Eng. Abdullah Alswaha announces successful implementation of CST's Operational Plan for 2024 Hajj season
Digital infrastructure and technology enhance Hajj experience for pilgrims and ensure health and safety
Use of drones, IoT, and AI manage crowds, facilitate virtual healthcare, and assist in transportation decision-making
Madinah, the 19th of June, 2024. Eng. Abdullah Alswaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Communications, Space, and Technology Commission (CST), announced earlier today the successful implementation of the CST's Operational Plan for the 2024 Hajj season. His achievement was attributed to the constant backing of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, who is the guardian of the Two Holy Mosques, as well as the direct participation of His Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, who is the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. He believes that these two factors contributed to his success. During his speech, Alswaha underlined the significance of digital infrastructure and technology in boosting the overall Hajj experience for pilgrims while also protecting their health and safety.
As a result of the application of current technology and artificial intelligence (AI), government entities are now able to provide services that can be relied upon, thereby demonstrating fresh ways to the service of pilgrims located in different parts of the world. Drones and the Internet of Things (IoT) utilized artificial intelligence to effectively manage crowds, assist in decision-making, facilitate access to virtual healthcare, and assist in transportation decision-making. Alswaha lauded the workers in the industry, which includes both government employees and telecom service providers, for their unwavering commitment to providing assistance to pilgrims and making their Hajj journey more convenient. According to the Governor of the Central State of Technology, Dr. Mohammed Altamimi, the leadership's continuous support has significantly strengthened the network infrastructure and services at the holy sites.
We used a total of 65.47 thousand terabytes of data, equivalent to watching 26.82 million hours of 1080p HD movie clips at internet download speeds exceeding 341.6 megabits per second. As a result of improvements in network infrastructure and the availability of WiFi networks, the total number of voice calls has surpassed 337 million, and the success rate has increased by 99%.
