IT given top priority in development plans

Information Technology (IT) has been carefully incorporated into the development plans of the Kingdom, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) President Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel said on Monday.
Hatem Mohammed Buheiry, coordinator for Information Technology Services at the KACST, speaking on behalf of Al-Suwaiyel, said that IT was included in the national plan for science, technology and innovation.
Al-Suwaiyel said the government had spent about SR94 billion on this field. According to a report, the Kingdom accounts for 70 percent of the telecommunications sector and information technology market in the Gulf region. It is also expected that spending on the sector will go up by 10 percent from last year’s figure.
Al-Suwaiyel said that KACST is responsible for the development and execution of strategic plans from different technologies and scientific disciplines, prominent among which is Information Technology.
“The world is witnessing a rapid transformation which relies more and more on IT. About 2.5 quintillion (2.5 times 10 to the power of 18) bytes of data are created each day,” he said. IT has turned the world into a global village, where individuals are able to do commercial transactions and access information speedily from any part in the world.
Many countries have realized the importance of IT and the vital role it plays in developing societies.
IT development generates productivity and economic growth by facilitating rapid dissemination of information. It also enables advancement in almost all fields of science, he said.
KACST plays a key role in science and technology policy making, data collection, funding of external research, and other related services such as scientific publications and managing the patent office.
Its main responsibilities include proposing a national policy for the development of technology, supporting scientific research and development, conducting applied research, advising government, fostering national innovation and technology transfer between research institutes and the industry, and boosting international cooperation in science and technology.