The Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) concluded the 10th edition of the ICT Indicators Forum 2024 which revealed the growth of ICT sector market size to reach 166 Billion SAR in 2023, with CAGR of 8% during the period (2018-2023). The forum was attended by prominent ICT experts and leaders and included four main presentations and a panel discussion that highlighted the ICT sector indicators in the Kingdom and its future trends.
The forum started with a presentation on ICT Sector Performance Indicators by Mr. Mufarreh Nahari, the General Manager of Studies at CST, which highlighted the ICT sector development and growth, as the Kingdom ranks 2nd among the G20 in the ICT Development Index 2023. The indicators revealed the increase in mobile services penetration rate reaching 198%, while the IoT M2M subscriptions reached 12.6 Million. Also, the mobile internet speed in the Kingdom reached 215MB during 2023, with 99% internet penetration rate. The year 2023 witnessed an increase in the number of cloud computing service providers listed in CST which jumped to 31 local and global providers.
The second presentation entitled “Navigating the Innovation Frontier: Technology Market Outlook for Saudi Arabia” was presented by Mr. Hamza Naqshbandi the IDC’s Vice President of Custom Solutions in (META) & Country Lead in (Saudi Arabia & Bahrain) and Mr. Jyoti Lalchandani the Group Vice President & Regional Managing Director (META) at IDC, which highlighted the emerging technologies in the Saudi tech market, emphasizing that by the end of 2024 the total spending on technology will reach $18.4 Billion, while the Government spending on AI, IoT, Cybersecurity, and Big Data Analytics will exceed $752 Million.
The panel discussion on “The Future of the Tech Landscape in Saudi Arabia” presented the future prospects of ICT market experts, with the participation of Mr. Salman Faqeeh, the Managing Director at Cisco in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Fahad AlTurief , the Vice President of Tech Cloud, in Saudi Arabia, Levant and North Africa at Oracle, and Mr. Othman Alhokail a Partner at Merak Capital.
During the 3rd presentation, Mr. Jassem AlJobran, the Head of Research at Aljazira Capital, discussed the “ICT Sector Financial Performance in Argaam”. He stated that the assets of the listed ICT companies had reached 250 Billion SAR, as the Kingdom’s market represents 37% of the total ICT assets in the GCC countries. Additionally, the total revenue of ICT listed companies is ranging around 119 Billion SAR, with the Kingdom accounting for 41% of the GCC countries revenue. Furthermore, the market value listed ICT companies also reached 379 Billion SAR, presenting the largest share in the GCC countries by 57%.
The forum concluded its agenda with announcing the “Saudi Internet 2023” report presented by Mr. Sami Aldaham, the Director of Internet Services Development at CST. The report addresses internet usage and growth in the Kingdom, including indicators and information related to the users' behavior and preferences, as well as trending apps and data consumption per person.
