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Saudi MCIT and TONOMUS Announce I.D.E.A. Initiative

The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and TONOMUS announced The Immersive Digital Environments and Assets (I.D.E.A.) Initiative. (SPA)
The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and TONOMUS announced The Immersive Digital Environments and Assets (I.D.E.A.) Initiative. (SPA)
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Saudi MCIT and TONOMUS Announce I.D.E.A. Initiative

The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and TONOMUS announced The Immersive Digital Environments and Assets (I.D.E.A.) Initiative. (SPA)
The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and TONOMUS announced The Immersive Digital Environments and Assets (I.D.E.A.) Initiative. (SPA)

The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and TONOMUS, the NEOM-born cognitive technology company, announced The Immersive Digital Environments and Assets (I.D.E.A.) Initiative.
The initiative, originally showcased during a keynote presentation at LEAP 2024, is envisioned to propel the Saudi immersive technology sector among the leading nations and fuel the Kingdom’s digital economy ambitions as part of economic diversification, realizing Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Through the initiative, MCIT, TONOMUS, and partners will work closely to activate a national partner network to engage policymakers, researchers, technology providers, and end users in the participatory design of ecosystem interventions.
The initiative will create a unified strategic plan and activation roadmap across public- and private-sector partners to jumpstart immersive tech economy development as well as to develop a comprehensive solution blueprint for national immersive tech developments and establish standards to unite a diverse array of technology stakeholders.
MCIT and TONOMUS have already onboarded more than 15 potential partners across Saudi Arabia’s tech landscape and have issued a call to interested organizations to engage.
I.D.E.A. spans immersive experiences, virtual collaboration spaces, industrial digital twin and metaverse applications enabled by the convergence of several emerging technologies, including mixed reality, artificial intelligence (AI), three-dimensional (3D) modeling, and spatial computing, among others.
“The launch of this initiative is a testament to The Kingdom’s ambition to harness technology in building a thriving digital society and economy,” said MCIT Undersecretary for Technology Mohammed Alrobayan.
“For MCIT, this initiative is directly aligned with our objectives of growing the technology sector and supporting localized technology development. The involvement of TONOMUS and our plan for this partner network reinforces MCIT’s support for collaboration across the public and private sectors. We want to be at the forefront of immersive technology and accelerate a new wave of digital transformation”, he added.
“At the core,” said TONOMUS chief commercial officer Yousef Khalili,” this initiative is an effort to develop a local immersive tech ecosystem by driving technology adoption and supporting next-generation tech solutions. This partnership has been more than a year in the making and is based on a shared vision at the intersection of MCIT’s goal to unlock more value for the Kingdom through technology, and TONOMUS’ ambition to be a home-grown cognitive technology champion. TONOMUS is committed to developing innovative, next-generation technology solutions to propel Saudi organizations into the future”.

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Google Faces More Scrutiny as UK Watchdog Flexes New Digital Competition Powers

The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
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Google Faces More Scrutiny as UK Watchdog Flexes New Digital Competition Powers

The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Britain's competition watchdog flexed new digital market powers on Monday for the first time with an investigation into Google's search and search ad businesses.

Under beefed-up rules that took effect this month designed to protect consumers and businesses from unfair practices by Big Tech companies, the Competition and Markets Authority said it would determine whether Google should be given “strategic market status” that would require imposing changes to the company's behavior. The investigation adds to global scrutiny that the US tech giant is facing, The AP reported.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it will examine whether Google is using its position in the market to stifle innovation and block rivals. The regulator said it will look in particular at Google's role in shaping the development of new artificial services and interfaces such as “answer engines," in ways that “limit the competitive constraint they impose on Google Search.”

AI-powered chatbots have become increasingly popular with internet users looking for information online. Google last year retooled its search engine so that it now frequently favors responses crafted by artificial intelligence over website links.

Google said in a statement that it "will continue to engage constructively with the CMA to ensure that new rules benefit all types of websites, and still allow people in the UK to benefit from helpful and cutting-edge services.”

AI's potential to transform online search services means fair competition is important, said Sarah Cardell, the UK regulator's chief executive.

“It’s our job to ensure people get the full benefit of choice and innovation in search services and get a fair deal — for example in how their data is collected and stored,” Cardell said in a statement. “And for businesses, whether you are a rival search engine, an advertiser or a news organisation, we want to ensure there is a level playing field for all businesses, large and small, to succeed.”

The CMA will also look into concerns about "exploitative conduct" by Google, including its practice of collecting vast amounts of consumer data without informed consent, and its use of content by website publishers — which could range from major media outlets to startups focusing on narrow subjects — without paying them fairly.

It will also investigate whether Google is giving preference to its own services, such as specialized search shopping or travel services.

The UK investigation is the latest salvo in an onslaught of regulatory pressure that Google is facing on both sides of the Atlantic.

In both the US and Canada, authorities are targeting Google’s ad business with lawsuits accusing the company of anticompetitive or monopolistic conduct in the digital ad industry, which they want to resolve by breaking up the company.

European Union regulators, meanwhile, have been carrying out their own antitrust investigation and signaled that they would push for Google to sell off parts of its business in order to satisfy concerns about its lucrative digital ad business.

The CMA has until October to finish its investigation and said it could, for example, force Google to make changes to its data practices.

The regulator has said it expects to open three to four “strategic market status” investigations of the very largest tech companies in the first year after its new powers took effect.

Shares of Google's parent, Alphabet Inc., were essentially flat before the opening bell Tuesday.