Riyadh, February 6, 2023 (Xinhua) Saudi Aramco announced today (Monday) the construction of the first global data center in the Kingdom to support the digital transformation system.
The center will be the fruits of a strategic partnership with Zoom that was announced today during the activities of the second edition of the Leap conference, one of the largest international technical conferences held annually in the Kingdom, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The center is expected to connect to the global (Zoom) data center network to serve the Kingdom and the region. In cooperation with Saudi Aramco, (Zoom) will also explore the joint development of innovative technical solutions for the energy sector.
In addition, the partnership aims to contribute to digital transformation activities in various market sectors such as energy, industry, education and healthcare.
Aramco also announced the allocation of additional financing to the Aramco Entrepreneurship Center Fund (Wa’ed) at a value of 1.125 billion Saudi riyals ($303.75 million), as well as the (Wa’ed Ventures) fund, the venture capital investment arm, which contributes to raising the value of the fund from 750 million Saudi riyals ($200). million dollars) to 1.875 billion Saudi riyals ($500 million). The Wa’ed Ventures Fund aims to facilitate the exchange of innovations between entrepreneurs in the global and local ecosystems.
The additional allocation aims to enable Wa’ed Fund to accelerate its investment performance regionally and globally, to be able to localize leading global technologies, enhance the innovation system in the Kingdom, expand investments in emerging companies during their intermediate stages, and finance emerging sectors, such as sustainability, space technology, and digital world technologies. Virtual (metaverse) and quantum computing.
Saudi Aramco President and Chief Executive Officer, Eng. Amin bin Hassan Al-Nasser, said that digital transformation, driven by data and artificial intelligence, is the basis for future success for all sectors, businesses, cities and countries.
He stressed that Aramco has invested in information technology and the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution since an early stage, and our establishment of a diverse network of partners has helped maintain a proven track record of reliability. /ts/
