The King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company (KAFD DMC), Riyadh’s premier business and lifestyle destination, and Samsung Electronics announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore areas for collaboration on the development and implementation of integrated smart city technologies in KAFD.

The strategic partnership will further enhance the digital experience for the district’s businesses, tenants, and visitors and build on KAFD’s status as a conduit for collaboration and innovation between Saudi Arabia and Asia.

The MoU demonstrates KAFD’s commitment to strategically investing in and adopting cutting-edge technologies, reimagining urban infrastructure and living through digital enablement. As a global technology leader, Samsung’s track record of ground-breaking product development, supports KAFD’s vision of leveraging smart city technologies to make urban districts more efficient, sustainable, and human-centric for its inhabitants, in line with Vision 2030.

The collaboration lays the foundation of the advancement of KAFD’s smart city infrastructure by exploring potential integration of enterprise-grade solutions, including access control, digital signage, and other smart and centralized systems, supporting real-time infrastructure and asset monitoring and management. A potential new Samsung experience center in the district will further enrich the community, offering residents exclusive benefits and discounts.

KAFD is the first neighborhood in MENA to achieve WiredScore’s Global Smart Neighborhood Certification and is the first district to launch a Smart WiFi-7 service in Saudi Arabia, as part of a long-term strategic agreement with leading Chinese technology provider, Huawei. KAFD also has smart-city platform pilot programs underway with the Chinese artificial intelligence company, SenseTime.