Saudi Arabia proposes sustainable digital connection for GCC states

Saudi Arabia has proposed the establishment of a sustainable digital connection between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states to enhance regional integration. During the 30th meeting of the GCC Ministerial Committee for Post and Telecommunications in Bahrain, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah bin Amer Alswaha outlined a strategy based on three pillars: transitioning from digital resilience to leadership in artificial intelligence, integrating energy and computing while maintaining data sovereignty, and building common markets for entrepreneurship.

To support this initiative, Saudi Arabia has increased its international capacity by 8.4 Tbps, reaching a total capacity of 18 Tbps. The Kingdom also proposed a digital connection model similar to the existing electrical grid interconnection to ensure regional digital resilience. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia has made 14 GW of electrical capacity available at various sites for data centers serving the region and the world. The Minister emphasized the importance of aligning standards and metrics to allow GCC companies, which include over 20 billion-dollar firms, to compete on a global scale.