Session 7: Perspectives from Government and Industry — Giga Projects

Speakers

Session Moderator

Dr. Paul Dalby, Director and Principal Consultant, In Fusion Consulting.

Panelists

Mr. Ray Moule, Senior Manager - Agricultural Development, NEOM

Dr. Maram Abadi, Senior Special Projects Manager, Red Sea Development Company & VP in Council of Young Arab Researchers & L'Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Fellow & Forbes Ignite Fellow

Mr. Ahmed Daoud, Director of Innovation Futures, Royal Commission of Al-Ul

Key messages

1. KSA giga-projects are investing heavily to ensure sustainable food security in their respective domains.

2. Despite the exciting development projects underway throughout the KSA, supply chains are not established to these areas and will limit growth and impact on the rest of the country.

3. Technological innovation must be coupled with behavioral change.

4. There is often a disconnect between aspirations and operational reality in the giga-project space.

Recommendations

1. Think and act radically with regards to transforming the KSA food system (e.g., can NEOM produce its own food requirements without planting any crops in the soil?).

2. Partner KSA giga-projects with institutions that are providing technological innovations to address food, energy, water, and climate change challenges.