Saudis search for Neom tech partners in UK
Ambassadors from Saudi Arabia have attended the Tech Week conference in London this week to encourage UK tech companies to work with the kingdom on megacity projects including Neom.
Against a backdrop of human rights concerns, coronavirus and austerity measures introduced in Saudi Arabia following fluctuating oil prices, international investors have shown hesitance in backing the $500bn Neom megaproject, which is a cornerstone of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) “Vision 2030” strategy of economic transformation.
Joseph Bradley, head of tech and digital at Neom, said the project was looking for UK tech partners who could help it “build a citywide operating system that is aware, predictive and can take action”.
“We will be the world’s first cognitive and pro-active city,” Bradley is quoted as saying on the Arabian Business website.
The Saudi regime hopes Neom will be a pioneer of “cognitive cities”, with internet connections linking everything from home appliances to civil surveillance. Bradley called on UK companies to help “ignite growth” in this area.
While those involved in the technology sector may be interested in such use of new technologies in everyday life, at such a huge scale, there are dangerous implications for civil rights in a country with one of the worst human rights records on the planets.
Saudi representatives at the tech conference called for partners for everything from drones to language recognition services – which in themselves would not raise an alarm.
According to the Arabian Business report, Faisal Al-Sadhan, programme manager for Technology Investment at Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, has said that the Saudi government has invested some $4bn in digital infrastructure as part of Vision 2030, and the information technology market is reportedly around $29bn. Of this, $1.3 billion is dedicated to the so-called “Internet of Things” – whereby everything from your washing machine to law enforcement agencies are connected via network.
However, a society where the population are under constant surveillance, purportedly to prevent crime, is ominous in a society where the rule of law is decided by unelected and unaccountable figures at the top of a totalitarian regime. Criticising the kingdom’s rulers often results in detainment, torture or death.
Many potential investors are giving Neom, and other largescale Vision 2030 projects, a wide berth. Being associated with such a notoriously draconian state, which is also economically fragile, is just too big a risk in such a turbulent economic environment.
Read more: Neom takes out $3.7bn loan to fund Saudi Arabia’s beleaguered project
