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RIYADH: Energy company Aramco’s technology arm is one of several companies to sign an agreement at the LEAP conference, along with global brands Nokia, IBM and Mobily.
On the third day of technology events in Riyadh, Saudi Aramco Digital thrust itself into the spotlight by announcing plans for a potential partnership with Groq, the global leader in the artificial intelligence chip market. This cooperation aims to establish the world’s largest artificial intelligence computer center in Saudi Arabia and promote the development of the industry in the region.
Announcing the potential partnership, Aramco Digital CEO Tareq Amin said: “In my opinion, Groq is really building the fastest and most scalable artificial intelligence personal chipset platform in the world. Our dream is that we can Do it in Saudi Arabia, where we build the world’s largest AI infrastructure as a service. We have this opportunity here written by the great Vision 2030.”
In addition, Aramco’s technology arm also announced a joint venture with Indian technology consulting and digital solutions company LTIMindtree to establish a new digital and information technology services company in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North Africa region.
As part of its third announcement, the company unveiled a strategic collaboration with Intel to establish Saudi Arabia’s first Open Radio Access Network (also known as ORAN) development center.
Key highlights of the initiative will highlight its role as an innovation hub, local talent development, economic impact and fostering global collaboration.
Following Aramco, Advanced Communications and Electronic Systems (ACES) also entered the LEAP stage and launched a number of new measures.
Among them, the company plans to make major investments of US$618 million in fixed and mobile infrastructure across industries and technologies in Saudi Arabia, and invest US$250 million in India.
ACES highlighted Saudi Arabia’s first shareable 5G small base station developed using ORAN technology. The company said the partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the National Technology Development Program aims to reduce costs and time by up to 80%.
The company also revealed plans to deploy fiber-to-the-home to more than 300,000 homes in the Kingdom. In addition, the company has partnered with Nokia to launch the first 25G passive optical network in Saudi Arabia, providing 25Gbps “ultra-fast” FTTH services, allowing all recipients to increase downlink and uplink limits.
Global communications giant Nokia used the LEAP platform to announce the establishment of a regional headquarters in Leysin Valley, Riyadh. The company also revealed plans to establish a 5G repair center in Saudi Arabia, aiming to strengthen employee capacity development, sustainable development and reduce carbon footprint.
In line with the localization theme, Nokia revealed its plans to establish a Nokia Logistics Center in Saudi Arabia, aiming to improve efficiency and better serve the Kingdom and the wider region.
In addition, Ericsson and Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) signed a memorandum of understanding at LEAP 2024 to showcase Mobily’s network capabilities to enterprises and developers in Saudi Arabia, which is a major initiative for the telecommunications industry.
Mobily will be able to easily launch new features and expose them through application programmable interfaces (APIs), making connected services more programmable and adaptable to meet different needs.
Alaa Malki, chief technology officer at Mobily, said: “The MOU with Ericsson to open up the Mobily network marks a huge leap forward in redefining the mobile network experience for our customers. Additionally, it reinforces our commitment to our stakeholders and customers commitment. A great partnership with Ericsson.”
He believes that the MoU will bring new connected experiences and possibilities to the developer community and businesses in Saudi Arabia.
Global technology giant IBM and the Saudi Arabian Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) also signed a memorandum of understanding during LEAP. The purpose is to integrate SDAIA’s Arabic Large Language Model (ALLaM) into IBM’s WatsonX enterprise artificial intelligence and data platform and use it to generate artificial intelligence and governance capabilities.
ALLaM, developed by SDAIA, is the first of its kind. The model was trained on millions of articles in Arabic and English to provide interactive summaries and recommendations on a variety of topics including Saudi Arabian history, sports, health, and education. Additionally, it can help restore and colorize old photos as well as summarize files.
The integration of ALLaM with the WatsonX enterprise artificial intelligence and data platform is expected to expand the reach and use of the model to a wide range of enterprise and government entities in Saudi Arabia and beyond. It will also have the necessary AI governance built-in, enabling customers to deploy generative AI through ALLaM powered by WatsonX.
This collaboration builds on IBM and SDAIA’s strong partnership that spans many years. Currently, SDAIA is using IBM’s broad range of solutions in artificial intelligence, business automation and data, as well as cybersecurity, sustainability and hybrid cloud computing to provide electronic government services to citizens and residents.
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