Jeddah — Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah Region, chaired a meeting in Jeddah. The panel discussed plans and mechanisms for transforming the Makkah region into a smart region.
Eng Abdullah Al-Sawaha also attended the meeting. Abdullah Al-Sawaha is the Minister of Communications and Information Technology. University heads of the Region also attended the meeting and briefed Prince Khaled on the progress so far.
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The Ministry of Communications has contributed to transforming the Region into a smart one, mainly developing the digital infrastructure.
5G towers have reached around 4,000, and the average Internet speed is 155 Mbps, twice the global average internet speed. The internet speed in the Region increased by 63% in 2021.
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Over 11,000 individuals have been enrolled in direct courses to develop digital capabilities. The Makkah Region and its universities have provided 86,000 volunteers for the digital initiative.
The Region hosts one of the best academies specialized in drones for use in development fields related to energy and aerial inspection.
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The first batch of 50 specialists has graduated already. Additionally, the percentage of women in communications and information technology jobs in the Region has risen to 28%.
The Ministry has held 400 meetings to develop digital capacity in the Makkah region. These meetings grew youth participation in digital competitions, spreading knowledge, exploring technologies, and transforming ideas into actual prototypes.
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The process has benefited over 6 million individuals since the pandemic. It has also trained 100 entrepreneurs in various fields. The meeting participants discussed investments in the communications and information technology sector that exceeds SR4 billion.
