Saudi Arabia's King, Salm Bin Abdulaziz has approved the country's strategy for Artificial Intelligence (AI). The strategy will allow the country to add almost SR500b (approx. $ 133 billion) to its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.

Currently, the AI and data economy of Saudi Arabia is estimated at 15 billion to 20 billion riyals. However, by using the insights of AI and data analytics in government decision, the oil-rich country has an additional opportunity to generate additional revenues and savings of more than 40 billion riyals.

The government agency, Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), was set up in August 2019, by a Royal Decree and is responsible for overseeing the country's data and AI strategy. The entity has three organisations under its wing - the National Data Management Office, the National Information Center, and the National Center for Artificial Intelligence.

“The establishment of a national data bank consolidated more than 80 government datasets, which corresponds to 30 per cent of government’s digital assets,” said Dr Abdullah bin Sharaf Al Ghamdi, President of SDAIA, who was quoted in the Saudi media.

Dr Al Ghamdi further shared the SDAIA's plan to build one of the largest clouds in the region by merging 83 data centres owned by over 40 government bodies.

“Data is the single most important driver of our growth and reform, and we have a clear roadmap for transforming Saudi Arabia into a leading AI and data-driven economy,” he concluded.