02/09/2023

LEAP 23 announces $580 Million Investment, Data Center and 2 Tech Skills Academies

LEAP23 Tech Conference, organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), in cooperation with the Saudi Federation for Cyber Security and Programming and Tahaluf, has made digital announcements and funding programs worth 580 million dollars. The tech global event, which is on its third day, also announced the launch of a data center and two academies to develop technology talents and equip them with tech futuristic know-how.
The first announcement was made by the Digital Content Council, IGNITE, which launched a host of initiatives, funding programs, and pioneering partnerships with the private sector amounting to 170 million US dollars. WIRPO which specializes in technology services and consulting subsequently announced investments with a value of 110 million US dollars. WIRPO's goal is to expand the service of their cloud studios, find digital healthcare solutions, and support development local cadres.
Meanwhile, the global real-time 3D development platform UNITY announced the establishment of its first academy in the region in partnership with MCIT in an effort to develop tech talent.
Included in the series of announcements today, Zoho, the pioneer in IT, software development and cloud computing, revealed its plan to expand in the Kingdom. It also announced a projected increase in the number of its offices, the creation of a cloud zone for its services, as well as the allocation of 300 million US dollars for the next ten years as a portfolio balance to support start-ups towards their digital transformation.
Damac Company announced the expansion of its investments in the Kingdom's big data centers with a total capacity of more than 55 Mega Watts.
Amazon concluded LEAP's third day series of announcements by revealing the establishment of its first academy in the MENA region to develop and train more than 30 thousand talents, while also providing more than 35 thousand professional certificates in the fields of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, in partnership with the national dynamic and relevant partnership spearheaded by MCIT, “MCIT Future Skills” initiative and its “Saudi Digital Academy”, as well as “Human Capacity Development Program” and the “Tuwaiq Academy”.