“The strategic collaboration of Aramco’s leadership with IBM aspires to achieve potential breakthroughs in the energy sector that will have an industry-wide impact,” said Ahmad Al Sa’adi, Aramco's senior vice president of technical services. “Through this collaboration, we are seeking to leverage the next frontiers in computing to drive economic growth and enable decarbonization through digital technologies.”
At the Saudi Green Initiative summit in October, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that the Arab world's largest economy aimed to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2060 via a "circular carbon economy model" that is compatible with its expansion and diversification ambitions. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have emerged as key destinations for international tech firms to lend their expertise to digital economy initiatives. With the help of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, the largest online retailer in the world opened a cloud innovation centre in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi last October. One of the greatest technology corporations in the world, Intel, said last month that it would establish its first artificial intelligence research and development centre in Dubai Internet City. The US software giant Oracle inaugurated its second UAE innovation centre in Abu Dhabi in September. The centre is geared toward assisting both public and private sector organisations in making financial gains via the use of cutting-edge technologies. Together, Aramco and IBM hope to find ways to apply technology to problems with supply chain efficiency and resilience and encourage Saudi nationals to pursue employment in the digital economy.
“This collaboration aims to help develop local skills and talent with the knowledge and expertise needed to build this vision for the future,” said Saad Toma, general manager of IBM Middle East and Africa.
