Page 22 - U4SSC Factsheet, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 2020

Riyadh’s public sector is its largest employer, employing more than one-third of the city’s workforce,
and is the source of approximately half of Riyadh’s total production of goods and services. The city,
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therefore, has an important part to play in increasing ICT sector employment and investing further in
R&D and innovation. As Riyadh works on meeting the digital goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 strategy on
implementing smart alternatives to unify government services, there is an opportunity to create and
retain a larger smart workforce locally. The city benefits from the presence of the King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz City
for Science and Technology (KACST), which carries out research designed to promote the enrichment
of Saudi society through technological development. KACST collaborates with several scientific and
technological centres around the world on innovative projects, such as the establishment of a national
observatory and an aquaculture research centre. Its presence and that of several local universities can
be leveraged to develop a pipeline for local technological talent for the city’s workforce.

Entrepreneurship and self-employment should also be encouraged further and incentivized, which will
lead to the formation of more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the city. SMEs are the
backbone of any city’s economy, regardless of overall business-size mix. A city’s continued growth is
based, in part, on its ability to promote knowledge-sharing. A wide base of SMEs results in knowledge-
intensive economies that can benefit from relationships between firms of related but varied industries
which look to reinvent and innovate. The cities that have strengths in these sectors benefit not only
from the growth of these industries, but also from the improved productivity in other firms. Therefore,
supporting a culture of innovation and technological advancement, especially across its SMEs landscape
will help Riyadh’s future economic growth. To capture its full current state in this regard, that will
enable future benchmarking, it is recommended that Riyadh collects data on and report the number
of SMEs that exist in the city.

16 U4SSC Factsheet | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | June 2020