AI is going to be a big game changer in the global economy, and much of the value potential is up for grabs. A PwC 2018 report estimated that AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy in 2030, more than the current output of China and India combined. Of this, $6.6 trillion is likely to come from increased productivity and $9.1 trillion is likely to come from benefits to consumers. The annual growth in the contribution of AI is expected to range between 20-34% per year across the Middle East, with the fastest growth in the Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt. To meet the demand for having a global platform gathering world class technology experts, the Saudi Emerging Technologies Forum will take place from 11-13 of November 2019 in Kempinski Hotel in Riyadh to be the first conference in the Kingdom to address the deployment of emerging technologies and the 2030 plan for digital transformation plans that will power cities and economies of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The forum is a mega event that will gather over 500 government officials and senior level executives, more than 50 speakers, leading 12 panel discussions with the participation of 900 attendees, 60 exhibitors, 12 Certified Technical Workshops, 30 Proof of Concepts & Live Demo Sessions, and a dedicated focus day for IIOT. Furthermore, 10 Pioneers in innovation will be celebrated with Awards of Excellence in recognition of their efforts on digitization. PwC's report estimated that the Middle East is expected to accrue 2% of the total global benefits of AI in 2030. This is equivalent to $320 billion where the largest gains are expected to accrue to Saudi Arabia as AI is expected to contribute over US$135.2 billion in 2030 to the economy, equivalent to 12.4% of GDP. In relative terms the UAE is expected to see the largest impact of close to 14% of 2030 GDP. AI contribution in Egypt is expected to reach $42.7 bn in 2030, equivalent to 7.7% of the Egyptian GDP. The $135b investment plan in digital transformation set by Vision 2030 will transform the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into the global epicenter of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and supercharge the Saudi economy as global powerhouse in the digital age. As the 4th largest economy in the world with $684b GDP in 2018, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is currently diversifying the economy by achieving digital transformation across public and private sectors in order to create a vibrant society, a thriving economy and an ambitious nation. The forum will be chaired by Eng. Majed Alshodari, CISO at the ACIG group, and the forum will feature 10 exclusive certified workshops on the latest applications of IoT, IIoT, AI implementation for 2030 vision, Data science, Cyber security, Enterprise Architecture, Cloudification, Blockchain for government services, AR/VR, RPA implementation, Deep learning (DL), Machine learning (ML) and Coding 4.0. Commenting on speaking at the forum Eng. Mohammed Mahnashi, Information Security Advisor of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: "Saudi Arabia, the heart of the Arab and Islamic worlds, the investment powerhouse, and the hub connecting three continents, on those three pillars the Saudi Vision 2030 relay on an ambitious yet achievable blueprint reflects our country's strengths and capabilities and depends on the technology to achieve the vision goals. I believe that The Saudi Emerging Technologies Forum is a key event to attend, to listen and discuss with experts in Saudi National Transformation program" The Forum will host a group of world class speakers and industry leaders from National Digitization Unit, Ministry of Labor and Social Development, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture, Monshaat, Capital Market Authority, The Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Aramco and others, to be the first platform of its kind in Saudi Arabia in terms of the diversification and inclusiveness of all domains of future technologies. Exclusively at the event, Dr. Khaled Abusalem, Chairman of UAV & Robotics Standards Committee in Saudi Aramco will be presenting about the Fourth Industrial Revolution Centre in Dahran, the first centre of its kind in the world inaugurated in March 2019, which will help the company's operational performance to enable greater efficiencies and significant cost savings, and help further strengthen Aramco's global leadership in the oil and gas industry. Chiara Palieri the Director of the Saudi Emerging Technologies Forum said: "This event represents a turning point in the digital transformation domain in KSA because it will be the only platform in the Kingdom that will celebrate the Vision 2030 digital transformation leaders who are driving the deployment of emerging technologies in government entities and private sectors. Technology will be the main enabler to a thriving economy for an ambitious nation, powered by a vibrant society of digital sapiens. We are so thrilled to have received an enthusiastic response from government entities that will use the event to announce their latest digitization programs" Saudi Emerging Technologies Forum will be the largest R&D and investment technology event in region and will showcase the most disruptive technologies set to power cities and economies of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Gathering government entities, C-suite executives from the private sector as well as the top tech players, the conference will exclusively unveil the latest applications of IoT, IIoT, AI, Data science, Cyber security, Cloudification, Blockchain, AR/VR, Robotics, Deep learning (DL), Machine learning (ML) and Coding 4.0 and the role they will play in powering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the global epicenter of tech research & development of the 4IR. — SG
