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EnergyTech Launches New Strategy for Training National Competencies in Energy

A general view of Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia, February 20, 2022. REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour
A general view of Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia, February 20, 2022. REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour
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EnergyTech Launches New Strategy for Training National Competencies in Energy

A general view of Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia, February 20, 2022. REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour
A general view of Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia, February 20, 2022. REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour

EnergyTech, a national institute established to fulfill the energy sector’s needs and to support the industry Saudization in the Kingdom, has launched a new training strategy to address the energy sector's requirements and align with the Kingdom Vision 2030 objective of expanding national human capabilities, SPA reported.
Assistant Energy Minister for Development and Excellence and chairman of the institute's Board of Trustees Eng. Ahmed Al-Zahrani said that EnergyTech's goal is to establish a global presence in the energy sector and achieve its aspirations by supplying the industry with qualified and empowered Saudi cadres to promote sustainability, change, and expansion to new horizons.
EnergyTech CEO Bassam Al-Bokhari stressed that the institute is undergoing a significant transformation in pursuit of excellence, underpinned by the five pillars of its strategy: enhancing operational excellence, creating value for investors, growth, empowering the local community, and business development.
EnergyTech and the Technical and the Vocational Training Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a training institute in western Saudi Arabia to carry out training programs in sustainable development, solar energy, renewable energy, petrochemicals and AI. Several other training agreements were reached by EnergyTech with national companies working in the field of energy.

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Australia Plans Social Media Minimum Age Limit, Angering Youth Digital Advocates 

Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram apps are seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. (Reuters)
Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram apps are seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. (Reuters)
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Australia Plans Social Media Minimum Age Limit, Angering Youth Digital Advocates 

Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram apps are seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. (Reuters)
Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram apps are seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. (Reuters)

Australia plans to set a minimum age limit for children to use social media citing concerns about mental and physical health, sparking a backlash from digital rights advocates who warn the measure could drive dangerous online activity underground.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his center-left government would run an age verification trial before introducing age minimum laws for social media this year.

Albanese didn't specify an age but said it would likely be between 14 and 16.

"I want to see kids off their devices and onto the footy fields and the swimming pools and the tennis courts," Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media is causing social harm," he added.

The law would put Australia among the first countries in the world to impose an age restriction on social media. Previous attempts, including by the European Union, have failed following complaints about reducing the online rights of minors.

Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, which has a self-imposed minimum age of 13, said it wanted to empower young people to benefit from its platforms and equip parents with the tools to support them "instead of just cutting off access".

YouTube owner Alphabet did not respond to a request for comment and TikTok were not immediately available for comment.

Australia has one of the world's most online populations with four-fifths of its 26 million people on social media, according to tech industry figures. Three quarters of Australians aged 12 to 17 had used YouTube or Instagram, a 2023 University of Sydney study found.

Albanese announced the age restriction plan against the backdrop of a parliamentary inquiry into social media's effects on society, which has heard sometimes emotional testimony of poor mental health impacts on teenagers.

But the inquiry has also heard concerns about whether a lower age limit could be enforced and, if it is, whether it would inadvertently harm younger people by encouraging them to hide their online activity.

"This knee-jerk move ... threatens to create serious harm by excluding young people from meaningful, healthy participation in the digital world, potentially driving them to lower quality online spaces," said Daniel Angus, director of the Queensland University of Technology Digital Media Research Center.

Australia's own internet regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, warned in a June submission to the inquiry that "restriction-based approaches may limit young people's access to critical support" and push them to "less regulated non-mainstream services".

The commissioner said in a statement on Tuesday it would "continue working with stakeholders across government and the community to further refine Australia's approach to online harms" which can "threaten safety across a range of platforms at any age, both before and after the mid-teen years".