Second edition of LEAP technology conference opens in Saudi Arabia

The second edition of a major technology conference has opened in Riyadh, with representatives from companies including Snap, Aramco, and Zoom due to hold exhibitions.

The LEAP conference kicked off with an announcement from cloud computing service Oracle pledging a $1.5 billion investment into Saudi Arabia.

Last year’s event racked up $6.4 billion worth of investments into technology in the Kingdom, which is striving to modernize its economy.

LEAP is being held at the Riyadh Front Expo Center from Monday February 6 to Thursday February 9.

It will feature more than 720 speakers from 50 countries. Other exhibitors include Google, NEOM, Mastercard, Ericsson, and John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong special administrative region.

In total, more than 100,000 people are expected to attend LEAP, which was organized by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in conjunction with Tahaluf – a strategic joint venture co-owned by Informa PLC and the Saudi Federation for Cyber Security and Programming (SAFCSP).

There will also be celebrity guests who are active in the technology industry, including rapper Will.i.am and footballer Charles Puyol.

“We look forward to showcasing the endless possibilities technologies have at LEAP23, shining a light on the growing influence of our leading-edge tech solutions,” said Mastercard Vice President of Innovation Keith Jordan in a statement.

“There has never been an event that has gained such rapid traction among businesses, governments, sponsors, and tech luminaries,” added Michael Champion, Regional EVP, MEA at Informa Markets. “Tech players now view LEAP as an unmissable event and Saudi Arabia as a catalyst for an entirely new world of opportunity.”

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