His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with His Excellency the Chairman of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf bin Jamaan Al-Ghamdi, aimed at strengthening efforts to raise the Kingdom’s ranking in the leading global indicators related to data and artificial intelligence, and to contribute In developing national capabilities for data and (artificial intelligence) AI methodologies.
The MoU comes within the scope of supporting government integration between the Ministry of Energy and (SDAIA) to achieve common goals related to supporting, developing, reviewing and implementing strategies in the fields of data and AI in the energy and gas sectors.
His Highness the Minister of Energy and His Excellency the President of SDAIA launched the "Artificial Intelligence Center for Energy'', on the sidelines of the visit of the former to the headquarters of (SDAIA) in the capital, Riyadh, where the center aims to achieve the goals of the Kingdom's vision 2030 jointly between the Ministry of Energy and SDAIA as it will enhance the competitiveness of the energy sector, especially in the aspect of joint innovation in AI associated with this sector. The center will promote the energy sector’s competitiveness, especially in joint innovation. It is also expected to contribute to building national AI capabilities and competencies in the energy sector, which is among the priority sectors of SDAIA’s National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence (NSDAI). This will support the objectives of reaching more than 15,000 data and AI specialists by 2030 and boosting cooperation with the largest national and international companies in the fields of energy and AI to localize the technology and stimulate AI-related investments. NSDAI seeks to reach SR 75 billion in local and foreign investments in data and AI by 2030.
The center will be jointly managed by the Energy Ministry and SDAIA, with the participation of the national energy system’s main stakeholders.
On this occasion, His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Minister of Energy, affirmed that the launch of the Artificial Intelligence Center for Energy and the signing of the two memorandums of understanding come at a time when the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 has achieved great successes under the guidance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and a follow-up from His Highness the Crown Prince - May God protect them - indicating that this center comes as an extension of the Ministry of Energy's directions that depend on data, artificial intelligence, innovation and transformation as basic pillars for the future of the energy sector. “We will work with SDAIA in an integrated manner to achieve the goals of this center”, added His Highness.
“The energy system believes in the importance of integration and working as a joint government team with the various relevant bodies, taking into consideration each body’s responsibility and nature of work,” Prince Abdul Aziz said. He stressed the significance of the relationship between the energy and data and AI sectors in the Kingdom, “as the energy sector constitutes 40% of the Kingdom’s GDP with more than 270,000 employees. Data in the energy sector are considered a great asset and represent a golden opportunity to enhance the Kingdom’s position in terms of adopting AI in the energy sector.”
His Highness the Minister of Energy indicated that this cooperation will support the achievement of the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and a number of other strategies such as developing and diversifying the Saudi economy, and creating jobs in the sector.
Dr. Al-Ghamdi expressed his happiness with this distinguished cooperation with the Ministry of Energy, which reflects the two parties' keenness to adopt the localization of advanced technologies in the field of data and AI, which will be reflected on national sources of income, indicating that the MoU comes within the scope of SADIA’s efforts aimed at activating the national data strategy and AI, support the efforts related to the inclusion and raising of the Kingdom's ranking among the international indicators of data and AI, and the exchange of experiences and expertise.
He indicated that (SDAIA) and the Ministry of Energy intend to support the existing efforts with regard to collecting and analyzing energy sector data and harmonizing it with the Office of National Data Management, in addition to supporting the development of cloud computing solutions to serve the energy sector.
His Excellency praised the launch of the Artificial Intelligence Center for Energy, which will contribute to enhancing research and development efforts in the field of AI, supporting innovation and enabling entrepreneurship in this sector, as the center works to achieve four strategic objectives: Promoting national energy priorities, developing AI to benefit knowledge, accumulating experiences in the field of energy, and leading the AI aspect of the Kingdom’s energy-related strategic partnerships. He is noting that by 2024, 70% of the institutions will be using the AI-based infrastructure and smart cloud services, greatly easing the concerns regarding the institutions’ integration and expansion. In addition, more than 50% of the institutions will be resorting to AI services to expand their application portfolios by 2023.
Artificial intelligence will contribute to enhancing the growth opportunity for the energy sector, by reducing time, effort and operational costs, which in turn will be reflected in the growth of the energy sector imports and companies operating in it. It is also mentioned that (SDAIA) contributes directly to achieving the aspirations of the vision The Kingdom 2030, where 70% of the Vision's goals are directly affected by data and AI strategies.
