TABUK: Nazmi Al-Nasr, the CEO of Neom project, on Monday met the first batch of students to benefit from an external scholarship program sponsored by the developer of the ambitious $500 billion mega city project in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia.
Fifteen students were chosen for the first phase of the program, which focused on applicants in communities close to the Neom site in Duba and Haql. In all, 250 students are expected to receive scholarships over the next five years, and will study at universities in the United States.
The students gave presentations to Al-Nasr and Neom’s social responsibility team, detailing their their specialties and ambitions for the ways in which they will contribute to one of the most ambitious development projects in the world.
“Investing in human resources is a key building block for the success of any future plan or project, and the people in the Neom community, of both sexes, are the best,” said Al-Nasr. “We can rely on them to reach our goals, which include...attracting the best talents and minds to build the city of the future in Neom.”
The aim of the scholarship program is to develop skills among the local population, involve it in the development of the project and provide the recipients of the scholarships with suitable job opportunities with the Neom project when their studies are complete. The first phase of the program includes developing skills in the fields of tourism, hospitality and archaeology. Other disciplines will be added as the project progresses.
More than 300 students applied for the first phase of the scholarship program. Of those, 50 progressed to the final selection stages, before 15 were offered sponsorship to study for bachelor’s degrees. After a two-month foundation course in the English language, in partnership with the University of Tabuk, the students will travel to the US in January, where their education will begin.
CEO of Neom Saudi mega city project meets first group of scholarship students
CEO of Neom Saudi mega city project meets first group of scholarship students
- Fifteen students were chosen for the first phase of the program
- The aim of the scholarship program is to develop skills among the local population
Airbus seeks to strengthen Saudi defense ties
MALHAM: Airbus is aiming to deepen its strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, a “core customer” in the region, according to Head of Air Power, Airbus Defense and Space Jean-Brice Dumont.
“Saudi Arabia is one of our customers in the region that we have a very strong link with,” Dumont told Arab News on the sidelines of the World Defense Show in Riyadh.
“We have a very strong link with decades of history of Airbus in the country, be it for helicopters, but in my case for military aircraft.
He said the Kingdom was “sort of a hometown for us for these flying platforms and for the maintenance, repair, and overhaul of these platforms.”
Airbus has a longstanding partnership with Saudi Arabia in both commercial and defense aircraft that dates back nearly 50 years.
“We have already invested quite significantly in the region,” Dumont said. “Notably, we have a JV (joint venture) with SAMI (Saudi Arabia Military Industries) in Saudi Arabia and that, I believe is the beginning of a longer journey. But so far, when we see what’s happening in the region, it’s already quite good.”
In 2021 SAMI, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund and the National Champion of Military Industries Localization, and Airbus signed an agreement to form a joint venture on military aviation services and maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities.
During the interview Dumont also looked ahead, detailing the strategic roadmap for 2026–2030 that moves beyond traditional hardware toward a digitally-dominant battlefield.
“I think we are reaching the end or the limits of the ‘fighter goes alone’ kind of model,” he said. “Now, the fighters need to communicate, to command drones, to be themselves receiving information by a mass, high-throughput data link so that they can play their role — their new role — in the battlefield.”
He also spoke about how the A330 aircraft was moving beyond its basic reputation as a “flying gas station” to become a high-tech “command center” in the sky.
“The A330 can be first much more automated. The air-to-air refueling can be automatic, and we have developed that capability,” he explained.
“On the other hand, it’s a big platform flying high, which can act as a command-and-control node in the system of systems that the air forces are all aspiring to.”
On the Eurofighter, he said it was “a bit symmetrical,” while speaking about the “buzz” around artificial intelligence he said that while neural networks have been embedded in Airbus platforms for nearly 20 years, the next decade would see AI move to the forefront of decision-making.
From mission preparation to real-time command, he said, the goal is to process vast amounts of data to act faster than the adversary.
“The one who gets that right has won,” he said.
