RIYADH - Yesterday, the LEAP International Technology Conference concluded its first edition in the Kingdom, with the attendance of a large number of technology enthusiasts and representatives of more than 80 countries, and more than 100,000 visits were registered, in addition to 700 exhibitors that included world-leading technology companies, and more than 1,500 companies. Emerging from the most innovative, joining 500 international speakers.

The conference is the largest international technical event in its first edition, with the support of the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in line with the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, and to enhance the role of the digital economy in achieving the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

The conference witnessed $6.4 billion in investments and new technology initiatives, and $1 million in prizes awarded to the winners of the Rocket Fuel competition for startups, and multiple investments and investment funds supporting startups and entrepreneurs with more than one billion Saudi riyals were announced, with the announcement of the second closing. For the “Al Khwarizmi Ventures” fund with a value of 262 million riyals, announcing the closing of the first investment fund for Emkan VC with a value exceeding 187 million riyals, and launching UnifonicX with a Saudi partnership to build start-ups between Unifonic and TheSpaceKSA.

The Saudi Venture Investment Company also announced the “Investment in Advanced Stage Funds” product to promote the growth of emerging companies, with a value exceeding 500 million riyals, in addition to announcing the closure of “Nana” for an investment round led by FIM Partners and the STV Fund with a value of 187.5 million riyals, and closing An investment round of “Quant” worth 3 million SAR led by VentureSouq with the participation of RaedVC and Seedra, and an investment round of “Muzn” for artificial intelligence worth 38 million SAR led by RAED Ventures with the participation of Shorooq Partners, VentureSouq, Sukna Ventures, and others, and the announcement of a round of Taffi with a value exceeding 7 One million riyals, and the closing of the pre-seed round for “SiFi Simplified Financial Solutions Company” and “Tamweel” company.

Startups from around the world competed in Rocket Fuel, an international competition aimed at finding the hottest and most innovative new business ideas, and submitted innovative business proposals to boost their venture capital and encourage international investors, in an effort to win a share of the prize's $1 million investment fund. Seven startups won the competition, each of which received cash prizes for their innovative ideas and new proposals that have a great impact in terms of creativity, innovation, capabilities and ability to implement and their impact on people and society.

On the other hand, Apple chose the capital Riyadh as the headquarters for the first Apple Developers Academy in the Middle East and North Africa, where the academy provides its services and tools for programmers and developers at Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University, which makes Apple developers an important role in building talented programming skills in the Kingdom. Encouraging women to develop their skills and explore available jobs in this new sector.

Michael Champion, Regional Executive Vice President of Informa for the Middle East and Africa, said that the LEAP22 conference was an exceptional success and attracted the largest number of visitors to technical events held over the past years, even outperforming the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and setting a new record for the largest A number of attendees to a new technology platform.

He said: “The LEAP International Tech Conference was able to attract the leading names in the technology sector to Riyadh, in addition to the most distinguished startups and new innovators who presented their advanced innovations that would redirect the world around us,” thanking the global speakers, sponsors and partners, looking forward To host a larger-scale LEAP conference next year.

The first edition of LEAP was sponsored by a group of leading companies, including Saudi Telecom Company stc, Ericsson, Mobily, Huawei, Cisco, SAP, Microsoft, the Saudi Digital Academy, the National Information Technology Development Program, Monshaat and Jahez.

Honoring 1000 programmers and programmers who graduated from "Twaiq" camp

On its third day yesterday, the conference witnessed the graduation of 1,000 young men and women from "Twaiq Camp 1000", with the participation of their families, and in the presence and sponsorship of His Excellency the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Eng. Abdullah bin Amer Al-Sawaha, and His Excellency the President of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAYA) Dr. Abdullah Bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Federation for Cyber ​​Security, Programming and Drones, Mr. Faisal Al-Khamisi, and Miteb Al-Qenni, CEO of the Federation.

The Tuwaiq 1000 initiative aims to enhance digital capabilities and future competencies, achieve a programmed goal for every 100 Saudis by 2030, encourage innovation and creativity, and achieve global leadership.

The camp spanned over 5 months with the aim of preparing programmers capable of developing web and applications in various platforms and preparing them for the labor market, as part of them were trained at SDAYA Academy, in an effort to build national professional capabilities in the field of advanced technologies in accordance with best practices and international standards.

A number of entities, led by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, and the Tuwaiq Academy, along with the Saudi Telecom Company STC, cooperated in launching the Tuwaiq camp and the "Future Skills" initiative, which were held in the 13 regions of the Kingdom. Through 40 simultaneous camps, in four main tracks: programming, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence, in addition to data science, where male and female students are trained on advanced technologies in programming and artificial intelligence at the hands of experts in the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, in cooperation with a company "Google".

These initiatives stem from its national roles to qualify the nation’s youth and provide them with the digital skills and capabilities necessary to digitally empower our ambitious nation. It also comes as an advanced step to invest human minds from the energies of young men and women to advance the nation globally.

On this occasion, Mutaib Al-Quni confirmed that the camp’s graduates will play an important role in achieving the Kingdom’s goals, supporting the digital transformation process, and stimulating the growth of the digital economy based on knowledge, noting that the camp, over the course of 5 months, enabled the sons and daughters of the country affiliated with it to gain knowledge and experience, which confirms and enhances The Kingdom's position as a technology center.