Global tech conference ‘LEAP’ begins today in Riyadh

Over the course of three days from February 1-3, Riyadh will host one of the world's largest tech conferences, serving as a meeting place for the global tech community to discuss the most prominent social and cultural challenges facing the world.

LEAP, organised by the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, has a lineup of more than 400 speakers from 80 countries and includes the participation of over 700 emerging technology companies and startups.

Participation of Tech Pioneers

One of the global tech companies participating in the event is Micro Focus. The company specialises in software solutions and is a leading provider of enterprise programs globally, offering services to thousands of global customers to manage the core elements of their IT businesses.

At the conference, Micro Focus will showcase the latest technology in IT service management, cybersecurity, application modernisation, and digital transformation.

Additionally, areas covered also include artificial intelligence and robotics and their impact on the future of work and employment.

Vision 2030

Usandizaga said that Saudi Arabia is undergoing major tech changes, especially due to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, resulting in various Saudi sectors being disrupted by the Fourth Industrial Revolution: “A major tech event in the Kingdom at the global level such as LEAP reflects the qualitative shift that Saudi Arabia is experiencing in various areas, in particular the tech sector in which Saudi Arabia has demonstrated its superiority,” he said.

Saudi Vision 2030 is a strategic framework to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation, and tourism.

Usandizaga said Micro Focus was proud to be a part of the conference, which he said provides “a link between revolutionary pioneers and technology innovators, and business leaders, governmental entities, investors and others.”

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the future of work

In his presentation at LEAP, Usandizaga will spotlight the contributions of the of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and AI technologies in reshaping the future of work, developing technologies, and creating new jobs; and hence the need to re-imagine and reinvent work and most importantly Leadership.

According to Usandizaga, redesigning work in this way can streamline processes, increase efficiency, and enhance operational flexibility and agility.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution will also foster changes in hiring practices and expand the pool of available candidates and increase diversity for companies while helping to ease the broad workforce transitions that will play out across all countries. Eventually, this will change economies and societies, and make our world more interconnected than ever before.

Digitalisation in Saudi Arabia

Usandizaga said that Vision 2030 has helped speed up digitization in all sectors of the Kingdom, praising Saudi Arabia's use of AI to deal with the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, through several smart programs and applications.

He added that further technical developments are expected in Saudi Arabia, and that Micro Focus believed in the potential of the Saudi market in the technology sector.

Micro Focus is a British multinational software and information technology business based in Newbury, Berkshire, England. Regarded as one of the world’s largest enterprise software providers, they work with over 40,000 companies around the world and holding more than 1,800 patents. It has a market cap well in excess of USD$2bn.