Google and KACST discuss ways of cooperation

RIYADH: A visiting Google official on Tuesday pledged to continue cooperation with the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in information technology (IT) and communication.
The talks, between KACST President Prince Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saud, and Kent Walker, Google senior vice president for public policy affairs and social investment, were held at the KACST headquarters in Riyadh.
The visiting delegation included Sam Baltteis, chief of government affairs of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Selim Edde, Google head for public policy in the Middle East and North Africa. Hassan Al-Duhaim, managing director of the Saudi Arabian Investment Authority (SAGIA), was also present.
Welcoming the Google delegation, Prince Turki outlined KACST activities in science, research, innovation, IT and communication, in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020.
He said the KACST will help the government and non-governmental organizations diversify their projects and investments, and help Saudi youth in innovation, science, technology and research.
Prince Turki also highlighted KACST efforts in enriching Arabic content on the Internet via a program initiated by King Salman.
Walker expressed his desire to cooperate with the KACST in future projects that service their mutual objectives and Arab users in science and technology.
The visiting delegation held a meeting with KACST IT specialists and reviewed research proposals conducted by the KACST with other stakeholders in IT.
These include the King Abdullah Initiative for Digital Content, which with the support of King Salman serves to foster the presence of the Arabic language in mass-communication platforms, as well as in science and technology.
The Kingdom spent SR120 billion ($32 billion) on developing the telecommunication and IT sectors in 2015. Saudi Arabia is the largest such investor in the region, and among the top 10 globally.