Riyadh, June (پاکستان پوائنٹ نیوز 11 يونيو 2026ء) SDAIA added a new achievement to its record in scientific research and innovation by winning the Qassim Award for Excellence and Creativity in the Scientific Research and Innovation category. The award recognizes SDAIA’s advanced research efforts in developing innovative AI-based solutions to address national challenges, particularly in crowd safety and security, while supporting digital leadership.
The award was presented at the Qassim Principality headquarters in Buraidah to the CEO of the National Center for Artificial Intelligence by Governor of Qassim Region and Chairman of the board of Trustees of the Qassim Award for Excellence and Creativity Prince Dr. Faisal bin Mishaal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz.
CEO of National Center for Artificial Intelligence at SDAIA Dr. Sattam Al-Subaie was recognized for an applied research project developed by a national team within the authority. The project focused on creating advanced artificial intelligence algorithms for crowd management and early risk detection in high-density environments, enhancing safety for pilgrims during Hajj and Umrah seasons and improving emergency response efficiency.
The project included the development of advanced technologies such as VelocityNet and Attention Invers, capable of analyzing crowd movement, detecting abnormal patterns, and accurately identifying situations that may pose risks to public safety.
The project’s scientific outputs led to the acceptance and publication of several research papers at leading international conferences in artificial intelligence, computer vision, and natural language processing, including ICCV, ICML, and ArabicNLP. The initiative also contributed to the development of new benchmark datasets, advancing specialized scientific research in crowd analysis and reinforcing the Kingdom’s position as a global center for research, development, and innovation in data and artificial intelligence.
This achievement reflects SDAIA's ongoing efforts to foster a culture of research, development, and innovation and to transform scientific research into practical, high-impact solutions that serve society and humanity. It also supports the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 in building a knowledge-based, innovation-driven economy and strengthening the Kingdom’s position as a leading global hub for data and artificial intelligence.
