4IR Center opens in Saudi Arabia with opportunities to apply Blockchain

4IR Center ( Fouth Industrial Revolution) has opened its center in Riyadh Saudi Arabia in partnership with World Economic Forum. KSA is seen to have the potential to become a global center for 4IR technology whether it is drones, robotics, AI, Blockchain and others.

Mr. Mansour Alsaleh, Director for 4IR center in KSA spoke to Arab News stating, “Saudi Arabia has the potential to become a leading country in developing a regulatory framework for heavy-duty drones. It can stay ahead of the rest of the world."

Alsaleh has identified 70 opportunities for the Kingdom to apply 4IR technology: artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, government data systems, and “smart cities such as NEOM.” Each potential project went through four stages, he explained: Framework development in collaboration with other stakeholders. Prototyping and testing. Scale-up within the regulatory framework.

One of the challenges was to identify the technology early and develop it further through the “sandboxing” and testing phases, even if the regulatory framework was fully developed. “Sometimes you just have to take risks,” he said. Some experts have warned of challenges related to rapid technology development, such as vulnerability to cyber-attacks and concerns about data privacy, but Alsaleh is confident that these issues can be resolved and overcome. Was there.

“There is no single recipe to solve these challenges. We need to tackle them one by one. But if we focus more on the benefits of 4IR technology, we can overcome them. It helps. We need to minimize the risks of emerging technologies, “he says.

Saudi Arabia is one of the 13 centers of 4IR around the world, and Alsaleh said its benefits will impact the world.