Saudi Arabia held on Wednesday its first in-depth discussion on the readiness of state sectors and agencies to harness the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), moving the Kingdom closer to achieving the ambitious goals of its Vision 2030national transformation plan.
During the activities of the first 4IR forum in the Kingdom, ministers and state experts stressed that integrating 4IR technologies must be based on a focus for growth. They emphasized the need for qualifying and training Saudi cadres to handle recent developments in the field.
The two-day 4IR forum is organized by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The event is being attended by nine Saudi ministers, the WEF chairman and a host of technology experts.
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef stressed that the 4IR is in line with Vision 2030 that targets diversity and growth.
He stressed the need to adopt technologies that can achieve a leap in various fields, starting with mining and industry. He also urged the adoption of applications that can raise competitiveness.
He remarked that Saudi Arabia boasts a largely youthful population that needs training in future technologies so that they remain up-to-date on the latest advances.
President of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi said the Kingdom was working on establishing an attractive environment for AI use and to secure sustainable development.