President of King Abdulaziz City or Science and Technology (KACST) Dr. Munir bin Mahmoud Eldesouki held a meeting at the KACST headquarters in Riyadh Thursday with the US Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Tech Affairs, Anne Neuberger, and her accompanying delegation of representatives from 20 companies to enhance cooperation in future communications technologies.
During the meeting, Eldesouki discussed the role the National Labs play in accelerating technological developments, bridging the gap between industry and academia, and promoting innovation by establishing science and technology parks that contribute to supporting the national economy towards realizing Saudi Vision 2030.
The Senior Vice President of KACST for Research and Development, Dr. Talal bin Ahmed Al-Sedairy, and the Deputy Minister for Telecom and Infrastructure at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Eng. Bassam bin Abdullah Al-Bassam, spoke about the national strategies and guidelines for communications in the Kingdom from the perspective of adopting technologies, and supporting research and development towards enabling innovation in the economies of the future sector.
Representatives of a number of American government agencies and companies discussed the ongoing roll-out and operations of Open RAN innovations, as well as developments of cybersecurity technologies, and the role of artificial intelligence in developing smart networks.
Additionally, representatives of the Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA), King Saud University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and a number of American companies reviewed the role of academic partnership in accelerating innovation and the practical application of research outputs, accelerating the development and adoption of Open RAN networks, and developing the skills of professionals in this field.
Executives and researchers from KACST, STC Group, Aramco, together with senior officials in the American delegation from Amazon, Qualcomm, Ciena, IBM, and Ceres Capital; touched on potential investment opportunities in the Garage innovation district, joint research and development programs, and establishing joint laboratories and centers of excellence.
The meeting was followed by a visit to an exhibition, which KACST organized on the sidelines of the LEAP Tech Convention, that showcased collaborations between Saudi Arabia and the United States through the Joint Centers of Excellence programs.
In addition, the US delegation visited the semiconductor cleanroom as well as fourth industrial revolution labs, and the tour ended with a visit to the Garage, which is the largest deep-tech incubator and accelerator in the region, hosting 200 companies coming from more than 50 countries from around the world.
