Modernization of the municipalities was the theme of the Municipality Excellence Expansion Summit which was inaugurated by Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Abdul Lateef Al-Asheikh in Riyadh on Wednesday.

The minister said the summit is being held at a time when the Kingdom is rapidly embracing smart technologies and developing smart services as the population is dominated by tech-savvy youths who are accustomed to the conveniences of the digital age.

“Adoption of cloud computing, big data, mobility and applications, social media, autonomously connected devices, and service integration are no longer visions; they have become realities,” one of the delegates said.

In continuation of Naseba’s support of the Kingdom’s development efforts, the multinational company has organized this landmark first edition of the Municipality Excellence and Expansion Summit, supported by their government partner and patron, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.

Over a period of two days, more than 35 thought leaders will address an audience of over 200 mayors, director generals, CIOs, urban planning directors, project directors, directors of quality and organizational excellence, and many other key stakeholders from Saudi municipalities.

Summit participants will cover a range of topics, including effective leadership, high level strategy, concrete results-oriented action plans, constant evaluation and evolution— and most importantly, embracing smarter technologies and measuring success.

“Rapid progress is being made toward realizing Saudi Arabia’s vision of a knowledge-based economy,” said Jean Philippe, production director at Naseba. “This summit provides unique access to the Saudi decision makers and officials leading this transformation, and we look forward to providing our continuous support to the Kingdom’s development with future editions of the summit.”

The summit is a business platform introducing global pre-qualified solution providers to more than 150 pre-screened decision makers from Saudi Arabian municipalities. More than 1,000 delegates were present at the meeting which will run through Thursday.

Under the endorsement of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MOMRA), the summit hosts key city officials from municipalities across Saudi Arabia. With the Kingdom investing $500 billion into modernizing its infrastructure, they are keen to source solutions and services that will play a key role in their ongoing expansion plans.

As the entity responsible for the administration of municipalities across Saudi Arabia, MOMRA is investing its resources into urban development, smart technology and government excellence, a MOMRA official told Arab News at the summit held at the Hotel Kempinski in Riyadh.

An array of companies also participated in an exhibition which runs concurrently with the summit.

The first panel discussion was chaired by MOMRA Deputy Minister Abdul Rahman Al-Mansour with a group of local and international panelists.

Al-Mansour said that there are enormous opportunities as well as daunting challenges to fulfill the Kingdom’s vision for a sustainable environment for its smart cities. Municipalities are following the highest standards of municipal arrangement.

The other panelists were Tarek Al-Sheik, regional representative for Gulf States in Kuwait; Mayor of Madinah Mohammed Al-Amr; Abdullah Al-Garni, general manager of geomatics services solutions; and Omar Bondogi, head of business development at the Qatar Mobility Innovation Center.

Although cities cannot prosper on technology alone, ICT plays a huge role in delivering excellence to citizens, a delegate said.

MOMRA also hosted the first urban planning forum in March in collaboration with UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Program for a better urban future under the theme “modern trends in urban planning toward a prosperous city.”

Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Abdul Lateef Al-Asheikh

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