Microsoft Arabia, the strategic sponsor of the second edition of the world’s largest technology conference, “LEAP 23”, has announced that its participation in the conference held at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Convention Center, in Riyadh was a major success. The conference took place from 6 to 9 February.

icrosoft showcased its technical solutions in four main areas: sustainability, cybersecurity, hybrid cloud, and accessibility, which directly contributed to supporting the Kingdom’s journey in digital transformation in line with the ambitious Vision 2030.

The company signed several strategic agreements during the conference, including the formation of the “Estidama Sustainability Council” to respond to the transformations of sustainable economies, with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the Research, Development and Innovation Development Authority to support the Kingdom’s commitment to implementing sustainable development goals.

In the areas of planning, infrastructure establishment, policy development, and investment, Microsoft Arabia also signed an agreement with Dallah Al-Baraka Holding Company, aimed at cooperating in strategic technical solutions, leveraging the power of Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, services and solutions, business automation and cybersecurity, data analysis, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and privacy solutions.

Microsoft also announced its intention to invest in a new cloud data center in Saudi Arabia to provide further investment in local infrastructure in response to increasing customer demand from local and international companies and public sector institutions for cloud services. The investment is part of the company’s continuous efforts to enable organizations to achieve digital transformation in accordance with the goals and vision of the Kingdom. 

The new data center will provide organizations and developers in the Kingdom and around the world access to highly flexible and scalable cloud services while meeting the security, privacy, and compliance needs of the data residents, which will enable organizations to digitally transform, participate in innovation and make an economic impact.

Microsoft’s participation in the exhibition came with 28 of its technical partners, with each showcasing their innovative solutions powered by Microsoft’s technology.

Eng. Thamer Alharbi, President of Microsoft Arabia, stressed the importance of participating in LEAP 23 and said: “Microsoft’s mission in enabling every person and organization on the planet to achieve more is what drives Microsoft constantly to work with many partners and governments in various fields in doing more with less.”

During the conference, Microsoft presented solutions to significant challenges faced by various sectors, demonstrating how “do more with less” has driven digital transformation in the Kingdom. Alharbi added that staying ahead of changing economic and societal conditions requires institutions to be proactive and embrace advanced technological solutions which offer flexibility, quality, increased efficiency, and cost savings.

Rayan Zahid, Chief Operating Officer at Microsoft Arabia, said: “Microsoft’s commitment to supporting and enabling the public and private sectors to do more with less will enable the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to advance technologically to new horizons in the domains of health, education, banking services, financial technology, automobiles, energy, and others.”

Microsoft’s commitment to sustainability and conservation of environmental resources led to the company’s pledge two years ago to become carbon negative by 2030, thus ensuring its contribution to the world’s biodiversity; in line with this commitment, its booth at the LEAP 23 conference was made entirely of sustainable materials.

And to emphasize its commitment to sustainability, Microsoft presented a range of new Surface devices; Surface Laptop 5 and Surface Studio 2+ were showcased beside Surface Pro and Surface Pro 9; both are powerful hybrid devices that offer the best of a laptop and cloud-supported tablet in one, while still being enjoyable for both work and leisure. The latest, more sustainable versions feature increased repairability compared with previous ones. The company also showcased all the products available in the EXPRO catalog.

Microsoft enriched the discussions of “Leap 23” conference through its six speakers who discussed topics related to security, sustainability, hybrid cloud, and technological development.

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