In 2012 the kingdom announced its National Strategy for Transformation into a Knowledge-based Economy by 2030. The King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) stands out among the country’s many new scientific institutions and research centres. Aiming to push innovation forward, in 2015 KAUST invested $80 million in purchasing Shaheen-2, a brand new supercomputer, bringing the total amount spent by the university on supercomputers to approximately $150 million.

For early-stage entrepreneurs, the country has over 40 business incubators and many accelerator programmes, of which around 50 percent have some form of government affiliation, stated Nader Ajami, strategic planning director at Ogilvy & Mather Riyadh, in an article published on the Wamda platform.

Entrepreneurship, innovation become economic growth drivers in Saudi Arabia