RIYADH, 19 December 2006 — Dr. Craig Barrett, chairman of the board of Intel Corporation and chair of the United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development, was the keynote speaker at the First Economic Cities Forum focusing on Intelligent Cities, held on Saturday in the ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel and organized by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA). Dr. Barrett’s speech was titled “Intelligent Cities Empowered by IT Infrastructure.”
In his speech, Dr. Barrett advised that the “world has become flat” and that there are only a few options available for nations to use to increase their competitiveness. Education and investment in R&D are two of these options. The third is to focus on enhancing the environment for the attraction of business. Basically, governments which want to thrive in this new flat world must promote an environment where smart people can get together and share smart ideas.
While glad to see the Kingdom’s new plan for setting up Economic Cities, Dr. Barrett cautioned that he believes that the Kingdom is not setting its goals high enough, especially when it comes to incorporating technology in these new projects. Since these cities will be built almost from scratch, Dr. Barrett thinks that the Kingdom should not be trying to achieve parity with other global environments for investment, but should instead be leading in incorporating new technology in these cities in order to give investors a compelling reason to bring resources to Saudi Arabia.
“Technology can expand what is possible to create opportunities for people across the Kingdom,” said Dr. Barrett. “Public-private partnerships are vital for expanding the reach of technology to benefit the Saudi people.” He commended the Kingdom for the direction it was taking in becoming a knowledge economy, but added that for the Kingdom to achieve its goals, public-private partnerships must aim to implement world class technology not simply competitive technology.
In addition to attending and speaking at the SAGIA event, Dr. Barrett hosted a press conference during which Intel announced plans to increase efforts in extending the reach of technology to benefit the country’s students. “Education is the foundation for leadership in today’s knowledge-based global economy,” said Dr. Barrett.
At the press conference, Intel and the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced they will train more than 50,000 of the Kingdom’s teachers on the application of technology to improve classroom learning. Approximately 1.5 million students are expected to benefit from the Intel Teach Essentials program over the next three years. Intel and the MOE also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Intel to act as a technical consultant to the ministry.
“The Intel Teach program is centered on the belief that computers aren’t magic, but teachers are,” Dr. Barrett said. “With trained teachers, local educational content, and access to technology, the Kingdom’s youth will have an opportunity to realize the potential of their ideas.”
In another initiative, Intel and the King Abdul Aziz and His Companions Foundation for the Gifted (KACFG) announced that this will be the inaugural year for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) Saudi Arabia program. The program will allow young Saudi inventors, through a local competition, to attend the international competition. More than a thousand students from more than 50 countries participate in the annual Intel ISEF. The Intel ISEF attracts budding inventors from both the developed and the developing world. For example, in China, six million young people participated in science fairs with only the Top 15 of those competitors invited to participate in Intel’s latest ISEF.
During Saturday’s press conference, Dr. Barrett also signed an MOU between Intel and the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) to conduct joint research and software optimization. Intel will help KACST establish a facility to foster the creation of local technology companies.
Dr. Barrett last visited Saudi Arabia a year ago and since that time Intel has started several programs to cultivate technology skill development and knowledge transfer throughout the Kingdom. For example, Intel is working with the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) on engineering internships, job placement programs and fostering petrochemical research and development.
During Saturday’s visit to Riyadh, Dr. Barrett made a point of meeting with government and industry leaders to discuss progress made since Intel launched its Digital Transformation Initiative for the Middle East and Turkey a year ago and hear their thoughts on what moves need to be taken next. Intel’s Digital Transformation Initiative focuses on creating a sustainable environment that promotes technology skills development, knowledge transfer and jobs creation. The initiative also served as a catalyst for Intel’s global $1 billion World Ahead Program to improve education and accelerate access to the computers and Internet.
The Kingdom is making progress toward bringing technology into the education environment. A local IT company, Semanoor, has completed the first phase of the digitization of the Saudi curriculum. All the Ministry of Education’s approved textbooks for the Saudi curriculum for the current year 1427-1428, which are made up of more than 30,000 pages have been stored digitally on disc, supported by search, database capability and content enrichment. Now the ministry will begin distributing the digitized Saudi e-curriculum to teachers, students and others interested in improving the educational process. Initially, the Saudi e-curriculum will be deployed by the MOE in public and private schools across the Kingdom through the use of Intel-based Ultra Mobile PCs loaded with teaching tools and the government-approved curriculum to help teachers tailor their own e-lessons.
