Saudi Arabia: KACST Signs 13 Partnership Agreements to Build Semiconductor System

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system, establish centers of excellence to accelerate technical development in emerging technologies and future communications, and qualify national cadres, as part of the work of LEAP tech conference.

KACST's partnerships in the field of localization of the semiconductor industry included, Alat Company, one of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) companies, in which it built and supported the semiconductor system in the Kingdom, while its partnership with the Global Semiconductor Group (GSG) focused on designing electronic chips, building national talents and attracting global competencies and international companies in the field of electronic chip design to the Kingdom market.

In the field of future communications and open networks, KACST through its strategic partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA), the Saudi Telecom Company (STC), and Saudi Aramco, established a national technical and industrial alliance in the fields of 5G and 6G communications technologies and Open RAN, to create an ecosystem to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship in future communication technologies, ensuring the Kingdom’s global role as a major developer of 6G technologies.

KACST, in partnership with Aramco, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the RDIA, and the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program, launched the Saudi Accelerated Innovation Center to enhance quantum technologies and develop 5G and 6G communications networks.
KACST launched a strategic partnership with Animoca Brands to enhance the application of Web 3 system in the Kingdom, facilitate the arrangement of companies and institutions to enter the Web 3 system, and identify joint research and development projects in blockchain applications, games, artificial intelligence, and metaverse development.
To promote public health, KACST has concluded a strategic partnership with Ascend Solutions Ltd. to develop innovation in the field of digital health and disability research, promote virtual health care, and contribute to building innovative health technologies using AI and Internet of Things technologies.
To localize emerging technologies and build future cities, KACST signed a strategic partnership with Cisco Saudi Arabia Limited Company to establish the Virtual Digital Innovation Center (VDIC).
KACST also signed a strategic partnership with Elm Company, to enhance cooperation in the field of future cities' technologies and emerging technologies, in addition to its partnership with Tulip Technologies Company to enhance cooperation in research and development, and training in the field of robotics, AI, and automation.
To achieve the objectives of the Made in Saudi Program, KACST signed a strategic partnership with CiDi Auto (Hong Kong) Limited, to cooperate in research and development activities related to heavy trucks, future transportation technologies, and smart cities, and to explore the feasibility of supplying the Saudi market with these trucks, and work on research, design and manufacturing of vehicles in the Kingdom to join the international market.
Additionally, the partnership is designed to facilitate the testing and implementation of new technologies in KACST laboratories, establishing laboratories in common fields, and hosting technical companies that focus on research, development and innovation activities.
To boost innovation, KACST has established a partnership with the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited to develop the infrastructure of science and technology parks in the Kingdom, facilitate the entry of companies from the Kingdom and Hong Kong into potential markets, help them succeed and adapt, and create opportunities for cooperation in digital service platforms and programs to enhance operating efficiency and provide services in science and technology fields.
Regarding developing the skills of national cadres; the Academy 32 at KACST signed a strategic partnership with Cisco Saudi Arabia Limited and Nortal, to transfer knowledge and qualify human cadres in the field of professional certificates in information technology.

Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new UK digital rules taking effect next year.

The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said, The AP reported.

“This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices,” the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on “mobile ecosystems.”

The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers “the clearest or easiest option.”

And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two US Big Tech companies “significantly reduces their financial incentives” to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.

Both companies said they will “engage constructively” with the CMA.

Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.

Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system “has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's “committed to open platforms that empower consumers.”

It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the dominance of Big Tech companies. US federal prosecutors this week unveiled their proposals to force Google to sell off its Chrome browser as they target its monopoly in online search.

The CMA's final report is due by March. The watchdog indicated it would recommend using the UK's new digital competition rulebook set to take effect next year, which includes new powers to rein in tech companies, to prioritize further investigation into Apple’s and Google’s “activities in mobile ecosystems."

Saudi Arabia: KACST Signs 13 Partnership Agreements to Build Semiconductor System