RIYADH — Prince Mohammed Bin Abdurrahman, acting governor of Riyadh region, patronized here Saturday the ceremony of KAUST Challenge for “Shaping the Future of Media”, organized by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in cooperation with ASBAR World Forum.

KAUST President Dr. Tony F. Chan delivered a speech in which he thanked the acting Governor of Riyadh and the partners supporting KAUST Challenge, citing the goal they aspire to encourage local and international talent to find ideas and solutions that help advance the country's national priorities and support the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

He pointed to innovation opportunities, which are one of the goals of Vision 2030 and said KAUST is proud of its presence at the top of the innovation scene, in providing the latest ideas and research, which contribute to diversifying the sources of the economy in the Kingdom, and contributing to building a local economy based on knowledge.

He stressed that KAUST Challenge represents a unique opportunity to support the media in the Kingdom, so that it can meet the challenges being faced by the sector, by employing and promoting a culture of innovation and digital transformation to build a prosperous and sustainable future for all in the Kingdom and the world as a whole.

For his part, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ASBAR World Forum Dr. Fahad Al-Orabi Al-Harthi praised the support and patronage of the acting Governor of Riyadh for this event, which represents a unique opportunity to contribute to the development of the media, expressing his hope that these ideas will help improve the quality of life, spread culture, consolidate citizenship, promote values, diversify services and enhance investment and development of digital infrastructure.

He added that KAUST, at the local or regional level, was distinguished by its missions and achieved ambition and success, and we are proud to partner with KAUST in knowledge development.

For her part, Senior Associate to the President & VP Strategic National Advancement at KAUST Dr. Najah Ashry affirmed that the development of the media sector is active and represents an urgent need in the Kingdom and the world.

She stressed KAUST's commitment as a leader of innovation thought through this challenge to find innovative solutions to the urgent problems facing the media system, indicating that this competition is not only to select the winners, but is designed to benefit the participants through in-depth experience, customized support and mentorship by pioneers of innovation and entrepreneurship at the local and global levels, expressing her thanks and appreciation to the strategic partners and sponsors of KAUST Challenge.

This was followed with the announcement of the names of the winners, to whom the acting Governor of Riyadh region handed over the prizes. FACTMATA, the British software company came in first place to win the grand prize worth of SR300,000, while Saudi Gharabil Est. and Saudi Sahafa Co. came in second and third places respectively and each of them won SR37,000.

Prince Mohammed honored the strategic partners and sponsors: Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Ministry of Investment, General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at), General Authority for Audio-Visual Media, Saudi Radio and Television Authority, Saudi Federation for Electronic Sports, Saudi Telecom, Riyad Bank, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. — SPA