National Technology Development Program

The National Technology Development Program (NTDP) is a Saudi program that aims to strengthen the information technology (IT) sector, boost its efficiency, and ensure sustainable growth by leveraging financial and knowledge components, in collaboration with several government entities. Launched in 2020 with a budget of SAR2.5 billion, it seeks to support and accelerate the growth of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s information technology sector.

The NTDP seeks to encourage and support national companies, both locally and globally, operating in the information technology and emerging technologies sectors to expand their local market presence and boost exports globally. It also aims to promote the adoption of IT solutions, initiatives, applications, and services, including emerging technologies, across the local private sector to drive technological growth.

Program objectives include attracting companies that foster innovation and establish research centers related to the IT sector, contributing to the localization of the IT industry - especially in emerging technologies - and increasing the percentage of local content.

The NTDP has adopted several initiatives, including the NEXT ERA initiative, designed to offer financial incentives to individuals and tech companies. This initiative aims to boost innovation, enhance the development of innovative products in emerging and deep technologies to elevate technology product quality, and transform research into technology products.

Another initiative offered by the program is the Saudi Unicorns, a national program in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Misk Foundation, and the NTDP. This program supports and empowers rapidly growing tech companies, helping them scale to become unicorns. It offers a comprehensive range of services and enablers, including skill-building for founders, connecting companies with investment funds, supporting market expansion, and providing access to a global network of experts.

Additionally, the program has launched the MVPLAB initiative to support and empower creators of innovative technology projects to develop their ideas. This initiative focuses on accelerating the development and launch of technology business models, with the goal of establishing one thousand tech startups in collaboration with several entrepreneurial partners.

The program also launched the LendTech initiative, designed to help beneficiary companies access financing under flexible terms tailored to the needs of tech companies, which are often excluded by banks and financing institutions. This initiative has a total capital of SAR360 million.

Additionally, the Accelerators Enablement Initiative was introduced to support local and international business accelerators in adopting global best practices based on high-quality standards, empowering entrepreneurs to develop unique business models through financial support.

Other initiatives include the Technology Champions Initiative and the Technology Development Financing Initiative, which aim to enable growth for micro, small, and medium-sized information tech companies by providing a guarantee of up to SAR15 million on financing from participating banks and financial institutions.

The NTDP has set several pillars for its activities, including:

- Empowering technical entrepreneurs by stimulating the growth of technical entrepreneurship and encouraging the establishment of new tech startups through targeted incentives, ultimately increasing the number of tech entrepreneurs and startups in the sector.

- Supporting tech companies by offering incentives, facilitating tech companies' access to funding and investment to develop works, and providing opportunities to leverage support to bolster competitive advantages both locally and globally, while attracting investments and global firms.

- Enabling potential unicorns by offering comprehensive support to enable potential unicorns to grow and providing incentives for tech companies to grow into unicorns.

- Developing and growing local tech talents and attracting global expertise to contribute to the growth of local tech experts and companies, and localizing knowledge in the tech sector, while ensuring a healthy environment for local experts to emerge within the IT ecosystem.

- Fostering innovation and scientific research in IT by connecting the private sector with universities and research centers, supporting companies in securing capital for research, development, and innovation, and strengthening collaboration between the public and private sectors with major global companies. This includes advancing digital innovation within the Kingdom and attracting international centers for innovation and technical research.