Naver Officially Launches Saudi Digital Twin Construction Project

Naver announced on the 22nd that it held a declaration ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to officially commence the digital twin platform construction project in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing and the National Housing Company (NHC).

From Naver, Chae Seon-ju, Head of External and ESG Policy, Kim Yoo-won, CEO of Naver Cloud, and Seok Sang-ok, CEO of Naver Labs attended. From the Saudi side, Majed Al Hogail, Minister of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Ihab Alhashani, Deputy Minister, Fahad Al Mutlaq, Assistant Deputy Minister, and Rayan Al Aqil, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of NHC were present.

Team Naver won the digital twin construction project from the Saudi Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing in October last year. Since then, to officially start the project, they have been analyzing local conditions and establishing phased plans through detailed practical consultations with partners.

With the project underway, Team Naver will build a digital twin platform through mapping and precise 3D modeling of major cities in Saudi Arabia. Based on this, they plan to develop core services such as urban planning and flood simulation in collaboration with Korea Water Resources Corporation and LX. Subsequently, they are expected to expand partnerships step-by-step, discover use cases, and continuously seek opportunities to create related added value.

Meanwhile, Naver began its relationship with Saudi Arabia by participating as part of ‘One Team Korea’ at the end of 2022. Key Saudi government officials, including Majed Al Hogail, Minister of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, and Abdullah Alswaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, visited Naver’s headquarters, Naver 1784, maintaining ongoing exchanges. In March of the following year, Naver signed an MOU with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing for Saudi Arabia’s national digital transformation (DX).