Saudi Arabia leads MENA with 86% of regional data center capacity

GHADA.ISMAIL

Mar 26, 2025

Saudi Arabia’s data capacity reaches 300 MW in 2025 amid digital growth ambitions

Riyadh – Sharikat Mubasher: Saudi Arabia now holds 86% of the Middle East's data center capacity, reaching 300 megawatts in 2025.

According to a report sent to Al Eqtisadiah by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the country’s data capacity has grown fivefold since 2017, with ambitions to expand cloud computing infrastructure by 2030 to meet the rising demand for advanced tech solutions.

Saudi Arabia hosts 58 data centers across various regions, supporting sectors like e-commerce, government services, and cloud applications. This infrastructure aids the adoption of AI, IoT, and smart cities, driving digital transformation.

Strategic partnerships with entities such as the Ministry of Energy, MODON, and the Communications, Space, and Technology Commission have been key to expanding this sector.

Collaboration with Uptime Institute and Tuwaiq Academy has also led to a new training academy for digital infrastructure skills. Additionally, the Microsoft Data Center Academy, launched with the National Academy of Information Technology, has trained over 200 participants to date.

Data centers are playing a crucial role in enabling digital services, improving business efficiency, and reducing operational costs. Abdulrahman AlMufadda, Deputy Minister for Communications and Infrastructure, described data centers as the "beating heart" of Saudi Arabia's digital transformation under Vision 2030, positioning the kingdom as a leading hub for digital investments in the region.

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Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: The Saudi Ministry of Tourism announced the launch of the AI Tourism Vision, a bold roadmap for building a smarter, more efficient, and sustainable tourism ecosystem by adopting advanced digital technologies.According to the Ministry, the Vision is built on five interconnected pillars to advance global leadership by setting new international benchmarks for AI-driven tourism innovation, elevate the visitor experience through seamless, personalized, and intelligent services, and accelerate operational transformation by enabling tourism enterprises to become smarter, more efficient, and more productive.This strategic framework also aims to champion responsible innovation through trusted, ethical, and sustainable AI, and empower the tourism ecosystem by unlocking new opportunities across the entire tourism value chain.The AI Tourism Vision focuses on strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position as a global hub for tourism innovation, in line with Vision 2030 economic diversification goals.In a LinkedIn post, Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism, said: “Our ambition goes beyond deploying new technologies. We are redefining the relationship between technology and hospitality, ensuring that artificial intelligence enhances the human experience, raises service excellence, and creates new opportunities for investment and growth.Under the AI Tourism Vision, the Ministry launched a beta version of TourismX, a global AI platform designed to become the digital backbone of the tourism sector. The platform is expected to transform how destinations, tourism services and visitor experiences are planned, managed and delivered through AI.TourismX enables a more connected digital experience across the ministry’s channels, leveraging AI to reshape the future of the Saudi tourism sector. The beta version features a suite of AI-powered tools for tourism businesses and professionals, including a hotel interior designer, menu creation assistant, branding and identity designer, hotel standard operating procedure generator, tour guide assistant, and tour script generator.

1001 closes $30mn Series A funding to expand presence in GCC

Dubai - Sharikat Mubasher: 1001, the sovereign artificial intelligence platform, announced the successful closure of its $30 million Series A funding round led by Lux Capital, with participation from existing investors General Catalyst, CIV, and Chris Re.The round also saw participation from new investors Sanabil Investments, Hanabi, and 9Yards, alongside a group of regional and global angel investors, the company revealed in a statement today.1001 will use the new capital to scale its engineering team and build out its commercial and go-to-market presence across key GCC markets.1001's systems apply to any high-value operational problem where better data and intelligence can improve decisions across the full range of physical and critical infrastructure, including aviation, ports and logistics, energy, industrials and manufacturing.Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh, Founder and CEO of 1001, said: “The GCC runs some of the world's most important infrastructure, managing a significant share of global oil flows, container traffic and international aviation. Business leaders here don't just want pilots. They want sovereign systems that deliver measurable results and make thousands of real-time decisions they can trust. This is the work we've set out to do, and this round lets us go deeper and bring the best local and global talent to it.”In turn, Deena Shakir, Partner at Lux Capital, commented: “We are especially proud to lead this round and to partner with 1001 as it helps the GCC build not just AI, but the capability to run its most important systems.”1001 builds an AI-native operating system for decision-making in critical industries. The platform combines live data ingestion, operational mapping, AI-driven decisioning, and oversight modules designed to turn real-time complexity into clear, auditable action.

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