KAFD Development To Get A Smart City Platform

Orange Business will design, build and run an end-to-end platform, integrating AI and analytics into the district’s existing digital infrastructure

Orange Business has signed a deal with the King Abdullah Financial District Development & Management Company (KAFD DMC) in Saudi Arabia to design, build and run a smart city platform for its city-within-a-city development in Riyadh. It will integrate and connect existing digital technologies at Saudi Arabia’s prime business district, KAFD and utilise artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to become “a cognitive” city. There will also be a digital twin within the smart city platform to enable architects and engineers to analyse real-time data to optimise building design.

Orange Business, the enterprise division of Orange, will also provide a range of digital master systems integration services and orchestrate its partner ecosystem by working alongside company experts on systems integration and new use cases. The agreement was signed at a ceremony hosted at KAFD in conjunction with a panel discussion entitled Secure, Smart, and Sustainable: The Future of Smart Cities, and which was attended by guests including tenants and media representatives.

Considered as one of the world’s most sustainable business districts, KAFD aims to create a high-quality urban environment and lifestyle for businesses, residents, and visitors in line with Saudi Vision 2030’s Quality of Life programme and its objectives of enhancing the livability and competitiveness of the Kingdom’s cities.

Under the new agreement, Orange Business will provide a range of services to KAFD, including the Orange smart city platform. It is compatible with a range of systems and technologies and covers big data, data management, descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive data analytics, and governance.

AI-related use cases will include geolocation-based sentiment analysis of social media, analysing, collating, and sharing contextual data in areas ranging from water supply to traffic situation awareness, and energy optimisation across commercial office buildings.

“The increasing wave of urbanisation across the world is set to uncover a $517bn market for smart city solutions with an annual growth rate of 25 per cent, a fact that plays into KAFD’s objectives of building a future-proof and business-friendly hub in Riyadh,” said Gautam Sashittal, CEO of King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company (KAFD DMC). “A major step in that direction, our partnership with Orange Business will further strengthen our drive to become a global pioneer in smart urban development.”

Sahem Azzam, senior vice president Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, Orange Business, added: “The commissioning of the smart city Platform is a clear signal of our commitment to elevate the already world-class district to the next level of smart city evolution – what we call the cognitive city. “This is driven by the collection of data and leveraging AI and data analytics to provide deeper user insights as a basis for new use cases, revenue streams, and innovative services for the city’s population. It will also optimise city operations – making them better, faster, and safer.”

Orange Business has been involved in large-scale, complex smart city projects in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East for more than 10 years. It is currently engaged in a number of major projects spanning Egypt and the Arabian Gulf states, and through the Smart Africa initiative to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development across the continent.