Week in Review
Week 6 in Review: After iktva, major announcement at LEAP 2023, and good drivers
President and CEO Amin Nasser made major announcements of a deal with Zoom and more funding for Wa’ed Ventures.
It’s a busy time of year at Aramco.
Last week, the company was fully engulfed in the iktva Forum and Exhibition. This week, all eyes pointed toward Riyadh as Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser made some major announcements in the field of technology.
Here’s a quick look at the big headlines over the past week.
CEO brings major Zoom and Wa’ed Ventures announcements to LEAP 2023
Aramco this week announced a strategic partnership with Zoom and an increase in funding for Wa’ed Ventures. The announcements were made at the second edition of LEAP, a major international technology conference held annually in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The strategic partnership with Aramco aims to build Zoom’s first global data center in the Kingdom, to support the digital transformation ecosystem. The data center is expected to connect to the Zoom global data center network and will serve Saudi Arabia and the region.
Aramco also announced additional funds had been allocated by the company to Wa’ed Ventures, increasing the size of its Kingdom-focused venture capital arm from $200 million to $500 million. The increase will help enable the company to deliver an accelerated investment performance regionally and globally.
How our National Training Centers support iktva and drive local talent
The iktva Conference and Exhibition concluded last week, but the message continued to resonate through Aramco and all the Kingdom.
“A major factor in iktva’s success is local talent, which is driving innovation and supporting these companies,” said Aramco senior vice president of Human Resources, Faisal Al-Hajji.
Al-Hajji noted that to help sustains this growth, our 16 National Training Centers offer programs in more than 60 fields. To date, over 48,000 men and women have graduated from these centers Kingdomwide.
Picture This: Pipelines Virtual Reality Emergency Control Center
An interactive demonstration showcasing a virtual reality (VR) emergency control center (ECC) marks a groundbreaking first for Pipelines.
The prototype technology was unveiled to Mohammad A. Hatlani, Pipelines vice president; Usamah A. Musabbeh, Northern Area Pipelines manager; Faisal K. Nuaimi, East-West Pipelines manager; Abdullah M. Ajmi, Southern Area Pipelines manager; and Anthony B. Martinez, Loss Prevention engineer; in the Pipelines Emergency Control Center in North Park 2, Dhahran, recently.
Through VR headsets, attendees could explore and interact with one another in a 3D animated room.
The participants were able to connect to the virtual ECC from different locations, such as Abqaiq, E-W Pump Station 3, and Dhahran. The technology also allowed the managers to interact with life-like virtual models of pipelines assets and facilities.
It is the first time that VR has been used in this way by the company.
Aramco recognizes more than two dozen of the company’s safest drivers
The 25 winners of the Traffic Safety Excellence Award (TSEA), which promotes safe driving culture among Aramco employees, have been announced. The ceremony was held by the Traffic Safety Services Division (TSSD) on Feb. 2 at the Industrial Security Operation Academy.
The TSEA started in 2019. One of the great examples validating the success of this award is the number of participants, which jumped from 1,288 participants in the first year, to 3,067 this year — a 138% increase.
The award has three categories: The top five departments with the highest participation rates, and two that are based on age — 30 years old and below, and those aged 31 and above.
“This ceremony is a small token of thanks and appreciation to the winners and to the Aramco leadership who are part of the major downward trend of motor vehicle administration fatalities,” said Abdullah S. Al-Rajhi, TSSD director.
Last week, 18 Aramco professionals were recognized by president and CEO Amin Nasser after completing a four-week program at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) with top researchers in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
The program, Aramco’s AI Corridor and Autonomous Systems Academy, was organized by Aramco’s Digital Transformation Office with Caltech, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and AI startup Beyond Limits.
The customized certificate program demonstrates the company’s commitment to building the Aramco Global AI Corridor, which pairs local talent with global expertise. The AI Corridor is a partnership between Aramco and private industry to create a world leading AI tech hub in Saudi Arabia that can address complex challenges across industries and the world.