Acting Governor of Riyadh, HRH Prince Muhammad bin Abdulaziz, sponsors KAUST Challenge, awards winners

The Acting Governor of Riyadh, His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman bin Abdulaziz, has sponsored, on the evening of Saturday the 30th of October, the special ceremony held for the KAUST Challenge "Shaping the Future of Media", implemented by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in partnership with the Asbar World Forum at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh, in the presence of a considerable number of dignitaries and media professionals.

And upon his arrival at the venue of the ceremony, His Royal Highness was received by Dr. Tony Chan, President of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and Dr. Najah Ashry, first assistant to the president of the university and vice president for national strategic progress, and Dr. Fahad Al-Orabi Al-Harthy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Asbar World Forum.

The ceremony began with the playing of the royal anthem, followed by the recitation of verses from the Holy Qur’an. After which Dr. Tony Chan, President of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, expressed his acknowledgement to the Acting Governor of Riyadh, His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman bin Abdulaziz, and to all the sponsors and partners of the KAUST Challenge, which aims to encourage local and international talent to find ideas and solutions that help advance the country’s national priorities and support the Saudi 2030 Vision.

Chan clarified that supporting innovation opportunities is one of the goals of the great Saudi 2030 Vision, and that they at KAUST feel proud of our presence at the top of the innovation scene, and our role in providing the latest ideas and research, which contributes to diversifying the sources of the economy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and contributes to building a local knowledge-based economy. He also emphasized that the KAUST challenge represents a unique opportunity for us to support the media in the Kingdom, so that it can meet the challenges 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 of Saudi Arabia and the world.

In his speech, Dr. Fahad Al-Orabi Al-Harthy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Asbar World Forum, welcomed the patron of the ceremony, HRH Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman bin Abdulaziz, the Acting Governor of Riyadh, acknowledging HRH’s support and sponsorship of this event, which represents a unique opportunity to contribute to the development of the media, expressing his hope that these ideas will help Improving the quality of life, spreading culture, rooting citizenship, promoting values, diversifying services, promoting investment and developing digital infrastructure.

Dr. confirmed. Al-Harthy said that it is fortunate for this initiative that Allah has blessed it with a great university, not on the local or regional level, but on the global level, it is KAUST University, which carried out its mission as they should have, and as they always do, and with the blessings of Allah, this great project was achieved and has been successful, as we all aspired it to be. Pointing out that we are very proud of the partnership with KAUST, and we hope that we move forward towards developing this partnership.

On her part, Dr. Najah Ashry, Vice-President and Senior Associate of the President of KAUST University for Strategic National Advancement, welcomed the Acting Governor of Riyadh, His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Aziz, and all the sponsors and partners, she thanked Dr. Fahad Al-Orabi Al-Harthy, affirming KAUST University's pride in partnering with Asbar world Forum, the Forum that has various partnerships with local and international entities that can sponsor ideas and solutions adopted by the future media challenge.

Ashry explained that the development of an active media sector represents an urgent need in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the world, emphasizing on the commitment of KAUST, as a leader of innovation thought, through this challenge, to finding innovative solutions to the urgent problems facing the media system. She indicated that this competition is not only to select the winners, but is also designed to benefit the participants through deep experience, customized support and guidance by pioneers of innovation and entrepreneurship at the local and global levels, expressing her appreciation to the strategic partners and sponsors of the KAUST Challenge.

This was followed by announcing the names of the winners who were awarded by His Highness the Acting Governor of Riyadh. The British software company, Factmata, came in first place, and won the grand prize of 300,000 riyals, while the Saudi Gherbal and Press Institutions came in second and third places respectively, and won 37 thousand riyals each.

Following this, His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman bin Abdulaziz commended the strategic partners and sponsors, headed by the Ministry of Investment, the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at), the General Authority for Audio-Visual Media, the Saudi News Agency, the Saudi Radio and Television Authority, and the Saudi Sports Federation. Electronic, Saudi Telecom Company, Riyad Bank, Facebook, Google and Microsoft.

The ceremony was concluded by honoring HRH Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud by Dr. Najah Ashry, First Assistant to the President of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and Vice President for Strategic National Progress, and Dr. Fahad Al-Orabi Al-Harthy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Asbar World Forum.

On the sidelines of the ceremony, an exhibition was held, during which the latest research, ideas and concepts that are concerned with knowledge curiosity and ambition, and the development of innovative and ambitious solutions that contribute to facing the challenges faced by various sectors, in addition to stimulating ideas capable of supporting economic growth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through knowledge.

It is worth mentioning that the KAUST Challenge "Shaping the Future of Media" has witnessed the participation of more than 700 creators and innovators from 37 countries from around the world, who competed among a wide variety of 13 topics: content filtering, electronic games, data privacy and security, and system support, Environmental, Content Protection, Inclusion and Accessibility, Content Creation, Content Distribution, Insights and Analytics, Media Localization, Regulatory Barriers, Content Noise, and Optimal Standardization.

All entries were evaluated by a jury of 28 scientific personalities from inside and outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 15 contestants were selected as semi-finalists, to be filtered in the final stage to three contestants, who succeeded in presenting a set of ideas and creative media solutions, which are expected to be converted into large investment projects that will be adopted by institutions specialized in providing support and guidance, including: “Facebook, “Google” and Microsoft" among others.