The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority “SDAIA” signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Biometrics, and “Internet of Things” with the Japanese company NEC, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The MoC took place during a Saudi-Japanese round table meeting that was organised by the Ministry of Investment in Jeddah.

The agreement looks at opportunities of mutual interest between the two countries by supporting innovative solutions for a number of applications such as: smart and safe cities, health applications, and logistics applications.

According to SPA, this memorandum will strengthen the efforts made by the government entity in efficiently experimenting with technical solutions, leading the national trend for data and artificial intelligence, and achieving Saudi Vision 2030.

Saudi 2030 wants to promote the Kingdom to data-based economies and enable initiatives related to data and artificial intelligence.

According to a PwC’s Strategy& Middle East report, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are expected to benefit greatly from the growth in the emerging technology. 

The report said that the GCC countries are about to get $23.5 billion in economic benefits by 2030. The report says that the Kingdom alone is expected to make $12.2 billion which is equivalent to half the amount.

With their efforts to invest more in the technology, Saudi Arabia ranked first in the world in the Government Strategy Index for Artificial Intelligence (AI) which is an indicator of the global classification of AI that is compiled by Tortoise Intelligence.