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STC
From telecoms to digital enabler of the nation
STC, previously known as Saudi Telecom, was founded in 1997. In 2017 it began a transformation, built around its DARE strategy - Digitise, Accelerate, Reinvent, and Expand. Today STC describes itself as "a pioneer digital champion, always been focused on innovation and evolution, thinking about future to make it, to stay ahead as a truly meaningful and purposeful organization."
Saudi Arabia is a rapidly transforming nation, with a Vision 2030 to reduce its dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation, and tourism.
STC positions itself as the “digital enabler” of this vision, and much more than a telecoms or even communications business as it originally began in 1997.
While the company STC offers landline and fixed infrastructure, mobile and data services – it has also offers mobile, broadband and cloud computing services – but sees itself much more as the tech infrastructure of a nation that is rapidly becoming a leader in digital services – from shopping to entertainment, banking to transport, health and education.
STC redefined itself in 2017 through its “DARE” strategy. The company doesn’t see itself as a telecom operator but as a digital enabler providing digital services in various verticals.
CEO Olayan Alwetaid says “It’s been great to see how our customers have received our ventures into other areas, such as fintech, IoT, cybersecurity, AI, data centers, connectivity, 5G, cloud computing, e-gaming, and many more.”
As an example, STCpay is a digital wallet, which not only is of great convenience to our customers but is also in line with the Vision 2030 goal of reducing cash transactions. In addition, stcplay is our dedicated e-sports and gaming platform. Gaming and e-sport is one sector that continues to grow, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it, and in fact, we’re playing a huge role in transforming the Middle East’s gaming industry by connecting gaming service providers with gamers to ensure they have the best possible gaming experience.
STC Group made large investments in technology and talent within its data privacy and cybersecurity businesses. The key focus is to clearly understand the threats and risks faced by all our stakeholders and customer demographics, from confidentiality, integrity, availability, privacy, security, and resilience perspectives. Every customer and stakeholder group faces a specific set of unique cybersecurity threats and risks. Our cybersecurity teams work diligently to identify these threats, risks, and vulnerabilities. They use cutting-edge 24/7 cyber defense monitoring, vulnerability, and penetration testing, as well as threat hunting, in addition to governance, risk, and compliance practices involving the support of specialist teams.
While the focus is on technology development, we have also invested in the Internet of Things (IoT), as we tend to establish the country as a regional IoT hub in the Middle East and North Africa region in collaboration with PIF. Hence we founded a new company to expand and become a “one-stop-shop” for IoT solutions by using the experience and technology of existing IoT partners. According to local market research, the IoT market in Saudi Arabia might expand to $2.88 billion (SAR10.8 billion) by 2025, with an annual growth rate of 12.8 percent. The Internet of things has been identified in stc’s “DARE 2.0” strategy among the five strategic areas of investment. It is at our core and aligns with Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation initiatives, supported by PIF.
Moreover, we apt to endow technology in KSA through artificial intelligence, hence the group, with Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to implement many national initiatives to enhance artificial intelligence and digital solutions in Saudi Arabia, as we intend to localize digital solutions and exchange experiences and knowledge in the field of data management and governance. We also seek to support data quality globally within the best practices, along with assisting startups in adhering to data governance and implementing a personal data protection system.
STC further looks toward enhancing digitization by developing cloud computing, therefore we established a new company in Riyadh with “Alibaba cloud,” eWTP Arabia for Technical Innovation Ltd, the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI), and the Saudi Information Technology Company (SITE). The new company in Riyadh came in response to the significant increase in demand for cloud computing services and solutions in the region to provide advanced cloud computing services to companies operating in the KSA, ensuring that they employ the highest standards of security and protection.