The Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has successfully concluded its participation in the LEAP Conference, showcasing its various innovative services, technologies, and digital solutions that contribute to accelerating the digital transformation of the public and private sectors and ensure a safe environment for digital infrastructure to ensure availability and connectivity for various business sectors by providing the largest advanced 5th Generation technology in the Middle East. STC, on the sidelines of the conference, signed several agreements with major international companies, including Microsoft, Huawei, Ericsson, and Cisco, in addition to other agreements with different government agencies, such as the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, the Ministry of Tourism and the Saudi Tourism Authority. The Company had announced an initiative to establish a $1billion main digital center "MEAN Hub" for the Middle East and North Africa, in addition to STC's intentions to establish a company specialized in hosting services in data centers and regional and international connectivity, with a capital of SR100 million. Moreover, STC also announced an initiative to establish a factory to localize data centers in the Kingdom, in partnership with Huawei, and cooperated with Ericsson to support the 5th Generation core network and business support systems to enhance the independent 5-G networks, in addition to signing an agreement with Microsoft Arabia to develop areas of innovation, cloud technology strategies and 5-G solutions. Also, STC said that it has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing to enhance governance and strategic cooperation in information and communication technology and to develop cooperation in developing and improving the smart city system and digital initiatives. For its part, STC Academy announced the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Huawei on the sidelines of the conference, aimed at developing the capabilities of 5G technologies at the STC group and national levels. It includes a national 5G competition for universities, where students will be trained to be certified in 5G technology and to be able to build innovative projects in 5G technology, in addition to creating a base model for the 5G laboratory that includes a comprehensive 5G technology interlinked with relevant learning paths, as the laboratory is planned to be a source of high quality 5G training for STC group and at the national level. During the conference, STC presented the advanced communication technologies that are provided to the Communication Medicine Center in Jazan, where the patients can meet remotely with their doctors for checkups and diagnosis purposes from a distance. It also makes it possible to provide patients with medical and treatment advice through electronic audio, video, and information system through the company's cloud digital infrastructure, by linking this system with various health care facilities through telehealth systems (communicative medicine), which will enhance and facilitate the provision of health care and raise the quality of medical care services for citizens and residents. In its pavilion, STC showcased the 5G technologies used in ports, as these technologies contribute to providing fast and secure communication solutions that contribute to the operation and management of port operations through smart and real-time monitoring and automation of container landings and the entry and exit of trucks through intelligent vehicle routing, which increases the efficiency of operations inside the port. The STC 5G mobile cart was present at the venue to introduce the 5G technologies and their multiple uses to enrich the customer experience, introduce modern services and technologies, and contribute to supporting smart cities and digital homes by providing high connection speeds and short response time that contribute to raising the level of security, comfort and energy savings by connecting home appliances with high-speed Internet. On the final day of the event, STC won the Platinum Operator Award in LEAP22 from the Communications and Information Technology Commission, as the best-performing telecom service provider in terms of electronic games in the Kingdom in 2021. — SPA
