LEAP Conference

LEAP is a global tech conference. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology launched its first edition in 2022 in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the slogan "An Eye on the Stars," in cooperation with the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones. LEAP will discuss the future of technologies and their role in the prosperity of humanity.

LEAP aims to enhance Saudi Arabia's position at the international level, and become a hub and a true destination for global technological innovation. Moreover, it seeks to enable and develop the latest global technologies, thus achieving Saudi Vision 2030, diversifying the economy, and increasing the contribution of the digital economy to the Kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP.)

LEAP Conference brought together over seven hundred world-leading technology companies, over 350 local and international speakers, and more than two hundred investors, including major investors in venture capital and six platforms. The conference discussed various topics, including digital economy, the Internet of Things, biological and health technologies, quantitative sciences, smart exploration and unmanned systems, space and satellites, as well as financial technologies and open sources.

Among the local entities that participated in the conference were: the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha'at), Qiwa, a platform of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the Ministry of Education, the Advanced Electronics Company (AEC), which is one of the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) companies, and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

LEAP Conference launched several initiatives and programs, including Saudi Ignite Program with a budget of around SAR4.2 billion to organize and activate the digital content market in the Kingdom. Moreover, the conference released thirty-six diverse initiatives that focused on funding, organization, training, and qualification.

Funding initiatives included the financing and establishment of investment funds to develop local content, and promote growth in the video, audio, gaming and digital advertising industries. On the other hand, regulatory initiatives amend regulations and legislation, facilitate work laws, and protect data, privacy and property rights in a way that boosts the growth of digital content. Training and qualification initiatives provide training opportunities and educational grants for digital content.

The initiatives, across their four tracks: games, video, audio, and digital advertising, are expected to triple the size of the digital content market in the Kingdom by 2030, in addition to opening new markets, and creating jobs in the digital content sectors.

The second edition of the LEAP Conference was held between February 6 and 9, 2023, at the Riyadh Front Convention and Exhibition Center under the title Towards New Horizons.

More than seven hundred male and female speakers participated in the conference from over fifty countries and more than nine hundred global and local companies.

Within the activities of the second edition of LEAP 2023, the Rocket Fuel competition was held, in which ninety tech startups competed for prizes amounting to about USD1 million. Moreover, the conference also witnessed investments and technical initiatives amounting to about USD9 billion.

In 2021, Apple has chosen the capital, Riyadh, as the headquarters for the Apple Developer Academy, in partnership with the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, represented by Tuwaiq Academy and Princess Nourah bint Abdul Rahman University. The academy is the first in the Middle East and North Africa region.