Saudi Railway Company (SAR) said it has selected Huawei, a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT), as a partner to initiate smart railway and digital transformation in the Kingdom.

The companies signed a strategic MoU to initiate their partnership during a ceremony held recently at the Saudi group's headquarters in the presence of Saudi Railway Company CEO Dr Bashar Al Malik and Dennis Zhang, CEO of Huawei Tech Investment Saudi Arabia.

Through this new partnership, SAR and Huawei will work together to jointly design and innovate in the field of smart railway, including the application of next generation railway wireless network, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), cloud services and 5G across SAR’s railway network, said a statement from the company.  

The collaboration will also include training and knowledge transfer for innovative railway ICT solutions, which will enable SAR to provide a distinctive, high quality and reliable railway service across Saudi Arabia, it added.

Additionally, Huawei held its ICT Roadshow at SAR’s headquarters showcasing some of the most influential, cutting-edge technologies and solutions that are at the heart of the digital transformation era.

These include artificial intelligence-enabled ICT infrastructure, All Flash storage, Wi-Fi 6, campus network, cloud data centre, software-defined wireless area network (WAN), active-active disaster recovery, and intelligent video surveillance, said the statement.

Zhang said: "We are looking forward to working with SAR to develop a unique smart railway system that will be designed specifically to the needs of the Kingdom."

"This is a major infrastructure project that will have a significant impact on the country, and we are honoured to have been selected as a partner to bring our technology into making this vision a reality," he added.-TradeArabia News Service