Oracle has opened its second cloud region in Saudi Arabia, giving a boost to Riyadh's digital transformation strategy, as it aims to help the kingdom's economy harness the full potential of artificial intelligence.
The move, part of a $1.5 billion investment commitment announced by the US technology company in the Arab world's biggest economy, will help public and private organisations migrate to the cloud, Texas-based Oracle told The National on Tuesday.
The new project joins the operational cloud region in Jeddah, with two more planned – one in Riyadh and the other at Neom, the $500 billion high-tech megacity along the Red Sea.
Oracle previously said the Neom region would be open “soon”.
Oracle’s new cloud region reflects the kingdom’s “continuous efforts in boosting the digital economy based on modern technologies and innovation”, said Haytham Alohali, Vice Minister in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
It will also promote data sovereignty, which refers to the protection of data within the laws and regulations of the jurisdiction it is in, a key factor to its security and reliability.
“This step will significantly enable international and local companies to achieve innovation and promote the adoption of AI and cloud computing technologies in various sectors, which enhances Saudi Arabia's competitiveness at the regional and international level,” Mr Alohali said.
The adoption of cloud services has continued to grow in the Middle East amid the rise of technology-savvy young consumers and an evolving digital landscape, underpinned by government efforts to develop the future economy.
This has given global cloud providers an incentive to tap into the potential being offered by the region. Global companies including Microsoft, Amazon, IBM and Alibaba Cloud have also all opened cloud and data centres in the region.
And with the emergence of generative AI, an expanded cloud footprint in Saudi Arabia would be vital for companies as they move forward with digital transformation, said Jyoti Lalchandani, regional managing director at the International Data Corporation.
“Local cloud infrastructure helps organisations ensure faster data processing, enhanced security and their compliance with national regulations, helping them innovate more efficiently and effectively,” he said.
“This strategic move not only supports the kingdom’s vision to leverage artificial intelligence to drive digital transformation, but also empowers companies to harness the full potential of AI, driving competitive advantage and creating local value and growth.”
The number of Oracle's cloud regions in the Middle East and Africa stands at eight, including two more planned for Morocco, according to a May statement.
Counting Riyadh, it now has five live cloud regions in the Middle East and Africa region, including one in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jeddah and Johannesburg.
While Oracle does not provide market share figures, it currently manages 75 cloud regions across 26 countries, according to its website.
The biggest player in the global cloud infrastructure services sector is Amazon Web Services, with a 31 per cent market share, followed by Microsoft Azure with 25 per cent and Google Cloud with 10 per cent, data from Statista shows.
Global spending on public cloud services is projected to surpass $1.6 trillion by 2028, double the estimate of $805 billion for 2024, the International Data Corporation said in a report last week.
In the GCC, revenue in the public cloud market is expected to hit more than $5 billion this year, according to Statista.
Oracle's Riyadh cloud region “will help accelerate adoption of cloud and AI technologies to boost innovation across all sectors of the Saudi economy, while helping organisations addressing local data hosting requirements”, said Richard Smith, executive vice president and general manager, for Oracle's cloud infrastructure in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
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Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.
The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.
The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.
The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
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