Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – Universities play a vital role in preparing the next generation for Industry 4.0, academics and experts discussed at the two-day 15th International Learning and Technology Conference held at Effat University on Sunday.

International thought leaders as well as academics from various universities in the Western Province discussed Internet of Things (IoT) applications in the Kingdom during the conference that was inaugurated by Princess Noura Bint Turki Al-Faisal and President of Effat University Dr. Haifa Jamalalail.

“The Internet of Things is an aspect that is redefining the entire world in communication and definition of disruptive technologies. The quality and scope of the data across the IoT generates an opportunity for much more conceptualized and interactions with devices to create a massive potential for change and rapidly evolve in the way we’ve never seen before,” said Dr. Malak Alnory, provost at Effat University, in her opening remarks at the conference which examined how IoT impacts people’s lives and ways to make use of it in all sectors in the Kingdom, including smart cities, education, renewable energy, and others.

“The Kingdom is investing billions of dollars into the IoT and aims to implement smart and technology advanced solutions to lead the country in IoT technologies into 2030 and beyond,” Dr. Alnory further said, highlighting new projects such as NEOM. “From a university perspective, the impact of IoT in education will advance the concept of smart schools with facilities to provide a higher level of personalized learning for students and connect them with teachers, eliminating any communication gap. It will also lead to making use of important resources, improving access of information and designing safer campuses for us.”

For new industries as well as for existing ones, industrial IoT applications are the first choice to become competitive on the world market, said Rainer Speh, chief technology officer at Siemens in Riyadh, where the company has worked with local bodies to offer training for Saudi nationals. “Changing the way products are designed, manufactured, monitored and maintained is the first step. However, people are making the difference. Therefore, improvements of educational, vocational and academic are necessary,” he said.

Saudi Arabia has the potential to become the number one renewable energy producer in the world, according to Scott Amyx, managing partner at Amyx Ventures and CEO of Amyx+.

“The future of Saudi Arabia is very much renewable energy and it’s going to need thought leaders for the next industrial revolution,” he said.

The Kingdom’s opportunities, he said, include concentrating solar plants, storing clean energy, and using commercial fuel cell technology platforms to power the country and possibly the region.

To become producers, research is the most important starting point, commented Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Ahdal, dean of scientific research at Umm Al-Qura University and assistant professor of EE Department, who presented IoT in the medical field.

“The impact of IoT in the medical field is huge and transforms healthcare,” he says. “If we can extract data from the human body using sensors, send them to the Internet for doctors to use, this will have great applications. One way this is beneficial is ambulances, for example.”

One obstacle in applying it the Kingdom is that such systems are not FDA approved to be reliable. “The approval take lots of time and under rigorous tests in addition to not having an approval body based in Saudi Arabia,” said Dr. Al-Ahdal.

Smart cities require more education to prepare people for the pace of technology, says Dr. Elham Hassanain, vice president for academic affairs at University of Prince Mugrin. “We need to work hard for the infrastructure now that IoT is going to be in our lives. We need a lot of campaigns to make use of this but we also need to ensure the security side of it.”

Universities should look at what the market needs and put new specialties and take out old specialties, further says Dr. Hassanain. “At the Computer Science College at our university, for example, one of the major areas we’re focusing on is cyber security and forensic computing because we need them in the Kingdom.

The level of expertise is still lacking in Saudi Arabia, speakers agreed, and can be achieved by gaining knowledge independence through exchange from foreign experts.

By 2020, IoT is expected to enable 4 billion connected people around the world and generate $4 trillion in revenues. The number of apps is expected to reach over 25 million with 50 trillion GB of data.