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Golf Saudi wins Sustainable Legacy Award

The World Golf Awards, one of the industry’s most prominent and revered accolades, has awarded Golf Saudi with a Sustainable Legacy Award, during their annual ceremony in Dubai…reports Asian Lite News

The awards which brought together market leaders from more than 40 nations across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, North America and Oceania, was a celebration of the best courses and destinations across the golf industry.

Golf Saudi Win Sustainable Legacy Award

The World Golf Awards recognised Golf Saudi with a Sustainable Legacy Award for their efforts to inspire and encourage a nationwide culture of environmental and ecological innovation throughout all of its ongoing pioneering initiatives. This included Golf Saudi signing-up to a United Nations initiative for sporting organisations in the summer of 2021 aimed at achieving ambitious global climate change goals. Meaning that Golf Saudi is now one of the latest members of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, a growing community of organisations, leagues, tours and sporting tournaments committed toward the Paris Agreement’s net zero targets.

The World Golf Awards also acknowledged Golf Saudi’s Social Agenda and Mass Participation programme, both of which aim to provide Saudis with education and employment opportunities, providing certified golf specific career paths, as well as encouraging them to take up the game for the first time from a leisure perspective.

MAJED AL SOROUR, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, SAUDI GOLF FEDERATION, CEO, GULF SAUDI: “To once again be recognised by the World Golf Awards is a huge privilege and underlines the progress, we as an organisation are making towards our Vision 2030 goals in Saudi Arabia. Just this week, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence pledged to reach zero-net emissions by 2060, as part of the Saudi Green Initiative. So, for us to already have joined the UN’s Sports for Climate Action Framework shows that we are playing an active part in sport’s contribution to global climate action. We still have much progress to make but being recognised in this manner gives us belief that our strategy to sustainability will allow us at Golf Saudi to develop a fully formed golfing ecosystem for all our citizens to benefit from in the years ahead.”

The World Golf Awards serves to celebrate and reward excellence in golf tourism, world-class courses and golf destinations. Voted for by professionals working within the golf travel and tourism industry, this accolade further solidifies Golf Saudi’s position as one of the world’s fastest growing golf markets. Golf Saudi was awarded for its commitment to providing a clear path to a low carbon future for golf. By engaging and working together with other sporting federations and organisations, Golf Saudi hopes to encourage wider engagement in terms of tackling environmental issues and to face up to the threat posed by climate change.

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Chris Frost, Managing Director, World Golf Awards, said: “It’s great to see the progress of Golf Saudi and the scale of their ambition as they work towards their Vision 2030 goals. This award is in recognition of Golf Saudi’s efforts to establish themselves as a market leader in terms of sustainability and to us it’s clear that the organisation is taking noteworthy steps to meet and exceed international best practise across sport globally.”

Launched in 2014, World Golf Awards aims to improve standards within golf tourism by rewarding the leading destinations in their field. Votes for the 2021 World Golf Awards ceremony were cast by industry professionals and consumers from across the world in a range of categories, including both global and regional awards, with the ceremony itself taking place from the Park Hyatt Dubai on the evening of Thursday 28th October 2021.

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Arab News Business

AVEVA to extend its partnership with Aramco

AVEVA and Aramco Plan to Partner to Realize Key Sustainability Goals through Digitalization…reports Asian Lite News

Aramco, one of the world’s largest integrated energy and chemicals companies, and AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, driving digital transformation and sustainability, have announced their intention to form a strategic alliance. Focused on driving sustainability in the region through digital transformation, the partnership will help enable AVEVA to establish their largest digital hub, with an R&D capability, in the Middle East, headquartered in Saudi Arabia. This partnership will represent a significant investment for AVEVA which is also looking to create up to 300 high skill new jobs in the Kingdom by 2030.

Ahmad Al-Sa’adi, Senior Vice President of Technical Services, Aramco

This transformative and groundbreaking partnership is designed to foster a working relationship between the two companies in the deployment of various digital technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Data Management.  AVEVA and Aramco aim to work together to unlock the benefits of these technologies in line with the Kingdom’s move towards industrial sustainability. One of the key focus areas of the partnership would be to utilize digital technologies to support the development and implementation of blue hydrogen and decarbonization facilities in Saudi Arabia in line with the Kingdom’s energy transition strategy.  Another area in which the companies intend to work together is in the implementation of cutting-edge predictive analytics technology across Aramco’s operating facilities.  This would be one of the largest deployments of such technology in the region and the main goal is to further improve the reliability, performance, and safety of Aramco’s operation.

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A key offering for customers in the region through this new hub is intended to be AVEVA’s trademark Digital Twin technology which combines asset design and predictive analytics in order to create a fully integrated, real-time data visualization center that reveals functional insights, unlocks efficiencies, and identifies new pathways to optimize performance. The new hub, through its R&D capability, would contribute to enriching Saudi Arabia’s knowledge economy by incorporating world-class research at prominent universities across the Kingdom.

AHMAD AL-SA’ADI, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, TECHNICAL SERVICES, ARAMCO: “One of the key pillars for realizing the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 is Digital Transformation. Digital technologies have the potential to accelerate the transformation of the industrial sector and drive it towards more efficient and sustainable operations. Establishing partnerships with leaders in industrial digital software, such as AVEVA, is one of the main elements in our digital transformation strategy and we believe will help us realize our mission of leveraging digital solutions to deliver tomorrow’s energy more sustainably, efficiently, and safely. The regional hub that would be established by AVEVA would contribute to Aramco’s ‘In Kingdom Total Value Add’ (IKTVA) program goals and will facilitate Saudi Arabia’s path to realizing the benefits of a digital economy.”

AVEVA’s CEO Peter Herweck also commented, “AVEVA is proud to be working with Aramco towards an agreement to facilitate its digital transformation journey.  Through this partnership, the vision of our companies is to play a fundamental role in industrial sector decarbonization within Saudi Arabia and the delivery of its sustainable goals, bringing capabilities to optimize every aspect of the value chain with sophisticated imaging, data analytics, and deep-learning technologies that this initiative would bring. Through this initiative, AVEVA aims to contribute to creating job opportunities in the Kingdom and throughout the Middle East region.”