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KAAL Commissions Study on Knowledge Economy

The King Abdul Aziz Library (KAAL) has commissioned the Dubai-based Madar Research Group and Riyadh-headquartered Markeight to carry out and publish a major study about the development of a knowledge-based economy in Saudi Arabia. The significance of the study is that it will be the first comprehensive research-based project to profile the Kingdom in terms of its readiness for a knowledge economy, while offering in-depth analysis and growth forecasts, and bringing into light points of strength and critical spots whose interplay will decide the future of the Kingdom’s economy.

The study, titled “Saudi Arabia Knowledge Economy 2006,” will be updated and published on an annual basis for the next four years and will receive full support by the King Abdul Aziz Library, including facilitating data gathering to ensure its success.

The study, which will be released in September 2006, combines secondary research data with new primary information on the current and future development and usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) within the Kingdom’s government, business and social communities. The 200-plus-page research study will be a reference and a guidebook for government planners and business strategists, as well as a timely source for emerging opportunities for businesses.

“Despite a plethora of literature published on Saudi Arabia, there has not been in-depth research that appreciates the forces that will shape its economy in coming years. While it may be common knowledge that Saudi Arabia is home to the largest oil producing company in the world, it is also home to several of the top 500 global corporations, especially in the areas of banking and heavy industries. The Kingdom also has one of the largest religious tourism markets in the world and is home to the Arab world’s most advanced specialized medical services. As the Kingdom increases its ICT adoption and economic liberalization, such strong points will lead the digital transformation,” said Abdul Kader Kamli, president and research director of Madar Research Group.

“Saudi Arabia Knowledge Economy 2006 ” will be published in English and Arabic. It will have a circulation of 100,000 copies distributed regionally and globally. The research book will contain 17 sections covering major and select industries such as oil and gas, banking, heavy industries, health, hospitality, education, FMCG, government and information and communication technology.

Sun Powers Population, Housing Census Project

In the last decade, national development initiatives in Saudi Arabia were based on disparate surveys and snapshots of society in the Kingdom. However, the Saudi Central Department of Statistics recently established the National Computer Center to process the Third Population and Housing Census Project data. Based on a recommendation from Gartner Group, the data processing team for the census project in the National Computer Center chose a Sun Microsystems web-enabled system to underpin the vast amount of data generated by the census.

The census project for the Kingdom included a number of pre-operational levels prior to the two-week information gathering period. The team required automated processing tools as part of the solution, to ease the strain of data processing, as well as harnessing technology to support the residential survey, geographic mapping of towns and villages and keeping track of entries from more than 40,000 collaborators on the project.

“We needed to ensure our back-end systems were prepared to deal with the amount of information that we were about to receive, and deal effectively with the many stages of the National Statistics Count,” said Othaim Al-Othaim, head of application and data-entry. “Our main concern was that once the data was collected we were able to sort and collate the data to make it instantly usable for the many government departments that required access to the information for development and planning.”

The decision to implement open source systems rather than the traditional mainframe was taken after consultation with the Gartner Group, who were asked for independent recommendations before the project was assigned. Sun Microsystems was recommended for its cost-effective delivery, efficiency, availability and support services.

“We adopted the Gartner recommendations and began implementing the Sun servers and solutions with ease and minimal end-user disruption. Within eight months our new data center was in production,” said Abdallah Alyosef, head of technical architecture and operation.

The project required one Sun Fire Enterprise 6800 server and two Sun Enterprise 280R servers, as well as 8 Sun T3 arrays and the Solaris Operating Environment Release 10. This reliable, scaleable platform provided secure business continuity for the National Computer Center as well as faster performance.

“The Central Department of Statistics now has a state-of-the-art platform to support its future work and an excellent software system for supporting the ongoing census work and any further statistical research they may do in the future,” commented Dr. Gordan Frank , regional director, Gartner Consulting, Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.