Saudi’s Prince Sultan University and VMware sign MoU to launch innovation centre

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan University (PSU) and VMware have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to launch an innovation centre in the kingdom.

Equipped with VMware software and resources, the centre will give students, researchers, and businesses hands-on experience with transformative digital solutions for app modernisation, cloud, networking, security, and digital workspace.

The MoU was signed under the patronage of Abdullah Alswaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Saudi Arabia.

The innovation centre, which is expected to start operating in the first half of the year, will help foster a culture of learning and build information and communications technology (ICT) skills while providing a resource to research projects underway at PSU by expanding access to VMware’s solutions. The centre will also demonstrate the benefits of VMware’s solutions to local customers and partners, to help accelerate digital transformation amongst the local business community.

Dr Ahmed Yamani, president of PSU, said: “The innovation centre is intended to spur innovation, research, and learning at the university, and amongst local businesses and partners that are interested in embracing a cloud-first approach. By helping a diverse range of people and organisations gain experience with VMware’s solutions, the innovation centre will play an important role in furthering Saudi Arabia’s digitisation agenda in line with Vision 2030.”

The innovation centre will be equipped with the full range of VMware’s solutions and will showcase technologies like edge computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, machine learning and Kubernetes.

Saif Mashat, country director, Saudi Arabia, VMware, said: “We’re proud to collaborate with Prince Sultan University for the innovation centre. VMware is committed to education and knowledge transfer, and I believe that this initiative will help give young people, researchers, and businesses the knowledge they need to innovate and develop their digital transformation plans.”

Meanwhile, in June 2021, PSU and VMware started discussions to build a regional VMware IT academy to support youth digital skills development in line with the aims of Saudi Vision 2030.

VMware IT academy works with a global network of educational institutions to provide students access to learning certification opportunities and hands-on lab experiences with VMware technologies. In addition, the company offers a free curriculum and materials to help students jump-start their software careers. VMware IT Academy partnered with more than 2,400 institutions in 93 countries, reaching more than 48,000 students in the past year.

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