Women now at the forefront of tech industry in Saudi Arabia: Princess Lamia Al Saud

From women being allowed to drive, travel and work without the permission of a male guardian to now taking senior leadership roles, women have experienced a tectonic shift in Saudi Arabia, a distant dream for many just a few years ago.

“It’s not odd. It’s just normal now, and a dream come true for every Saudi,” Princess Lamia Bint Majid Al Saud told Al Arabiya English as she remembered even for her it was “not that easy to get out and work back in the day.”

As the Secretary-General of Alwaleed Philanthropies (AP), and the first ever Goodwill Ambassador for UN-Habitat in the Arab region, Princess Lamia told Al Arabiya English on the sidelines of the inaugural Web Summit Qatar in Doha that Saudi women have embraced technology and “are living the best days” of their life.

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For the past two years, women have been winning hackathons in Saudi Arabia and more women are applying for tech workshops and diplomas, according to Princess Lamia.

“There is a huge, huge interest from women in our part of the world in technology and how to use it, whether it's for business or for philanthropy,” she said.

However, “women are still underestimated in the tech world,” and it’s a long road ahead of them “before they reach their full potential,” she added.

‘No one-size-fits-all in philanthropy’

Women empowerment has been at the core of Alwaleed Philanthropies (AP) since its foundation 44 years ago, according to Princess Lamia.

“We have reached over 1.2 billion beneficiaries and for women in specific, we lean towards the economic empowerment,” she said.

With over 1000 projects in more than 189 countries, the foundation, which is managed by 10 Saudi women, relies heavily on technology as an important source of data to reach specific target communities.

“If you want to empower Saudi women, it will not be relevant to apply the same thing in Egypt, or in Tunisia, in India, in Pakistan, or in Europe. There's no one-size-fits -all in philanthropy. So, technology, plays a very important role in speeding up the process, to give us the accurate data and makes you reach wherever you want to reach easily and much faster than before,” she said.

Alwaleed Philanthropies unveils Atlai: World’s first public AI reporting tool on deforestation

Princess Lamia also announced during the summit the launch of an innovative AI platform by Alwaleed Philanthropies to support global efforts to combat deforestation.

The AI-powered tool Atlai provides users around the world with access to data on deforestation, and the platform is designed to document and raise awareness on deforestation activities.

Guided by Saudi Vision 2030, the inspiration behind Atlai was the excitement and participation of youth in Saudi Arabia to reach the goal of planting 10 billion trees, Princess Lamia told Al Arabiya English.

“Upon our research, we found that the deforestation is the least highlighted issue and it's not that well taken care of,” she said.

“So, we thought, Atlai would be a very good initiative to create awareness about this issue,” she added.

Atlai is the first step in AP’s efforts to invest in AI and emerging technologies to maximize impact, combat climate change, according to Princess Lamia.

“Atlai is only a start to help decision makers with accurate data so they can move forward, whether to solve what's happening or just do something before it's too late,” she said.

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