Saudia has selected CH2M Olayan, a partnership of CH2M HILL of Denver, Colorado and the Olayan Group of Saudi Arabia to lead development of the Sinnovate Smart Technology Hub (Sinnovate) in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) about 100 kilometers north of Jeddah. CH2M HILL (www.ch2mhill.com) is a global full service consulting, design, construction, and operations firm.
CH2M Olayan serves as designer and program manager leading a team including Microsoft and Dimension Data, which will provide IT solutions and enterprise architecture including hardware, software, and networking.
CH2M Olayan will provide data center and site building facility solutions including "smart security" and "smart building management" technologies. The project's "end to end" delivery structure includes software, hardware, networks and storage in addition to design of the hub's multiple buildings.
This greenfield technology hub will occupy approximately 41,000 square meters of land providing training and certification for Saudi citizens to support growing demand for high-technology talent. The hub will include two data centers and an administration building excluding the "white space" for both the "Enterprise Data Center" and a "Commercial Data Center," each with traditional and modular space supporting approximately 3.0 MW of IT power.
Also included is an Innovation Center containing training academies for the Kingdom's youth after college graduation. This flagship building will include classrooms, laboratories, study space, three auditoriums, meeting and video conferencing rooms, and administration spaces.
Other facilities in the hub include a Joint Development Center (approximately 5500 square meters) featuring Class A office space for Saudia and its partners and potential startup ventures jointly developing software solutions, and a Convention Center and Cafeteria including a kitchen, serving and dining areas.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah launched KAEC in 2005 which is scheduled for completion in 2029. The city's area is 186 square kilometers, the size of Washington D.C.
The Sinnovate Technology Hub is part of Saudia's grand vision of providing training to Saudi new graduates to become future technology leaders supporting business, research, and academic needs in Saudi Arabia and the surrounding region, while offering best-in-class data center and cloud services to businesses locating at KAEC, stated by Mr. Mohammad Albakr, EVP for IT and CFO at Saudia. The Sinnovate project aligns three highly respected technology partners to deliver a best-in-class program unprecedented in the industry.
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