In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there is a significant yearly advancement in the sector of technology necessary for entrepreneurship. The Kingdom recognizes the crucial role of these advancements in revitalizing the economic and social landscape, which is vital for sustainable development and maintaining its global economic standing.
Globally, countries have consistently focused on the development of applied scientific technologies. Particularly, developed nations have established institutions responsible for the technological dossier in all its influential and effective facets, clearly competing in the technological race. Since the mid-20th century, major world powers have set up centers for technological forecasting, which focus on raising awareness about future technologies, analyzing their impacts, and devising strategic benefits from these innovations, aiming to prepare foundational reports for systematic technological forecasting.
In a similar pursuit of progress in scientific and technological civilization, Saudi Arabia has established the Center for Technology Forecasting within King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. This center employs contemporary methodologies followed by internationally renowned and specialized institutions. With the collaboration of experts from various fields, the center aspires to continuously improve its working methodologies and planning for future reports to encompass vital sectors.
The role of entrepreneurship in achieving the goals of sustainable development has been highlighted by a report from the Research and Information Center in collaboration with the Entrepreneurship Center at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce. According to the surveyed sample, 83.6% agreed that entrepreneurship plays a pivotal role in accomplishing sustainable development objectives. The most significant of these roles include skill development and innovation in the workplace (87.8%), followed by job creation resulting from economic growth of projects and the overall local economy, competing with global economies (85.5% each), and lastly, providing employment and gender equality (85%).
The entrepreneurship ecosystem aims to elevate the economic and social levels of entrepreneurs and workers within this system, as well as the related establishments. In 2022, the number of entrepreneurial enterprises reached 626,000, and it is anticipated that these ventures will contribute even more significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the future, potentially achieving the desired 35% of the GDP by 2030. The “Supporting Technological Entrepreneurship” initiative targets the enhancement of technical talents and the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the IT sector, aiming to build an active entrepreneurial market in the Kingdom’s IT field, in addition to increasing the number of tech entrepreneurs. This is achieved by providing financial and knowledge support through initiative partners, offering entrepreneurs targeted entry into specially designed pathways to kickstart their business tech ventures, be it with high-growth startups or business platforms, represented by startup studios and local and global incubators and accelerators. This initiative also provides consultations and development opportunities for entrepreneurs, leveraging technical laboratories to fulfill the initiative’s goals.
Economist Fahd Sharaf comments on the numerous commercial indicators pointing to an uptick in various economic activities. The Kingdom has achieved very high rankings in entrepreneurship, bolstered by the energy and talents of its youth. This strengthens the resolve of concerned government entities like ‘Monsha’at’ to boost the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, clearly reflected in supportive regulatory frameworks for startups.
It is noteworthy that the National Program for the Development of Information Technology (NTDP) was established to support and expedite the growth of the IT sector in the Kingdom, with a budget of 2.5 billion riyals, marking it as the region’s largest government program dedicated to IT sector support.
