RIYADH, 4 March 2004 — The Riyadh International Communications & IT Conference 2004 concluded yesterday with a call to take Internet services away from the control of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) as a regulatory authority, so that Internet services can become more accessible to users at reduced rates.

The concluding session, chaired by Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Ruwais, head of the scientific committee, stressed the need to speed up the switchover to e-governance in the interest of promoting communications and information technology in the Kingdom.

To this end, the conference recommended that Internet services should be provided through ISPs. Sources at KACST told Arab News that the move to delink it as the regulatory agency for Internet services had been anticipated with the setting up of the new Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The resolution does not address this issue beyond calling for an end to KACST’s supervision of the Internet service.

The move, it is believed, would facilitate access to Internet at lower rates than the SR3 per hour currently charged. In other countries it is either much cheaper or free. In another resolution, the conference suggested that the use of IT should be popularized and that fair competition should be encouraged in the CIT sector, especially if the Kingdom is to have access to such facilities at affordable prices.

It called for a special protocol in providing security for information exchange by relying on modern technological tools, such as WLAN. The conference lent its support to research efforts in the universities, companies and service providers in the field of communication and IT.

Call for Funding for Saudi Dotcoms

In another development, Dr. Abdul Aziz Jazzar, who chairs the communications and information technology sub-committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News that the government was considering setting up a fund to support the knowledge-based industry.

He said the issue under discussion was whether the funding mechanism of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund should be amended to make it possible for it to finance this industry.

Dr. Jazzar proposed venture capital companies to fund new start-ups in the industry. He said: “Knowledge-based companies do not enjoy support from banks since they do not have adequate capital to start with. Knowledge-based industry is classified as a service, to which the SIDF does not provide loans. So the only alternative is the venture capital model providing stock options to the investors.”

Dr. Jazzar pointed out that since the Kingdom’s regulations do not allow stock options as a funding tool, the issue needs to be explored to make such a concept feasible. “The Ministry of Finance has accepted the idea of floating such a company, although it has not decided on the mode to finance it. The venture capital model seems feasible rather than the bank borrowing model,” he said, adding: “It can work. The best example of this is the Silicon Valley in the US, where the knowledge industry is supported by venture capital funds.”