JEDDAH, 15 January 2008 — The Saudi youth have an indispensable role in the future course of the Kingdom, an expert said at a workshop in the culmination of the two-day first Arab Knowledge Economy conference on Sunday.
The workshop under the theme “Talents Alive” is aimed at understanding how the energy and talents of the youth can be tapped to co-create a more dynamic, open and collaborative knowledge economy, the organizers said.
Charles Savage, president of the Munich-based Knowledge Era Enterprises, addressing some 120 participants — with ages ranging from 16 to 25 — said the “youth make up 60 percent of the Kingdom’s society … (and they) represent 100 percent of the future.”
Under the guidance of experts, the participants engaged in group brainstorming discussions to discover their individual capabilities and inspirations as well as generate new ideas and flesh out a variety of scenarios for future companies.
“We want to show them that the sky is the limit,” Nima Nawaab, a internationally-renowned poet and lecturer, said. Their “voices are needed to be heard” in such gatherings, she added, noting that she was “impressed” by the youth’s “remarkable ideas.”
Khalid Al-Mutairi from the Arabian Knowledge Economy Association added that the aim of the workshop is to encourage their participation in building a sustainable economy.
As an inspiration to the young cadres, a model group consisting of four youths were presented and discussed their experience and the problems they encountered while attending a diving course.
As an offshoot of the problem they faced during the diving course, Saud Al-Khaldi, Osama Al-Qaseer, Thamer Al-Shahri and Thamer Turkustani were able to invent a mechanical robot designed to close undersea oil valves that can withstand deep-sea pressures.
Al-Khaldi said their invention was inspired from a story narrated to them by their diving instructor about an oil leakage in one of Aramco’s oil pipes. “The instructor told us it cost the company $4 million to close the valve that is located 1,500 meters below sea level to stop oil leakage. The oil giant called in a European company armed with high-tech submarine equipment to close the valve. That motivated us to come up with our invention that is very cost affective,” he said.
“The wonderful thing is that they weren’t asked to solve the problem, they took the initiative in looking for a solution,” Savage pointed out.
Their invention will be presented in the upcoming “Ibtikar” convention next month hosted by King Abdulaziz Foundation for Talent.