The University of California, San Diego has signed an agreement with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and Saudi Telecom Company (STC) to collaborate on the development of information technology systems and advanced communications.
Agreement Signing
The agreement was signed in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel, KACST’s President, by His Highness Prince Dr. Turki Bin Saud Bin Mohammed Al Saud, KACST’s Vice President for research institutes, and Eng. Saud Bin Majed Al-Daweesh, Chief Executive Officer of STC Group, the main telecommunications carrier in Saudi Arabia and the region. The two signatories on the U.S. side were former UC President Robert Dynes, and Ramesh Rao, Director of the UCSD Division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), the primary UC partner in the research pact.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement on a tripartite research partnership with UC San Diego and Saudi Telecom,” said Prince Turki after the ceremony. “I have visited the campus in California on multiple occasions, and it became abundantly clear that Calit2 has deep experience with prototyping technologies of direct benefit to society – an important goal for KACST. our researchers and industry specialists will get the opportunity to collaborate with some of the best engineers in the world as they look for solutions that can work in the global context.”
Prince Turki added that KACST is currently working to move beyond research and development to provide and deliver tangible results for the benefits of the public and the private sectors in the Kingdom, indicating that this agreement will implement more than ten projects to provide tangible products to serve the vital sectors such as health, traffic, pilgrimage and tourism. These projects will have economic return; contribute to building a knowledge-based society in Saudi Arabia.
“STC believes in innovations”, said Eng. Saud. “We have presented to our customers the latest and most advanced services and we intend to keep STC the leader of innovations in the region. Part of STC strategy is to support the Government’s ambitious plans to transform the Kingdom to the Knowledge-based Economy, in which advanced ICT services play a major role. STC considers its support for R&D not only part of the company’s social responsibility but in addition a commitment to our customers to solve their real problems and make their life easier.”
Rest at KACST