private partnerships (PPPs) in technology will drive Saudi Vision 2030, and support the Kingdom to leapfrog in Digital Economy innovation, industry experts announced at the recent SAP Saudi Forum. "Technology mega-trends such as hyper-connectivity and the cloud can enable the Kingdom to leapfrog in Digital Economy innovation, in line with Saudi Vision 2030. By combining public sector vision with private sector innovation, public-private partnerships can accelerate innovation, reduce costs, and localize global best practices in the Kingdom," said Steve Tzikakis, Senior Vice President and General Manager, SAP EMEA South. "SAP has seen strong success on using public-private partnerships worldwide. For example, the SAP Future Cities platform has transformed government services and enhanced daily lives in cities such as Barcelona, Boston, and Buenos Aires," added Tzikakis. Saudi Vision 2030 calls on the Kingdom to be a Digital Economy leader, with the pillars of diversifying the economy, increasing productivity, reducing unemployment, maximizing resources, improving quality of life, having a Top 15 economy, and ranking Top 10 in the Global Competitiveness Index. By 2020, 70 percent of global high-tech revenue will be related to the Digital Economy, according to SAP. "The Saudi government's tremendous investment in education and strong push for youth enablement, advanced technology infrastructure, and political will are set to drive the next wave of business innovation in line with Saudi Vision 2030. Real-time technology will be key for every aspect of national digital transformation, from advanced citizen services to personalized healthcare and ports and logistics," said Ahmed Al-Faifi, Managing Director, SAP Saudi Arabia. At the SAP Saudi Forum, attendees were buzzing about the latest real-time solutions on the SAP HANA platform and SAP S/4HANA business suite, across Smart Cities, sport, farming, and logistics. "Saudi organizations rely on the highest performance for business analytics, competitiveness, and citizen services – and Huawei has seen strong demand across the Kingdom for SAP HANA solutions based on our high-end hardware platform," said Ramadan Ding, CEO Huawei Saudi Arabia. Huawei was one of hundreds of SAP customers and partners at the SAP Saudi Forum, including His Excellency German Ambassador Boris Ruge. The Riyadh-based Alfanar, a construction and manufacturing company, received its gold award in the SAP EMEA Quality Awards. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, SAP counts more than 1,000 customers and more than 50 partners, and has localized solutions to more than 25 industries.
