Saudi Arabia Participates in Global Forum on Technology in Paris

The Kingdom’s participation at the forum aimed at exchanging expertise and views on the developments in the IT sector.
The Kingdom’s participation at the forum aimed at exchanging expertise and views on the developments in the IT sector.
TT

Saudi Arabia Participates in Global Forum on Technology in Paris

The Kingdom’s participation at the forum aimed at exchanging expertise and views on the developments in the IT sector.
The Kingdom’s participation at the forum aimed at exchanging expertise and views on the developments in the IT sector.

Saudi Arabia has participated in the Global Forum on Technology held by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

The Kingdom’s participation at the forum, represented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), aimed at exchanging expertise and views on the developments in the IT sector at the national and global levels.

Participating in a panel session titled “digital technology gap,” Daniah Orkoubi, the Undersecretary of MCIT for Technological Foresight & Digital Economy, reviewed the procedures the Kingdom has taken to lay the foundations of an efficient digital infrastructure under the targets of the Saudi Vision 2030.

She also reviewed the Kingdom's programs to empower Saudi women and support digital talents.

Orkoub pointed out that the Kingdom also has the largest number of digital talents in the region, with 340,000 male and female workers in the communications and IT sector.

She highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts to bridge the digital gap through several initiatives, chiefly the Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) Program, in a way that contributes to achieving inclusiveness and prosperity of human communities.



Canada Sues Google over Alleged Anticompetitive Practices in Online Ads

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Google LLC is shown on a building in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Google LLC is shown on a building in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
TT

Canada Sues Google over Alleged Anticompetitive Practices in Online Ads

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Google LLC is shown on a building in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Google LLC is shown on a building in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Canada's antitrust watchdog said Thursday it is suing Google over alleged anticompetitive conduct in the tech giant’s online advertising business and wants the company to sell off two of its ad tech services and pay a penalty.
The Competition Bureau said that such action is necessary because an investigation into Google found that the company “unlawfully” tied together its ad tech tools to maintain its dominant market position, The Associated Press said.
The matter is now headed for the Competition Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body that hears cases brought forward by the competition commissioner about non-compliance with the Competition Act.
The bureau is asking the tribunal to order Google to sell its publisher ad server, DoubleClick for Publishers, and its ad exchange, AdX. It estimates Google holds a market share of 90% in publisher ad servers, 70% in advertiser networks, 60% in demand-side platforms and 50% in ad exchanges.
This dominance, the bureau said, has discouraged competition from rivals, inhibited innovation, inflated advertising costs and reduced publisher revenues.
“Google has abused its dominant position in online advertising in Canada by engaging in conduct that locks market participants into using its own ad tech tools, excluding competitors, and distorting the competitive process," Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition, said in a statement.
Google, however, maintains the online advertising market is a highly competitive sector.
Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads, said in a statement that the bureau’s complaint “ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers have plenty of choice.”
The statement added that Google intends to defend itself against the allegation.
US regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade.
The proposed breakup, floated in a 23-page document filed this month by the US Department of Justice, calls for sweeping punishments that would include a sale of Google’s industry-leading Chrome web browser and impose restrictions to prevent Android from favoring its own search engine.