Oct 03, 2024

KFUPM & RDIA Partner to Shape KSA's Research Future

The King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals partnered with the Research Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA) to host the 2024 Research Forum: New Research Identity for a Better KSA and World to engage the nation’s industry and governmental partners, by focusing on energy, sustainability, future economies, and health.

As part of KFUPM’s transformation, reflecting the nation’s Vision 2030 goals of fostering a diversified economy through impactful research, the Research Forum opened with a message that it is the intersection of government, industry, and academia where the nation will solve the world’s Grand Challenges. The Forum included launching KFUPM’s Consortium for Hydrogen Future and Consortium for Sustainable Future, which reflects the commitment to achieve our sustainability goals.

“It gives me pleasure to participate in this great forum where we can showcase how the University’s transformation is aligned with Vision 2030 as well as the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals,” announced KFUPM president, Dr. Muhammad Al-Saggaf at the forum opening.

KFUPM teamed up with strategic partner, RDIA, to share the direction the nation’s research agenda is taking between now and 2040.

“RDIA is here to be the North Star for the whole country’s research sphere,” said Executive Director of the National Priorities and Missions Sector of the RDIA, Dr. Saeed Al-Turki. “There is a new era for innovation in KSA.“

Dr. Saeed Al-Turki

Al-Turki said the University’s transformation is aligned with the new movement towards innovation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He said the country is going to spend 2.5 per cent of the GDP on research and development by 2040. The country has to move to a nonoil-based economy.

“If we are going to spend 130 billion riyals by 2040 on R&D, we need to quadruple the size of our research pool. We need to increase our pool of research talent from 30,000 to almost 140,000,” said Al-Turki.

“We have to create 160,000 jobs directly from R&D efforts, while also solving many Grand Challenges,” he added.

Health, energy, essential needs (such as food security), and future economies (such as mineral resources), represent KSA’s largest economic sectors, he said.

The key, he added, is tearing down the walls separating industry and academia.

“An important transformation we want to encourage in the country is breaking the silos between universities and the private sectors, by creating four innovation districts in the sector areas.”

The Research Forum was held from October 1-3 at KFUPM, covering current topics in R&D: Energy and Industrial Leadership; Economies of the Future; Sustainable Environment and Essential Needs, and Health and Wellness. Research professionals from across the globe gave keynote addresses on top research trends and methodologies.