Aramco, IBM aim to establish innovation hub in Saudi Arabia

Aramco and IBM signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a strategic collaboration to establish an innovation hub in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The planned hub aims to bring together IBM Consulting and Technology experts to work alongside Aramco experts in identifying impactful uses of technology, showcasing viability and scaling these innovations.

The collaboration aims to support economic growth in the kingdom, leveraging emerging technologies in hybrid cloud, AI, and quantum computing. This will help address key objectives such as a circular economy, materials science, supply chain, sustainability, security, and digitisation.

“The strategic collaboration of Aramco’s leadership with IBM’s enhanced technologies, R&D, and deep expertise, aspires to achieve potential breakthroughs in the energy sector that will have industry-wide impact,” said Ahmad Al Sa’adi, Aramco 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 decarbonisation through digital technologies.”

Aramco and IBM aim to accelerate the exploration of climate mitigation and adaption solutions using hybrid cloud, AI, and other emerging technologies, to help improve carbon emission performance and prepare enterprises for the impact of climate change in alignment with the kingdom’s sustainability vision, a statement said.

“Through this strategic collaboration with Aramco, we aim to reinforce our commitment to be part of the kingdom’s future by aligning with its 2030 vision for a digital led economy,” said Saad Toma, general manager, IBM Middle East and Africa. “This collaboration aims to help develop local skills and talent with the knowledge and expertise needed to build this vision for the future using IBM technologies and expertise.”

The two entities also plan to identify opportunities for the application of technology to address supply chain efficiency and resiliency challenges,

In September, Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and IBM also announced a strategic agreement to drive adoption of artificial intelligence in the carbon capture and industrial domains across Saudi Arabia.

Read: Saudi govt authorities, IBM join forces to reduce kingdom’s emissions