Singapore. Friday, 24 June 2022: The International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT) today announced a high-impact collaborative partnership with the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program Saudi Arabia (NIDLP) to drive the adoption of the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) throughout Saudi Arabia.
The partnership between INCIT and NIDLP was announced at an inaugural signing ceremony at Hotel Swissôtel The Stamfordin Singapore today. Guests at the event included His Excellency Ambassador for Saudi Arabia Mr. Abdullah Almadhi, Francisco Betti, Head of Manufacturing and Production, World Economic Forumand Suliman Almazroua, CEO of NIDLP.Guest of honour, Dr. Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry warmly invited the Saudi Arabia delegation to the event. Among the other attendees were INCIT CEO, Raimund Klein, Vikram Kalkat, Vice President, Members & Partnerships INCIT and Mike Chan, Director, Partnership Relations INCIT.
The NIDLPSaudi Arabiaaims to transform the Kingdom into a leading industrial powerhouse and a global logistics hub by maximizing the value of its mining and energy sectors while unlocking the full potential of local content and the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). NIDLP largely contributes to driving the Kingdom’s economic diversification towards sustainable growth by fostering a globally attractive investment environment.Through this partnership, NIDLP aims to adapt the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) at several thousand production facilities across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia–a move that will effectively transform Saudi’s manufacturing sector. The adoption of SIRI across manufacturing facilities will significantly help NIDLP in their goal of developing a sustainable comparative advantage that will place the Kingdom at the forefront of investment attractiveness.
At the inaugural event, Suliman Almazroua, CEO of NIDLP said “The partnership will see the opening of a training and certification center in which the Smart Industry Readiness Index – Assessor training courses and examinations are designed to develop a deep, understanding and prioritization framework. The framework will increase awareness and set aspirations for manufacturers in digital transformation. We will assign local champions who will be multipliers to scale the Smart Industry Readiness Index in the country with experience in Industry, Government Ministry or Business Consultancy.”
Raimund Klein, Founder and CEO of INCIT, believes this exciting collaboration will bring guided digital transformationand growth to the manufacturing sector in Saudi Arabia. “There are many different industrial segments in Saudi Arabia, such as the manufacturing of mechanical equipment, metal, and mining, as well as processing of oil & gas and food & beverages. This makes Saudi Arabia an important market, especially after COVID where the disruption of the supply change will create a new normal –after the great reset this will be led by countries focusing on the speed of the digital transformation of their manufacturing industry. We want to keep the neutrality… so that we really have data integrity, and Singapore is the best place at the moment in Asia to provide that.” says Mr. Klein.
Mr. Fransisco Betti, Head of Manufacturing and Production, World Economic Forum said “The way SIRI has been scaling globally is unprecedented. It’s the only tool that’s being deployed that’s being deployed in a consistent way, globally. By doing that, INCIT is building the most powerful global database on digital manufacturing. When you look at the transition of advanced manufacturing and Industry 4.0, Singapore is one of the role models. It’s definitely a transformation story from which many other geographies can learn. “
Speaking at the inaugural event, Mr. Majid Algwaiz General Manager of the General Administration of Manufacturing, Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, said “Singapore focuses on high value-adding industries, and I think Saudi Arabia should try to learn and maybe mimic some of the practices here. We will definitely take the outcomes of the INCIT collaboration with us, and I hope we can find more grounds for collaboration with Singapore.”
The Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) comprises a suite of digital frameworks and tools to help manufacturers across all industries start, scale, and sustain their manufacturing transformation journeys. Created in Singaporein partnership with a network of leading technology companies, industry and academic experts, it serves to support the adoption of new Industry 4.0 technologies across manufacturing communities around the world. SIRI covers the three core elements of Industry 4.0: Process, Technology, and Organization.As of now over a thousand SIRI assessments have been conducted globally across 37 countries.
About INCIT
Founded with the goal to spearhead global manufacturing transformation, the International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT)championsthe Industry 4.0 journeys of manufacturers, and advocatesfor the global rise of smart manufacturing. INCIT is an independent, non-government institutethatdevelops and deploys globally referenced frameworks, tools, concepts and programmes for all manufacturing stakeholders, in order to help spark digital transformation.
