RIYADH, 24 December 2006 — In line with the Kingdom’s move to establish IT parks and knowledge-based industry in the economic cities, King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology signed here yesterday a Memorandum of Understanding with the Al-Faisaliah Group to conduct a feasibility study for setting up a world-class data center in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.
The MOU was signed by Prince Turki ibn Saud Al-Saud, vice president of research institutes, on behalf of KACST, and Prince Mohammed Al-Faisal, president of the Al-Faisaliah Group. Speaking after the signing ceremony, Prince Turki said the MOU represents KACST’s initiative in strengthening its relations with the private sector in the joint mission to develop sophisticated technology. He pointed out that the idea was to explore state-of-the-art solutions in creating an environment conducive to ICT growth.
“The center will provide an excellent online environment for e-business developers and application service providers,” Prince Turki said, adding that these services would be made available through the new data center.
Speaking on behalf of the Al-Faisaliah Group, Prince Mohammed Al-Faisal said the MOU represents a new partnership between the private sector and a government agency in the joint mission of scientific and technological development.
He noted that “AwalNet, the leading Internet Service Provider in Saudi Arabia, hopes this mutual cooperation will hugely contribute to expanding the range of information and communication services in the Kingdom, as well as enhancing the quality of such services which are becoming even more crucial with the upcoming launches of the e-government program and the remarkable growth of e-commerce in the Kingdom.” “The new data center will play a big role in developing the Arabic content on the Internet,” he added.
