Al-Swaha, Leaders of Major Global Technology Companies Discuss Partnerships

Al-Swaha met with executives from Meta, Qualcomm, ServiceNow, Bhartinews, and Builder.ai in Davos. SPA
Al-Swaha met with executives from Meta, Qualcomm, ServiceNow, Bhartinews, and Builder.ai in Davos. SPA
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Al-Swaha, Leaders of Major Global Technology Companies Discuss Partnerships

Al-Swaha met with executives from Meta, Qualcomm, ServiceNow, Bhartinews, and Builder.ai in Davos. SPA
Al-Swaha met with executives from Meta, Qualcomm, ServiceNow, Bhartinews, and Builder.ai in Davos. SPA

Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah bin Amer Al-Swaha held several meetings in Davos with leaders of major international technology companies to discuss the expansion of their projects and innovative solutions in the Kingdom.

The meetings came as part of the Kingdom's participation in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Al-Swaha met with executives from Meta, Qualcomm, ServiceNow, Bhartinews, and Builder.ai.

Al-Swaha also held talks with Japanese Minister of Digital Transformation Taro Kano.

The ministers discussed strengthening the strategic partnership between the two friendly countries, joint initiatives, and ways to deepen cooperation in the areas of supporting the growth of the digital economy, innovation, digital entrepreneurship, and encouraging technical investments.

They also discussed the possibility of establishing joint programs to exchange expertise, support government digital transformation, and harness emerging technologies to support the digital economy.

Al-Swaha met separately with Indian Minister for Railways, Communications, and Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.
They discussed the progress made in digital and innovative initiatives within the Saudi-Indian Strategic Partnership Council, aimed at supporting the growth of the digital economy and stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship between the two countries.



Saudi Arabia: CST, SSA Launch SpaceUp Competition to Develop Innovative Space-Based Solutions

The SpaceUp Competition targets global and local entrepreneurs, startups, and SMEs through six challenge tracks
The SpaceUp Competition targets global and local entrepreneurs, startups, and SMEs through six challenge tracks
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Saudi Arabia: CST, SSA Launch SpaceUp Competition to Develop Innovative Space-Based Solutions

The SpaceUp Competition targets global and local entrepreneurs, startups, and SMEs through six challenge tracks
The SpaceUp Competition targets global and local entrepreneurs, startups, and SMEs through six challenge tracks

The Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) and the Saudi Space Agency (SSA) have launched the global SpaceUp Competition, in partnership with Neo Space Group (NSG), which aims to promote Space entrepreneurship, support local companies specializing in Space-based solutions, attract global entrepreneurs, startups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and encourage the adoption of Space-based solutions by entities operating across various vital sectors.
According to a CST statement issued Monday, the SpaceUp Competition targets global and local entrepreneurs, startups, and SMEs through six challenge tracks to develop Space-based solutions for challenges in vital sectors by linking the supply with the demand.
The competition presents about $28 Million contractual opportunities across all competition tracks, in addition to providing direct access with end-users, localization, and connecting with end-users to implement the proposed solutions.
The statement highlighted that the competition includes six challenge tracks supporting various sectors. The first track, “Monitoring Date Palms Pest and Disease,” sponsored by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture and the Weqaa Center, focuses on providing Space-based solutions to monitor palm farms and detect pests. The second, “Improving City Livability by Monitoring Urban Heat Islands,” by the Quality of Life Program, aims at solving the problem of rising temperatures in crowded cities. The third is “Monitoring the Impact of Infrastructure Development” by Riyadh Infrastructure Projects Center to promote infrastructure projects and traffic management.
The fourth and fifth tracks are the “Optimizing Urban Road Assets” track which aims to provide solutions to detect urban road damage and elevate its maintenance, and “Mapping of Urban Trees” which aims to monitor and maintain urban green spaces, both sponsored by the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing. The sixth, “Greening Saudi Arabia,” seeks to monitor tree growth and support sustainability efforts related to the Saudi Green Initiative.
"The SpaceUp Competition extends the efforts of CST and the SSA in enhancing investment opportunities in the Saudi Space sector and stimulating research and innovation," the statement added.