In a competition filled to the brim with hugely talented and innovative startups from across the Arab world, Saudi startup Sawwagy has come out top to win “best Arab startup” at the GITEX 2016 Startup competition.
A Saudi designed and built application, Sawwagy is a unique solution to a unique problem.
With family drivers a daily part of life in Saudi Arabia, almost everyone has had to deal with the headache of time wasted waiting for the driver to find you, spending 40 minutes on the phone giving directions or having them say they’re 5 minutes away when it’s really closer to 30.
Sawwagy makes every one of those headaches a thing of the past.
With its simple and intuitive design, you can send your location directly to your driver’s own dedicated app and request a pick up. The app provides an estimated pick up time and lets you track your car in real time as they make their way to you.
And with automatic notification for when your driver arrives, you’ll never have to spend time waiting in the burning heat for them to show up.
The app also works great for sending drivers to a new location to complete a delivery or to pick up someone else.
Designed in Saudi Arabia’s first Usability Testing lab at UXBERT, the app has been rigorously tested with real drivers in Saudi to ensure that its interface is incredibly simple to learn and use.
Launched 2 weeks ago, the app has already seen an explosion in downloads, 3,000 and counting, and that was before the award announcement. All of which proves that the app is a product families in Saudi Arabia want.
With plans to introduce additional new features, such as monitoring car speeds, scheduling pickups and dropoffs throughout the day, and a whole lot more, Sawwagy is the best way to ensure your family’s safety on the road.
The team behind Sawwagy are proud of not just the award at GITEX 2016, but just as importantly they’re proud to be a part of the Saudi startup scene.
The hope is that they can use their success to help bring more attention to the incredibly talented community of Saudi entrepreneurs and innovators who are already doing amazing things.
What can you do with the Sawwagy app?
● Ensure your family’s safety on the road
● Know exactly where your car is and where it’s going
● Instant notifications when a drop off or pick-up has been completed
● Instant notifications for when the driver has arrived and is waiting
Saudi startup Sawwagy wins GITEX honor
Saudi startup Sawwagy wins GITEX honor
World Defense Show 2026: KPMG highlights human capital as strategic defense asset
KPMG published a series of four white papers as official knowledge partner for the World Defense Show 2026, reinforcing its commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s ambition to build a sovereign, future-ready defense ecosystem grounded in integrated capability development, localization, and digital readiness.
As global defense priorities evolve from procurement-led models toward capability-driven ecosystems, one of the papers in the defense integration series highlights a clear inflection point for the sector. According to KPMG analysis, defense localization in Saudi Arabia has increased from around 4 percent in 2018 to 24.9 percent in 2024, with the Kingdom targeting 50 percent localization by 2030. At the same time, local content across the defense sector has reached 40.7 percent, up from 38.4 percent in 2023, reflecting deeper integration across procurement, industrial participation, technology adoption, and workforce development.
KPMG’s findings emphasize that modern defense power is no longer defined by platforms and equipment alone, but by the ability to design, operate, integrate, and sustain advanced systems at scale. While technology, infrastructure, and capital investment remain critical enablers, the firm’s WDS position paper highlights that defense transformation has a significant human-capital focus, recognizing that skills, data literacy, and local expertise are essential to maximizing the performance, resilience, and sovereignty of advanced defense capabilities.
Christopher Moore, head of defense and security, said: “Saudi Arabia’s defense transformation has a significant human-capital focus, alongside major investments in technology, equipment, and industrial capacity. The progress we are seeing in localization and local content demonstrates that the Kingdom is not only acquiring advanced systems, but also building the skills, institutions, and operating models required to sustain them. Through our partnership with the World Defense Show, KPMG is proud to contribute insight and frameworks that help translate Vision 2030 ambition into operational readiness.”
This human-capital perspective forms part of a broader KPMG defense thought-leadership series developed for WDS 2026, which examines defense transformation through multiple, interconnected pillars. These include accelerating sovereign defense ecosystems, integrating business and technology infrastructure, financing future deterrence through public-private partnerships, strengthening industrial and technological autonomy, and building a future-ready defense workforce — reflecting KPMG’s holistic view of defense as an integrated national ecosystem.
KPMG’s research also situates Saudi Arabia’s progress within a global economic context. International benchmarks cited in the firm’s WDS analysis show that every $1 billion in defense manufacturing output in the US supports approximately 5,700 jobs, while the UK defense sector contributes around £25 billion ($34.2 billion) to GDP and sustains 260,000 skilled jobs. Across the EU, defense industries employ more than 1.6 million people and generate approximately 70 billion euros ($82.9 billion) in annual value. KPMG notes that similar dynamics are beginning to emerge in Saudi Arabia as localization accelerates and private-sector participation expands.
To support measurable progress, KPMG has proposed a Defense Workforce Capability Index — a framework that links workforce outcomes directly to operational readiness. The index tracks localization rates, technical qualification levels in advanced and digital systems, and the share of maintenance and sustainment conducted domestically, aligning human-capital metrics with broader defense performance objectives.
Taking place in Riyadh from Feb. 8 to 12, the World Defense Show will bring together senior government leaders, defense manufacturers, and technology innovators from around the world. The other three papers in the defense integration series focus on sovereignty, financing and technology.
