Naver launches joint ventures to power Saudi smart city projects
Naver Cloud, the cloud service subsidiary of Korean tech giant Naver, said Wednesday it has completed an agreement with Saudi Arabia's National Housing Company to establish a strategic joint venture aimed at expanding smart city and digitalization initiatives in the Middle Eastern country.
The new entity, Naver Innovation, will be the first business unit under Naver Arabia, the internet giant's base for Middle East operations. The joint venture is backed by investments from Naver Cloud and NHC's subsidiary, NHC Innovation, according to Naver.
Naver Innovation will focus on developing and operating a map-based application for public transportation tailored for Saudi citizens and travelers. It also plans to expand into Naver's ongoing digital twin platform projects in the country.
Digital twin platforms, which virtually replicate real-world environments, are used to support smart city development. In 2023, Naver secured a deal with the Saudi government to create digital twin platform for Riyadh and four other cities in the country.
The upcoming platform, which will feature cutting-edge functions such as flood prediction, traffic flow analysis and population distribution analysis, is set to be deployed soon across Saudi cities.
'This joint venture demonstrates Saudi Arabia's commitment to introduce world-class technologies while localizing solutions to meet the needs of the local community,' said Ryan Alaql, CEO of NHC Innovation. 'Together with Naver Cloud, we will create a smart city that meets the goals of sustainability, innovation and improved quality of life under the Saudi Vision 2030.'
'It is a meaningful opportunity to work with local partners in driving Saudi Arabia's digital transformation,' said Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yoo-won. 'Naver Cloud will actively cooperate as Saudi Arabia leads innovation in the smart city sector.'
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