RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA, April 22nd, 2014 - Thomson Reuters, the world's source of intelligent information, signed an agreement with the Saudi Digital Library in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support the transformation of the Kingdom to a knowledge based economy.

Thomson Reuters will be a partner of scientific and scholarly research and will help nurture future scientists, stimulate the processes of critical thinking and equip the Saudi scientific community with greater depth of world leading scholarly work. According to the agreement, Thomson Reuters will also provide Web of Science back files to the Saudi Digital Library, which is a consortium of educational and research institutions in the Kingdom, with more than 310,000 scientific references covering all academic disciplines.

Higher education has scored remarkable leaps both in quality and quantity in Saudi Arabia. In this respect, the Ministry of Higher Education has adopted radical changes which in turn led to a new restructuring of the universities in Saudi Arabia to adapt with the orientations of the Saudi and the international labor markets. This reconstructing is achieved across a wide range of programs and plans to include a number of pivots. The most notable among these pivots are mainly seven which include: the acceptance and assimilation, harmonization, quality, finance, scientific research, scholarships and finally strategic planning.

Dr. Abdul Hamid Bin Mohammad Al-Suleiman, General Supervisor of the Saudi Digital Library and Advisor to the Ministery of Higher Education, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said: "The progress of any nation entirely depends on the extent it achieves in building and developing its human resources. Higher education represents one of the most important means of developing human resources, which in turn is considered a strategic investment for any country."

"Higher education globally is undergoing significant changes, transformations and challenges which are imposed by the technical and information developments of the contemporary civilization. This partnership with Thomson Reuters will nurture future scientists in the Kingdom, stimulate the processes of critical thinking and equip the Saudi scientific community with greater depth of world leading scholarly work," he added.

Yassir Touhami, Managing Director, Intellectual Property & Science, Middle East, Africa, & Russia / CIS, Thomson Reuters, said: "We are pleased to work with the Ministry of higher Education to support its mission to transform the Kingdom into a knowledge based economy. Thomson Reuters is uniquely positioned to offer a holistic solution that addresses the needs of practicing researchers."

"This deal is particularly significant given that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has established a goal to become a leading knowledge-based economy by 2025. We are thrilled to be part of this historic milestone in Saudi Arabia and we look forward to servicing the Saudi scientific community in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education & the Saudi Digital Library," he added.

For more information on the science and patent solutions from Thomson Reuters, go to www.thomsonreuters.com/science.

For more information on the work of MOHE, go to www.mohe.gov.sa/en

About MOHE
Comprehensive development works are taking place across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in all fields, and higher education is no exception; it is a pillar of the successful development in any country. A royal decree numbered 1/236 in 8/5/1395 AH (1975 AD) stipulated establishing Ministry of Higher Education to foresee executing the national higher education policy. The Minister of higher education is responsible for the execution of the government policy for university education.University education received generous support that made available new universities, colleges of science and applied fields and huge budget allocations. The twenty one government universities of Saudi Arabia, six private universities and eighteen private colleges, all of them host a plethora of disciplines that are not merely-academic. Ministry of Higher Education is adopting contemporary trends in scientific research and strategic planning. http://www.mohe.gov.sa

About Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges (symbol: TRI). For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.

CONTACTS
Tarek Fleihan
Thomson Reuters
+971562162575
tarek.fleihan@thomsonreuters.com
 
Mr. Abdullah Al-Amoudi 
SDL 
a.al-amoudi@sdl.edu.sa
Tel: 920014115 Ext: 1115 

© Press Release 2014