Industry experts discuss the current status and potential of IoT applications across industries.
The workshop follows a series of CITC reports on IoT trends and impact on the Saudi market.
RIYADH – 25 February 2021: The Communication and Information Technology Commission of Saudi Arabia (CITC) successfully hosted a workshop titled “Internet of Things: Boosting Economies and Serving Societies", in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Industry experts addressed IoT technology applications for an interconnected society, in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. The workshop outlined the potential for future oriented IoT policy development to spur certainty and investment in the sector, enabling different related industries and acting on current IoT demand, while also proactively anticipating future needs. Speakers further discussed the potential role of IoT in supporting Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, with specific sessions on smart energy, smart manufacturing and artificial intelligence.
The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Mohammed Al-Tamimi, Governor of CITC, and Dr. Chaesub Lee, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. Highlighting the significance of the workshop, Al-Tamimi said, “IoT is undoubtedly one of the largest enablers for societal digital transformation. It is estimated that industrial
IoT alone can add $14 trillion of economic value to
the global economy by 2030.'' He went on to emphasize the importance of dialogue in exploring ways to unlock the industry's full potential.
The workshop featured high-profile international and local speakers including, Bilel Jamoussi, Chief of the Study Groups Department, at the ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, Abdallah Al-Obeikan, CEO of Obeikan Group, Bettina Tratz-Ryan, VP Analyst at Gartner; Raed Alshneiber, General Manager the Electricity Sector Integration at the Saudi Ministry of Energy; Alia Bahanshal , Director of the National Center For Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence, Safder Nazir, Regional Vice President of Smart Cities and IoT at Huawei Technologies, among others.
The event follows CITC's publication of a series of in-depth studies on the IoT industry and its impact on the Saudi market. The studies surveyed a number local companies working across 13 different sectors to evaluate the current and potential scale of the IoT industry in Saudi Arabia.
