to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Afterward, IBM is expected to support numerous technological projects in Saudi Arabia’s public sector. These projects include providing technical consulting services to the sector and conducting over 100 workshops to train about 600 members of staff in the public sector. The workshops will be centred on design methodology.
The agreement’s final phase involves training over 100,000 Saudi Arabians on emerging digital skills like machine learning. These pieces of training are expected to position Saudi Arabia as a global talent source for emerging technologies. The agreement will also cover many areas like artificial intelligence, 5G networks, innovation acceleration, and cybersecurity. According to the Saudi Arabian government, the agreement is expected to produce over 66 artificial intelligence projects. This project is strongly tied to creating a resilient Saudi Arabian economy with the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Expected Benefits
The Saudi government has stated that the training partnership is expected to establish Saudi Arabia as a leader in digital and emerging skills. Over the course of five years, the MoU is expected to position Saudi Arabia as the ninth country with the highest digital capabilities. These rankings are prepared annually by the World Economic Forum.
The IBM partnership is directed at solving Saudi Arabia’s digital skills shortage problem. The Saudi Arabian government also expects that the pieces of training will increase technological capacity and transform Saudi Arabia into a global destination for top digital talents.
Conclusion
Most Middle Eastern countries seek to establish their territories as globally-recognized hubs for digital skills and emerging technologies. Saudi Arabia has done the same, and Dubai has also followed suit. It is expected that more Middle Eastern countries will implement policies to position them as global digital leaders and prepare them for the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
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Last Updated on 10 months by News Editor
