Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) – The big announcements of the second edition of the LEAP conference, which is being held in the capital of the kingdom from February 6 to 9, are in one figure. 9 billion dollars will be invested in the country’s digital infrastructure as part of contracts with tech giants.
These signatures were announced by Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Abdullah Al-Sawaha, during his opening keynote.
Microsoft invested $2.1 billion to build Azure infrastructure in the country. Oracle takes $1.5 billion out of its pocket to also install its cloud there. The Chinese Huawei is injecting 400 million dollars to also offer cloud computing. Finally, the public oil company Aramco announces a partnership with Zoom. 434 million dollars should make it possible to do… cloud computing. In all, the amounts invested are more than 9 billion dollars.
LEAP, symbol of Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation
These contracts aim for the cloud giants to ensure not only a presence in the country, but beyond, to serve as a basis for developments in the Middle East and North Africa region.
They are also made possible by the change in governance of Saudi Arabia, and the desire for openness displayed, as well as that of economic diversification, by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The LEAP23 conference is in this sense a first achievement of the Kingdom’s desire to lead a digital transformation of its economy. And the roadmap is clearly announced as part of the Vision 2030 program.
In his opening speech, the minister said this year’s event is expected to welcome more than 250,000 participants, up from 100,000 last year.