Saudi Arabia: Launch of "Ignite", $1.1 billion to boost the creation of digital content

The new program and investments are part of Saudi Arabia’s plan to boost its digital ecosystem and leverage its position in the MENA region to become a major international digital economy.

The Digital Content Council has announced the launch of Ignite, a new program that will establish the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a leading digital media, entertainment and audio-visual content production hub. The program aims to create a comprehensive ecosystem that will attract digital content companies and foster the growth of the local content and media creation sector.

Ignite aims to triple the market volume of digital content in the video game, audio, video and advertising sector. The program is backed by an investment of $1.1 billion and includes initiatives such as financial support for local, regional and international companies and start-ups, infrastructure development, talent development and improvement policy and regulation to allow the sector to grow rapidly.

Training courses will be provided in three areas: video games, films and digital advertising. These courses should allow more than 4,400 participants to improve their skills within three years. Thanks to these training programs, Saudi Arabia will be able to acquire the skills required by this industry and young Saudis will see their professional opportunities expanded.

The program is in addition to the cinema support fund which will be allocated for infrastructure with, in particular, the development, production and distribution of local films, and to another fund centered on the development of video games with the creation of infrastructure such as development studios.

To attract more local and international partners to the Ignite program, Saudi Arabia will also improve intellectual property protection measures. Local and international partners will be able to benefit from a “one-stop investor window” that will facilitate investment processes in the Saudi digital economy.

The Kingdom also announced the launch of WiFi 6E, supported by the widest WiFi spectrum currently available in the world. State-of-the-art technology combined with unparalleled spectrum breadth will allow Saudi Arabia to benefit from the fastest WiFi speed in the world (2.4 Gbps). This advanced connectivity is expected to quadruple WiFi’s contribution to the country’s GDP to exceed $18 billion by 2030, up from $4.7 billion in 2021.

The reinforcement of Saudi WiFi should be accompanied by other initiatives aimed at boosting connectivity such as the first regional test of OTB (LEO in English for Low Earth Orbit) satellite technology which aims to extend reliable coverage to the borders of the Kingdom. . CITC will also hold an auction of the spectrum in the first half of this year, a step that is expected to put the Saudis first in the world for spectrum available for fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks and communications. The contribution of 5G technology to the country’s GDP is expected to jump from $1.4 billion in 2021 to over $15 billion by 2030.

Trend Micro announced the establishment of its headquarters for the MEA (Middle East and Africa) region in Riyadh as well as the creation of a security data lake and other investments in Saudi Arabia totaling $50 million . The investments are intended to intensify Trend Micro’s ongoing commitment to the security of public and private organizations inside the Kingdom and across the region.

Trend Micro also announced software as a service (SaaS) for cybersecurity, a data lake for cloud, endpoint and network security, and enhanced detection and response solutions that will all be delivered locally from inside the Kingdom. This demonstrates Trend Micro’s leadership in the cybersecurity industry and its commitment to serving the country and the entire region as the first cybersecurity company in the world to establish its MEA headquarters and local data lake in Saudi Arabia.

A security data lake is a centralized storage method to maintain and manage all records and other data sources relevant to enterprise security. It constitutes a single space for hosting, analysis, research and use of security data.

The company also announced the creation of a center of excellence for the provision of specialized cybersecurity advisory resources in the Kingdom and will develop services and initiatives aimed at helping companies improve their cybersecurity. She will also create programs that will help build awareness of cybersecurity and online safety issues for families.

The new headquarters in Riyadh is equipped with world-class amenities, an executive briefing center, a training and innovation center, meeting rooms and community spaces, and numerous amenities for the whole of the cybersecurity ecosystem.

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