Naver to support Saudi Arabia in building city-scale digital twin, super app

Naver will support Saudi Arabia in creating a city-scale digital twin and developing a “super app” using its advanced technologies, the South Korean internet giant said Thursday.

Naver said the company and its artificial intelligence and cloud service affiliates Naver Labs and Naver Cloud signed an agreement with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, or MoMRAH, and the Ministry of Investment, or MISA, to cooperate on the Middle Eastern country’s national digital transformation initiative.

The signing ceremony was held on Thursday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. From Saudi Arabia, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing Majed al-Hogail and Minister of Investment Khalid al-Falih attended the event. In attendance on Naver’s side was Chae Seon-ju, the president of ESG and External Policy; Seok Sang-ok, the CEO of Naver Labs; and Han Sang-yong, the executive director of Naver Cloud.

Under the agreement, Naver will work together with MoMRAH and MISA across all domains for Saudi Arabia’s ICT project as part of its nationwide digital transformation, the IT giant said.

The planned projects are expected to utilize Naver’s robotics and AI-enabled digital twin solution for Saudi Arabia’s city-scale simulations and city monitoring. The projects will also develop the MoMRAH’s tentatively titled “super app” for the country with the use of hyperscale AI and cloud, Naver explained.

Naver joined the “One Team Korea” consortium. The consortium, led by the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is aimed to secure Saudi Arabian projects under the auspices of the Korean government.

In the same month, Al-Hogail visited 1784, Naver’s second headquarters that has adopted various digital convergence technologies in South Korea, to explore the company’s technological prowess and mobile service planning and development capabilities, the company said.

During the visit, they also discussed how to utilize digital technology in housing and building management, as well as other aspects of urban planning such as transportation and public safety, Naver added.

Representatives from three other Saudi Arabian government agencies related to AI and data also visited the company in February this year following the minister’s visit, Naver said.

"The technical prowess of Team Naver is gaining recognition in the global market after years of sustained investment in cutting-edge technologies, and we will leverage our expertise and collaborate closely to support the Saudi government's national digital transformation initiative,” said Chae, Naver’s president in charge of ESG and External Policy.

"Taking this case as a significant opportunity, where collaboration began in earnest following our participation in the ‘One Team Korea,’ we will further strengthen our efforts to pioneer the global market and stay committed to establishing Naver as a leading global tech company," Chae added.