Strategic Technologies

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Environment Water Information Technology ECP Nanotechnology
Petrochemicals
Math and Physics Advanced Materials
Biotechnology
Energy
Space and Aeronautics Oil and Gas
Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Economy and Planning
http://www.mep.gov.sa
Ministry of Economy and Planning
Contents
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Program Scope Alignment with National Science & Technology Policy Strategic Context Advanced Materials R&D Needs of the Kingdom Stakeholders Roles Kingdoms Industry Status Materials Research at Selected KSA Research Organizations Review of International Advanced Materials Research Institutes Advanced Materials R&D Indicators SWOT Analysis Higher Strategy Vision Mission Values and Program Culture Program Strategic Goals Technology Areas Selection Process Selected Technology Areas Program Structure Program Implementation Portfolio Management Program Management APPENDICES Appendix A -- Plan Development Process and Participants Appendix B -- Supporting Analyses and References 4 8 8 9 9 10 10 1 1 14 15 18 9 4 4 4 6 40 40 40 4 4 47
Executive summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined 11 programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. This document is the strategic priorities for one of these programs, the Advanced Materials Program.
Advanced materials are critical for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). There is a potential for the Kingdom to capture greater value-added from petroleum through the development of petrochemical-based materials, including polymers and composites. Further potential comes from natural mineral resources if coupled with advanced technologies to produce new advanced materials. There is a great need for improved materials for use in water desalination and in the petroleum and petrochemical industries. There are also needs for specialized medical materials, aerospace and defense materials, and new construction materials. This plan is based on input from the users and stakeholders for advanced materials in the Kingdom, including government agencies, industry, universities, and medical centers that use advanced materials or conduct advanced materials R&D.
Executive summary
The planning process: Identified the main stakeholders in the Kingdom for advanced materials. Identified the key needs of the Kingdom in advanced materials. Assessed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the program, including an analysis of KSA publications and patents in advanced materials and an assessment of international research institutes. Defined a mission and vision for the Kingdoms advanced materials program. Defined the key technologies and other program areas needed to address the Kingdoms needs in advanced materials. Seven key technology fields emerged from this process: Membranes. Composite and Hybrid Materials. Polymers and polymer processing technologies. Metals and alloys. Ceramics. Smart Materials. Coating.
Executive summary
Examples of specific technologies to be pursued in these fields are shown in table ES1 below. Table ES 1: Key Advanced Materials Technologies for Saudi Arabia Field Technology Advanced function membranes: biofouling resistant, chlorine tolerant, chemical and scale resistant, high reverse osmosis rejection and permeability membranes, gas separation and sterilization membranes. Development platforms: nano-, micro-, and ultra- filtration membranes, electrolytic membranes. Advanced functions: composites for desalination and construction processes; high pressure and temperature applications; fiber reinforced resins and polymers; ceramic and radiation shielding composites; lightweight and nanocomposites Industrial applications: pipeline and storage tanks, electronics, textiles, environment, agriculture and water, oil and gas drilling, dentistry, drug delivery. Development platforms: resin systems and high temperature ablative resins, nanostructure, water soluble and biodegradable polymers, flame retardants, UV light stabilizers and nanoparticles for polymer reinforcement. Advanced functions: duplex and ferritic steels for thermal plants, materials for desalination plants, high temperature stress corrosion cracking, medical applications, defense and aerospace applications, equipment for oil/gas services. Specialized alloys: corrosion and erosion resistant, high temperature and strength. Advanced functions: insulation, medical implants, building materials, industrial furnaces. Specialized ceramics: alum oxide, tungsten carbides, refractory oxide dispersion strengthened alloys. Advanced functions: Photo-, thermo-, piezo-, tribo- and electro-chromic materials; smart glass, textiles and packaging; organic and inorganic LEDs and photovoltaic materials; self-cleaning and multifunctional materials and switchable systems Advanced functions: corrosion resistant, UV light protection; self-cleaning and self-healing; light, heat and pressure switchable coatings; metallic, thermal barrier coating and electroplating.
Membranes
Composite and hybrid materials
Polymers and polymer processing
Metals and alloys
Ceramics
Smart materials
Coating
Executive summary
The Advanced Materials Program will work to enhance the position of the Kingdom in these technologies and to apply the technologies to meet the needs of the Kingdom. The Advanced Materials Program will be directed by a Program Manager, who will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. The main selection criteria for the projects in the program are: Potential impact of the project on the Kingdoms needs for advanced materials. Potential contribution of the project to new knowledge. Technical and managerial capabilities of the performer. Portfolio balance among program goals, technology tracks, stakeholder needs, and research performers. The key performance indicators are: Number and impact of successful applications of advanced materials to stakeholder needs. Expansion of number of research-active material scientists in Kingdom. Number of papers published in journals listed in ISI and their impact. Number of generated patents. Number of products successfully entering the market. Number of successfully incubated new companies. Number of researchers trained and applications developed in Technology Innovation Centers. The Advanced Materials Advisory Committee, with stakeholder membership, will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will review performance metrics and provide advice on the portfolio of projects. The Committee will provide advice to the Program Manager, and will also report to the National S&T Plan Supervisory Committee, which will oversee all of the National S&T Programs.
Introduction
Background
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined 11 programs for the localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was given responsibility for developing 5-year strategic and implementation plans for each of these 11 technology programs. This document is the plan for one of these programs, the Advanced Materials Program. Advanced materials are widely recognized by many nations to be a critical technology. For example, the U.S. National Science and Technology that Council recognized were advanced materials products, and Japan includes nanotechnology/materials as one of its four priority areas for investment.
the foundation of manufactured
Advanced materials are critical for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). There is a potential for the Kingdom to capture greater value-added from petroleum through the development of petrochemical-based materials, including polymers and composites. There is a great need for improved membranes and separations technologies for use in water desalination and in the petroleum and petrochemical industries. Advanced materials are also needed to withstand the various environmental conditions present in the Kingdom. Corrosion resistant materials are needed for the petroleum and water sectors, and temperature and abrasion resistant materials are needed for many applications. There are also needs for specialized medical materials, aerospace and defense materials, and construction materials. This plan defines a vision for advanced materials research and technology development for the Kingdom; identifies key needs; assesses strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats; and defines a set of programs to meet these needs. It presents a plan for advanced materials based on input from the users and stakeholders for advanced materials in the Kingdom. These include companies, government agencies, and medical centers that use advanced materials, as well as the universities and other research organizations that conduct advanced materials R&D. The plan received input from stakeholders at a one-day stakeholder workshop on June 17, 2007, and received extensive input, review, and comment from a stakeholder advisory committee that met repeatedly in the following months.
Introduction
Program Scope
The scope of this plan is advanced materials science and technology programs for Saudi Arabia. The scope of the program includes the Kingdoms government, university, and industry research and technology development efforts in advanced materials. This plan targets the first 5-year phase of the 20-year National Policy for Science and Technology. The term advanced materials is used to emphasize that the focus is on higher value-added materials, rather than commodity materials. There is no clear division between advanced materials and ordinary materials based on the type of material. While some kinds of materials, such as photonic materials, are generally considered advanced materials, many other kinds of materials, such as metals and ceramics may or may not be advanced materials, depending on their level of technology. For the purpose of this program, materials that are the subject of significant research and technology development efforts are considered advanced materials. system development as well as coordination and integration of its components and beneficiaries. 2. Developing qualified human resources in science and technology fields. 3. Fostering and supporting scientific research to serve national security and sustainable development. 4. Supporting and developing the technical capabilities of various national sectors to enable technology localization and development, and production of high added value, internationally competitive products. 5. Continuously developing and coordinating the official regulations related to science and technology. 6. Promoting effective international cooperation in science and technology. 7. Enhancing science and technology support activities, such as information and standardization services, patents, consulting and engineering firms, and scientific societies. 8. Developing and investing in a knowledge-based economy and community and their required information technologies. 9. Exploiting science and technology for the preservation of natural resources and the environment. 10.Creating social awareness of the importance of science and technology in realizing national security and sustainable development. The National Policy for Science and Technology further defined ten Strategic Underpinnings that are compatible with the above-mentioned goals and objectives. The national policy goals and objectives, as well as the key needs of the Kingdom outlined in Subsection 2.1, form the starting point and foundation for developing It also defined General Objectives that can be summarized as follows: 1. Adopting a comprehensive view of the national science, technology, and innovation system that supports the programs strategy, goals, and projects, as will be outlined in this plan.
Alignment with National Science & Technology Policy

The National Policy for Science and Technology defined four main goals for S&T programs: 1. Preserving national security. 2. Serving sustained, balanced, and comprehensive development. 3. Promoting the citizens standard of living and quality of life. 4. Contributing to human civilization.
Strategic Context
Advanced Materials R&D Needs of the Kingdom
The Advanced Materials Program planning process put a strong emphasis on identifying the most critical advanced materials research and innovation needs for the Kingdom. Emphasis was placed on areas where there are special needs in the Kingdom due to the Kingdoms unique environment, culture, and existing industries, or where there are opportunities for KSA industry to have a competitive advantage. The following strategic areas were identified as priorities for advanced materials applications.
Water Water is a critical need in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has the worlds largest sea water desalination industry. There are many needs for advanced materials in water desalination, water treatment, water resources and conservation. The Kingdom has competencies in water technologies, such as in the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, which has a research institute, holds patents, and operates pilot plants and test facilities. The Kingdom needs to build on these capabilities to develop successful technology-based businesses. Key advanced materials needs for water include: Membranes: These include reverse osmosis, nano filtration, ultra filtration, and micro filtration. These membranes are currently used but not produced in the Kingdom. Anti-scaling materials: Various anti-scaling materials are currently used in thermal processes. Product performance is temperature-delimited and breakthroughs are needed. Corrosion-resistant materials: Materials are required for preventing corrosion, especially in high-temperature environments. Advanced materials are also required to strengthen corrosion-resistant pipelines. Additives: Additives are used to reduce pollution. New additives with better performance are required. Water source identification: Advanced materials can play a critical role in developing tracers.
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Oil & Gas The Kingdom is the worlds leading producer of petroleum. A wide variety of advanced materials are needed in petroleum production. Key needs include: Corrosion: Materials are needed that can survive the sour (high sulfur content) service. Sulfur utilization: The KSA oil and gas industry needs better materials for use in converting or using sulfur. Composites: Composites are needed for construction, oil pipelines, optical fibers, and water services (such as pipelines, storage, processing, and disposal). Major technical challenges relate to joining, manufacturing, and installation. There are also issues with training and standards that limit applications. Non-destructive testing (NDT): NDT methods applied to composites and advanced materials are a key focus area. Welding Technologies: Although welding is viewed as a mature technology, there are many materials-related problems that need to be addressed. Oil Recovery: There is a strong need for polymers and other additives to enhance oil recovery. Drilling processes: Advanced materials are needed for non-vertical drilling. Coatings: Coating materials are required to reduce corrosion failures, especially those related to hightemperatures. Materials are needed to reduce wear in gas turbines. Anti-scaling materials: Anti-scaling materials are of great demand in the petroleum sector. Petrochemicals The Kingdom has a major petrochemicals industry. Many of this industrys materials needs are similar to those in the oil and gas industry but there are additional needs for: Advanced polymers: Some key areas include additives such as flow enhancers, fillers, ultraviolet stabilizing polymers, and fire-resisting polymers. Mining and Metals Saudi Arabia is a significant producer of minerals and metals. Some key needs are for: Mining and production processes. New technologies and processes for characterization of alloys. KSA-specific development of alloys for lamination and high-temperature conditions. Powder technologies. Health, Biomedicine, and Pharmaceuticals The Kingdom has an active health research and services sector and includes some generic pharmaceutical manufacturers. There are a number of advanced materials needs in this sector: Radioactive materials are needed for a wide variety of diagnostics, therapeutics, and sterilization purposes. There are also special packaging needs for radioactive materials. Genetic materials, including biomolecules with specific genetic compositions for diagnostics. Medical implants and prosthetics, which require specialized materials and coating and machining technologies. Tissue engineering, requiring polymeric biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials. Selective drug delivery, requiring new bioactive molecules. Membranes for dialysis. Specialized materials for biofacilities. Polymer processing technologies: such as those used to produce molds, coatings, and paints. Catalysts: including catalyst materials, regeneration, and catalyst support. Materials for environmental protection: including biodegradable materials.
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Strategic Context
Agriculture and Food The KSA agriculture and food industry has some specialized material needs, including: Polymer-coated fertilizers for longer life. Degradable pesticides. Materials for food packaging. Additives to prevent ultraviolet rays from penetrating food or beverages. Defense There are a variety of defense needs for advanced materials, including sulfur resistant materials and titanium based materials for aircraft, radar materials, light weight fiber reinforced (FR) composites for vehicles and gap crossings (e.g., bridges), radiation shielding, and erosion resistant materials. Other needs There are a number of other advanced material needs for the KSA construction, power, and electronics industries, including: Smart glass and smart windows for the construction industry. Silicon based materials including (poly/mono crystalline silicon), silicon wafers, semiconductor processing materials, silicon nano-particles, and silicon oxide nano-particles, for applications in electronics and other industries, Silane; Silicones. Heat transfer materials, to both aid and reduce heat flow, with applications in many industries. Photovoltaic and thermal technologies and materials for the solar industry, including thin films, solar cell, and coatings such as electro-catalytic coatings. Coating materials, including pre-coating surface preparation, inorganic (metal deposition, nano crystalline materials etc.), and organic (especially high temperature offshore coating or fast-cure coating), and coatings materials used in electro/ thermal/ photo chromic applications. Advanced ceramics for several industries. Composite materials, carbon-fiber composites and fiber glass composites for civil and infrastructural needs. These are all areas where the Advanced Materials Program can provide benefits to the Kingdom through development, transfer and adaptation of advanced materials.
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Strategic Context
Stakeholders Roles
The major program stakeholders include KACST, other government agencies, KSA universities, and industry. Their roles are as shown in table 1. Table 1: Advanced Materials Stakeholders Roles Stakeholders Roles Coordinate and manage Kingdom wide advanced material initiatives Manage and participate in national and international projects KACST Provide materials research user facilities Provide consultation and advice to government on issues related to advanced materials and relevant technology transfer Create new basic and applied scientific knowledge Universities Train students in material science, engineering and relevant technical fields Participate in national and international collaborative projects Independent or Specialized Government Research Centers Government Agencies Create new applied scientific knowledge and operational prototypes Provide oversight of operations and implementation of relevant projects Develop and commercialize products and processes resulting from the program Private Sector Participate in national and international collaborative projects Participate in Technology Innovation Centers
Kingdoms Industry Status

The status of the Kingdoms industry related to advanced materials affects the Kingdoms strategy to succeed in the technologies. The Kingdom has several industries that are either users of advanced materials, producers of materials, or performers of materials R&D. The major industrial entities are: Saudi Aramco and its suppliers are significant users of advanced materials, and Aramcos R&D center has materials scientists working on problems of interest to the industry.
The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) has an R&D center that conducts research on corrosion, scaling, and other materials problems. Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is a major producer of basic materials, especially petrochemicals but also minerals. It recently acquired GE Plastics, and so is a major producer of plastics, although not in Saudi Arabia. SABIC conducts a significant amount of R&D, but predominately outside of the Kingdom. The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, although not typically thought of as industry,
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Strategic Context
conducts research and produces specialized medical materials, such as radioactive materials. Other industries that could potentially play a significant role in advanced materials in the Kingdom are aerospace/ defense, electronics, solar energy, and construction. At present, these are either relatively small, not involved in the materials sector of their industry, or, as in the case of construction, are not significantly involved in technology development. While the Kingdom is not a major producer of advanced materials, there is a strong domestic demand for advanced materials in several industries, very strong production of basic materials, and some industrial R&D capacity Table 2: Materials Research at Selected KSA Research Organizations Organization Materials field 1. High temperature thermal barrier coatings 2. Atmospheric corrosion of Al alloys 3. Materials related problems in local industry 4. Corrosion inhibition of construction materials 5. Sea water corrosion of Al alloys King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals 6. Development of corrosion and wear resistant coatings 7. Development of catalyst materials 8. Polymeric materials 9. Development of carbon nanotubes 10. Development of nanocomposite coatings 11. Concrete corrosion 10 PhDs 20 MSc. Staff size To better understand the current research capabilities of KSA research institutions in materials, the Advanced Materials Advisory Committee collected information from several universities and KACST regarding their areas of technical focus and number of researchers. These are shown in table 2. in advanced materials. These characteristics create the potential for establishing a successful domestic advanced materials industry.
Materials Research at Selected KSA Research Organizations
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Strategic Context
Organization Materials field 1. Smart functional materials 2. Polymer science and technology 3. Coating science and technology King Abdulaziz University 4. Semiconductor materials and devices 5. Catalysis 6. Multi-scale computation, simulation and design of materials 7. Applications of lasers in advanced materials 1. Characterization of materials and their performance and improvement in their properties. King Saud University 2. Materials corrosion and protection 3. Polymer characteristics, improvement and processing 1. Metals and alloys. 2. Coating 3. Semiconductors and solar cells 4. Membranes KACST 5. Polymers and polymer technology 6. Ceramics 7. Corrosion 8. Catalyst 9. Petrochemical 10 PhD 5 MSc. 10 faculty; 4-8 graduate students 30 PhD 10 MSc. 10-15 graduate students Staff size
Review of International Advanced Materials Research Institutes

The Advanced Materials Program also reviewed the activities of several research institutions around the world that have a significant focus on advanced materials. These were selected to provide examples of government research institutes that are similar in scope and purpose to that of KACSTs. The five institutions reviewed are shown in table 3.
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Strategic Context
Table 3: Selected Advanced Materials Institutions Selected Advanced Materials Institutions Institute Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Manufacturing & Materials Technology (CMMT) Division National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory (MSEL), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), U.S. Department of Energy Country Australia Japan Singapore United States United States
The five research institutes conduct R&D in similar areas of advanced materials, but they each have a slightly different focus, depending on the national needs of their country. The research focus and priorities of the five organizations are summarized in table 4. Table 4: Materials Research Focus Organization Materials Research Focus Ceramics (e.g., coatings, membranes, electronic ceramics) Chemicals (e.g., biocompatible, biofunctional, membranes, nanoscale, highly porous materials with nanoscale pores) Materials characterization and performance Metals (light metals and also development of new alloys) CSIRO CMMT (Australia) Advanced and composite materials (e.g., wood and polymer composites, nanocomposites, nanomaterials, geopolymers) Plastics and polymers Renewable and biodegradable materials Textiles Wood
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Strategic Context
Organization Materials Research Focus Key nanotechnologies (e.g., nano system functionality, advanced nano characterization, among others) Nanoscale materials NIMS (Japan) Nanotech-driven materials research for information technology Nanotech-driven materials research for biotechnology Materials research for the environment and energy Materials research for reliability and safety Micro- and nano-systems A*STAR IMRE (Singapore) Molecular and performance materials Opto- and electronic systems Materials science and characterization Materials measurement and standards infrastructure Advanced manufacturing processes Biomaterials NIST MSEL (USA) Materials for electronics Nanometrology Carbon nanotubes Safety and reliability Catalysis and nano-building blocks Functional nanomaterials ORNL Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (USA) Macromolecular complex systems Nanofabrication Nanomaterials theory Nanoscale structure and dynamics: neutrons, electrons, X-rays Nanophysics: magnetism, transport, and scanning probes The institutes have several other common characteristics. All of the organizations emphasize a commitment to technology transfer to industry, and most have integrated this priority into their organizational structures. All of the research institutes in this report have collaborative linkages with other organizations, public, academic and private. For example, CSIRO has a light metals Flagship research initiative, involving an extensive partnership with many industry players, to develop ultra-light, ultrastrong recyclable metals.
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Strategic Context
Most of the research institutes have a staff size of between 200 to 500 materials researchers of varying credentials. To develop human capital, the institutes have strong partnerships with universities to mentor and train postgraduate research students, as well as guest researcher programs. NIMS, for example, has an International Center for Young Scientists, which gives young researchers from various countries and diverse research field opportunities to conduct research. Most of the institutes have facilities that they promote for external use. Users can often book the equipment online. Of note are ORNLs Spallation Neutron Source and High Flux Isotope Reactor, NISTs Center for Neutron Research (NCNR), and NISTs Center for Theoretical and Computational Materials Science. All five research institutes receive direction for their strategic plans from their respective overarching national strategic plans and/or agencies. The research institutes may also receive external guidance from industry and academia, as in the case of CSIRO, NIMS, and NIST. For this analysis, the field of advanced materials and its subfields were defined in close consultation with KACST researchers and other KSA stakeholders. KACST researchers identified seven subfields relevant to KSA strategic priorities and provided detailed lists of keyword terms that were used to develop search queries for publication and patent databases. Advanced materials R&D is a multidisciplinary field that spans many research areas, including applied physics, physical chemistry, condensed matter physics, chemical engineering, and nanoscience. The seven KSA advanced materials subfields are: membranes, composite and hybrid materials, polymers and polymer processing technologies, metals and alloys, ceramics, smart materials, and coatings. The scope of this study was restricted to only recent publication (2006-2007) and patent (2002-2006) activity in the seven KACST defined fields. Several commonly used indicators include the numbers of publications and patents, the forward citations of publications and patents (the frequency at which publications and patents are cited by other publications and patents), and the co-authoring relationships of publications. These provide indicators of research and inventive output, impact, and collaboration.
Advanced Materials R&D Indicators

Overview This section provides indicators of advanced materials R&D based on publication and patent data. Publication and patents are widely used as indicators of science and technology, although publication and patent counts alone do not fully represent the quality or scope of research.1
1 Seminal research in the use of publications as a measure of scientific productivity includes A.J. Lotka, The frequency distribution of scientific productivity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 16 (1926); D. Price, Little Science, Big Science, (New York: Columbia university Press, 1963); J.R. Cole and S Cole, Social Stratification in Science, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973); J. Gaston, The reward system in British and American science, (New York: John Wiley (1978); and M.F. Fox, Publication productivity among scientists: a critical review, Social Studies of Science, vol 13, 1983. 2 ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific publication and U.S. patent application data, respectively. The ISI Web of Science is a database of peerreviewed articles in major scientific journals from around the world. Delphion is a searchable database of global patent activity, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is one of the worlds major granters of patents and it has been argued that the U.S. market is so large that most important inventions from around the world are patented there.
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Strategic Context
Global Advanced Materials Publication Activity Between 2006 and 2007, there were 25397 articles published worldwide related to KSA research priorities in advanced materials. Figure 1 shows the number of

producer of related articles, generating 4782 articles over this time period. The United States was second, producing 4757 articles followed by Japan and Germany with 2365 and 1690 articles respectively. Saudi Arabia was the 46th largest producer of publications, producing 67 articles in ISI-indexed journals.
publications produced by countries over this time period.
The Peoples Republic of China was the worlds largest Figure 1: Advanced Materials Publications
UK 157 Australia
South Korea 154
Peoples R. China 478 Japan 65
Turkey
France 144 India 174 Spain 8 Italy 891 Taiwan 89 Saudi Arabia Canada 770
Germany 1,690 USA 4757 Russia
Poland
3 Throughout this report, advanced materials refers only to the subset of advanced materials defined by the KSA advanced materials program. 4 A publication is assigned to a country if any of the publications authors affiliations are located in that country. Because publications often have multiple authors, a single publication may be assigned to multiple countries. Aggregate figures, such as total global publication output, count each publication only once, but adding up sub-totals may yield a result larger than the reported total due to multiple counting.
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As shown in table 5, composite and hybrid material R&D accounts for the majority of advanced materials related publications (7886) followed by polymers and polymer Table 5: Advanced Materials Sub-topics (2006-2007) Sub-Topic Composite and Hybrid Materials Polymers and Polymer Processing Technologies Metals and Alloys Smart Materials Membrane Ceramics Coatings Publications 7886 58 540 96 878 8 14 processing technologies (5283), metals and alloys (3540), smart materials (3296), membranes (2878), ceramics (2382) and coatings (1423).
Publication Impact Average publication impact is calculated as the number of citations of articles from a particular country divided by the total number of articles published by authors from that country. For instance, a country that published 50 articles that were cited 100 times would have an average publication impact of two. Between 2006 and 2007, the United States had the highest average publication impact of all countries at 1.81 followed by Singapore (1.53) and the United Kingdom (1.43). The average publication impact for Saudi Arabia was 0.42 with 28 citations of 67 articles. The table 6 presents publication and citation counts for benchmark countries.5
5 Benchmark countries include global leaders in terms of total advanced materials output in addition to a list of specific countries provided by KACST.
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Table 6: Benchmark Country Publication Impact (2006-2007) Country USA Singapore UK Israel Oman Germany France South Korea Peoples R China Japan South Africa India Kuwait Malaysia Saudi Arabia UAE Publications 4757 9 157 177 8 1690 144 154 478 65 7 174 19 99 67 Total Citations 8607 504 1795 47 11 07 1697 1894 5001 16 69 116 10 4 8 5 Average Publication Impact 1.81 1.53 1.43 1.40 1.38 1.37 1.36 1.23 1.05 0.98 0.95 0.89 0.53 0.42 0.42 0.23
Advanced Materials Research Organizations Advanced materials R&D publications are produced at thousands of research institutions in 120 countries. As shown in table 7, the three institutions producing the largest number of publications related to advanced materials R&D are the Chinese Academy of Sciences (806), the Indian Institute of Technology (336), and Tsing Hua University (333). The Chinese Academy of Sciences is the largest producer of publications in all advanced materials sub-topic areas except ceramics. The Russian Academy of Sciences is the largest producer of ceramics related publications.
1

Composite and Hybrid Materials Metals and Alloys Membrane Ceramics Coatings Smart Materials 5 146 56 5 14 91 46 69 4 0 4 19 15 85 48 11 9 50 46 1 Polymers and Polymer Processing Technologies
Table 7: Global Advanced Materials R&D Organizations (2006-2007)
Institution
Total
Average Impact
Strategic Context
Chinese Acad Sci
806
1.61
Indian Inst Technol
6
0.78
Tsing Hua University 74 7 9 6 19 9

1.33
Univ Sci & Technol China 68 10 59 69 44 9 56 14 95 11 56 14 41 1 60 1 17 0 1 68 10 11 9 9 1 56 47 7 8
95
1.26
11
Russian Acad Sci
5
0.59
5 1 16 11 9 10
1 9 8 10 11 4
Harbin Inst Technol
0
0.46
Seoul Natl Univ
14
1.47
Univ Texas
194
1.99
Tohoku Univ
191
0.99
Natl Univ Singapore
188
1.82
Strategic Context
International Collaboration and Publication Impact In this study, international collaboration is calculated as the average number of countries represented per publication, based on authors addresses. Figure 2 plots a Figure 2: Advanced Materials Collaboration and Publication Impact (2006-2007)
2.5
countrys level of international collaboration (horizontal axis) against the average impact of its publications (vertical axis).
USA
Peoples R. China USA Japan Germany
Average Impact
1.5
Singapore Israel France Peoples R. China South Korea Japan South Africa India
UK Oman
South Korea India UK France Singapore Israel Malaysia South Africa
Germany
0.5 Malaysia
Kuwait Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Kuwait Oman
0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Average Level of International Collaboration
KSA Collaboration Activity In the advanced materials field, as shown in table 8, authors affiliated with KSA institutions collaborated on a significant number of articles with authors from: Egypt
(8 publications), Lebanon (5), and the United States (5). KSA-affiliated authors also collaborated with authors from: Ireland, Italy, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Yemen, and Qatar.

Strategic Context
Table 8: KSA Publication Collaborators (2007) Country Egypt Lebanon USA Ireland Italy Turkey United Kingdom Yemen Qatar Number of Publications 8 5 5 4 4 4 1
Advanced Materials Journals Table 9: presents journals with a significant level of
publication activity related to KSA advanced materials sub-fields from (2005 - 2007).
Table 9: Advanced Materials Journals Journal JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE COMPOSITES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMPOSITE STRUCTURES COMPOSITES PART A-APPLIED SCIENCE AND MANUFACTURING Composites JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE JOURNAL OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS MATERIALS LETTERS JOURNAL OF COMPOSITES FOR CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL OF REINFORCED PLASTICS AND COMPOSITES MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING A-STRUCTURAL MATERIALS PROPERTIES MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROCESSING Publications 04 151 15 1 11 111 109 101 99
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Journal SURFACE & COATINGS TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE LANGMUIR Coatings NANOTECHNOLOGY THIN SOLID FILMS ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING A-STRUCTURAL MATERIALS PROPERTIES MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROCESSING APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN CERAMIC SOCIETY JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY SURFACE & COATINGS TECHNOLOGY RARE METAL MATERIALS AND ENGINEERING Ceramics MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING A-STRUCTURAL MATERIALS PROPERTIES MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROCESSING JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL JAPANESE JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS PART 1-REGULAR PAPERS BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS & REVIEW PAPERS JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS Publications 150 0 8 6 6 1 18 17 17 101 68 47 46 41 7 1 9 8 8
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Journal SURFACE & COATINGS TECHNOLOGY MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING A-STRUCTURAL MATERIALS PROPERTIES MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROCESSING Metals and Alloys CORROSION SCIENCE RARE METAL MATERIALS AND ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS OF NONFERROUS METALS SOCIETY OF CHINA ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS SCRIPTA MATERIALIA APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE DESALINATION SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY Membrane INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES LANGMUIR NEPHROLOGY DIALYSIS TRANSPLANTATION JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE NANOTECHNOLOGY PERITONEAL DIALYSIS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA POLYMER SYNTHETIC METALS Polymer POLYMER DEGRADATION AND STABILITY MACROMOLECULES JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE PART A-POLYMER CHEMISTRY BIOMATERIALS EUROPEAN POLYMER JOURNAL JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES Publications 5 1 150 108 104 8 75 75 6 61 80 157 60 44 41 40 5 0 0 04 11 111 9 90 88 78 7 71 67
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Strategic Context
Journal APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS THIN SOLID FILMS JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS Smart Materials SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS JAPANESE JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS PART 1-REGULAR PAPERS BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS & REVIEW PAPERS JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE PART A-POLYMER CHEMISTRY MOLECULAR CRYSTALS AND LIQUID CRYSTALS CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS Publications 01 1 9 90 89 7 64 56 5 51
Advanced Materials Patent Activity Between 2002 and 2006, there were 8973 advanced materials-related patent applications filed with the United States Patent Office (USPTO). As shown in table 10, the majority of these (4988) listed at least one inventor from the United States. Other countries with a significant number of inventors include: Japan (1551 applications), Germany (721 applications), and South Korea (386 applications). There was one advanced materials-related patent application that listed an inventor from Saudi Arabia over this time period. Highly luminescent color-selective nanocrystalline materials6 involved the collaboration of inventors from Saudi Arabia, Spain, and the United States.
6 Bawendi, Moungi, Jensen, Klaus F., Dabbousi, Bashir O., Rodriguez-Viejo, Javier, Mikulec, Frederic Victor. U.S. Patent Application # 20040033359, 2004.
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Strategic Context
Table 10: Advanced Materials Patents (2002-2006) Composite Membranes and Hybrid Materials 179 8 8 17 8 1 11 19 5 1 0 1 110 71 4 8 19 11 0 8 0 Polymers & Polymer Processing Technologies 844 774 1 78 99 191 154 115 100 47 0 Metals and Alloys 1 119 19 9 11 5 17 11 7 0
Country
Ceramics
Smart Materials 49 75 64 46 1 5 14 5 9 0
Coatings
Total
United States Japan Germany South Korea Taiwan United Kingdom France Canada Netherlands Italy Saudi Arabia
196 6 15 17 11 5 6 17 0
964 171 6 47 4 9 7 16 1
4988 1551 71 86 16 95 57 14 1 108 1
While the majority of advanced materials related patent applications are defined as individually owned patent applications (5,986 applications) by the United States Patent Office, some institutions are designated as the patent assignee on a number of applications. These institutions, which have a record as inventors, could be targets for future collaboration. As shown in table 11,
Eastman Kodak Co. is listed as the patent assignee on 93 advanced materials applications followed by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (85 applications), Polymer Group, Inc. (55 applications), and 3M Innovative Properties Company (54 applications). The single patent with an inventor from Saudi Arabia lists Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the patent assignee.
Table 11: Leading Advanced Materials Assignees (2002-2006) USTPO Assignee Individually Owned Patents Eastman Kodak Co. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Polymer Group, Inc. 3M Innovative Properties Company No. of Patents Apps. 5986 9 85 55 54
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Strategic Context
SWOT Analysis This section represents a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Saudi Arabia Advanced Materials Program relative to achieving its vision. In a SWOT analysis, terms are defined as follows: Strengths: attributes of an organization that are helpful to achieving the objective. Weaknesses: attributes of an organization that are harmful to achieving the objective. Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective. Threats: external conditions that are harmful to achieving the objective. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization, while opportunities and threats are external to the organization. For the purpose of this analysis, the organization is the Saudi Advanced Materials Program, including KACST, universities, other government agencies, and companies. The SWOT analysis is summarized in table 12.
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Strategic Context
Table 12: Advanced Materials SWOT Analysis Helpful Internal Strengths: Major petroleum and petrochemical and minerals producers that provide feedstock for advanced materials and have advanced materials needs. Ample financial resources. Domestic customers for advanced materials in water, health, defense, transportation and construction. Some research capability in universities, industry, and KACST. Weaknesses: Weak overall position in materials research and technology. Weak human resources base -- no material science departments in universities. Poor mobility and adaptability of human resources (once a physicist, students remain tied to physics). Inflexibility in human resource regulations (e.g. difficult to hire and retain good people in government. Logistics in obtaining research supplies. Insufficient international linkages. Weak industry-government- university linkages. Weak culture and history of R&D and successful innovation. Weak implementation of planning. Weak manufacturing sector (outside of petroleum and petrochemicals) to make use of advanced materials. External Opportunities: Potential to produce high-value added materials based on KSA raw materials. Growing domestic and international markets for water and solar technologies. National strategy of investing in science and technology. Potential to collaborate domestically and internationally. Education of future scientists. Threats: International competition -- other countries are moving faster (see Appendix 2). Constraints on needed reforms. Instability in financial support and policies. Saudization of education and research. Harmful
0
Strategic Context
The overall strengths of the Kingdom in advanced materials are its large natural resource-based firms, its financial resources, and its domestic market for advanced materials. The Kingdom has several weaknesses with respect to advanced materials. Research institutes, including universities, government, and industry, do not rank among the top worldwide institutions. Human resources for advanced materials research are generally weak. There are no materials science departments or curricula in universities. There is poor mobility and adaptability of human resources - it is difficult for physicists or chemists to move into materials science. Human resource regulations are inflexible, making it difficult to hire and retain good people in government. Saudi researchers have insufficient collaboration with others in the Kingdom, their counterparts in industry, or in other countries. There is little track record of successful innovation or of successful implementation of planning initiatives. Another weakness is that it is difficult to obtain research supplies. Finally, outside of the petroleum and petrochemical industries, the manufacturing sectors that provide the demand for advanced materials are relatively weak. There are opportunities to take advantage of the Saudi national strategy to invest more heavily in science and technology, combined with the potential to leverage the Kingdoms strength in natural resources to compete in higher value added products. The main threat is that international competitors are not standing still, and, indeed, seem to be moving faster than Saudi Arabia. The initiatives in this plan have been designed to take advantage of the KSA strengths and to address the weaknesses, while keeping aware of the opportunities and threats. To take advantage of the KSA strengths, programs have been designed to focus on areas of special KSA needs and markets, and to build on existing capabilities. To counteract the weaknesses, programs have been designed to expand government-university-industry collaboration, to focus on innovation, and to train students and researchers in materials science.
1
Higher Strategy
The Program higher strategy is represented by its Vision, Mission, Values and Strategic Goals. These are derived with consideration of the goals and objectives of the National Policy for Science and Technology and Key Needs of the Kingdom.
Vision
The vision for advanced materials science and technology in the Kingdom is: The Kingdom will leverage its unique strengths and needs to become a world leader in specific advanced materials technologies and an exporter of high value-added advanced materials. The Kingdom shall have an effective innovation system that has strong linkages between research and education and between industries, universities, and government. A key aspect of this vision is that it is focused on innovation in areas of particular importance to the Kingdom. The near-term vision for the Kingdom is not to be strong in all areas of materials or to be a world leader in fundamental research, but rather to focus on the areas where the Kingdom has potential competitive advantages and can apply technology to the Kingdoms economic and social needs.
Mission
The mission of the Advanced Material Program is to support an effective innovation system for advanced materials in the Kingdom through: research, development, technology transfer, and localization in areas of national need; collaborations among national and international research institutions; actions to develop human resources for advanced materials; and the planning, developing, and operating of major materials research facilities.

Higher Strategy
Values and Program Culture
To achieve excellence, the program will develop an internal culture through both the sponsorship of its leadership and commitment of its operational teams, based on the following values: Excellence of work. Professional integrity and ethical behavior. Openness and transparency. Commitment to achieving objectives. Support of creativity and innovation. Teamwork and collaboration.
Program Strategic Goals

The Program Strategic Goals are to: Improve the contribution of advanced materials to the critical national needs and the competitiveness of KSA industry. Enable a domestic technology-based advanced materials industries in key areas (such as membranes and catalysis). Raise KSAs international position of advanced material. Improve the Kingdoms human resources and institutions for advanced materials R&D.

Technology Areas
Selection Process
The Advanced Materials program selected technologies based on input from the programs stakeholders through the stakeholders workshop and the programs advisory committee. The main criteria The advisory of existing R&D capabilities, the Kingdoms current position in the technology, and the market impact of the technology.
were the needs of industry or other stakeholders. committee also considered the potential for the Kingdom to develop a strong position in the technology, based on the presence or absence
Selected Technology Areas

The following are key advanced materials technologies for the Kingdom grouped into major categories, although there is some overlap among the categories.7 Membranes Advanced function membranes for use especially in water treatment as well as other industrial applications. Relevant technologies include developing non-biofouling materials, chemical and scale resistant membranes, high reverse osmosis rejection and permeability membranes, and gas separation and sterilization membranes. Filtration membranes. Nano-, micro-, and ultra-filtration membranes are vital for the water sectors and also have applications in the petroleum, petrochemical, and biomedical sectors in the Kingdom. Composite and Hybrid Materials Corrosion-resistant materials, especially for high temperature and high sulfur environments, are critical to the petroleum, petrochemical, and water sectors. Sulfur resistant materials are also important for aircraft.
7 There is no single clear taxonomy of materials technologies, since materials are commonly grouped by both functional purpose (e.g. corrosion resistance, catalysis), application field (e.g. biomedical materials, electronic materials), or by type of material (e.g. ceramics, metals).
4
Technology Areas
Composites are needed for construction, pipelines, optical fibers, and water services (such as pipeline, storage, processing, disposal etc.). Major technical challenges relate to design, joining, manufacturing processes, and installation. There are also issues with training and standards that limit applications. Non-destructive testing (NDT) technologies, Smart Materials Advanced functional materials include photo-, thermo-, piezo-, tribo-, and electro-chromatic materials, and smart glass for use in construction. Other smart materials include multifunctional materials and switchable systems for use in textiles, food packaging, and solar applications. Polymers and Polymer Processing Advanced polymer technologies have broad industrial uses including oil and natural gas drilling, pipeline and storage tanks, electronics, textiles, agriculture, water, dentistry, and drug delivery. New classes of polymers and polymer processes including resin systems and high temperature ablative resins, and nanostructured biodegradable polymers, water soluble Coating Corrosion resistant, self-cleaning, and healing coatings; light, heat, and pressure switchable coatings for various industrial applications. Development of UV light resistant coatings and Metals and Alloys Advanced functions include duplex and ferritic steels for thermal plants, materials for desalination plants, materials to reduce high temperature stress corrosion cracking, and materials for specialized uses in medical applications. Specialized alloys include corrosion and erosion resistant and high temperature and strength alloys for use in water treatment, construction, and oil and gas industries, defense and aerospace applications. metallic and thermal barrier coatings also for use in textiles, food packaging, and oil and gas drilling and transport. polymers, flame retardants, Silicon crystalline based silicon), materials silicon including wafers, (poly/mono semiconductor especially applied to composites and other advanced materials are important in the petroleum, petrochemical and water sectors. Welding Technologies are important for petroleum and water sectors. Ceramics Development of specialized ceramics such as aluminum oxide, tungsten carbides, and refractory oxide dispersion strengthened alloys for use in insulation, medical implants, and new building materials.
processing materials, silicon nano-particles, and silicon oxide nano-particles, for applications in electronics and other industries, Silane; Silicones. Heat transfer materials, to both aid and reduce heat flow, with applications in many industries
UV light stabilizers, and nanoparticles for polymer reinforcement.
5
Technology Areas
Program Structure
Overview Figure 3 provides a schematic diagram of the proposed Advanced Materials Program. It consists of three main subprograms: KACST, university-based Technology Innovation Centers (TIC), and other existing research centers. The activities of other existing research centers, while coordinated as part of the overall program, are not presented in detail in this plan.
Figure 3: Structure of Advanced Materials Program National Center for Advanced Materials
KACST (National Lab) hosts the center, which serves as a facility. The Centers technical board including the other centers.
University-industry centers that are funded primarily by government but receive industrial support and have an industrial advisory committee. Centers will develop knowledge and technology in areas of industrial importance and will train students in areas of importance to industry.
Technology Innovation Centers
Advanced materials research activities in these centers is focused on operational solutions and some basic research activity conducted in coordination with the national center and centers of excellence.
Other Existing Research Centers (e.g. SWCC, Aramco, SABIC)
Role of KACST in Advanced Materials KACST will be responsible for (1) advanced materials planning and policy leadership; (2) conducting applied research and development on problems of national importance, and (3) providing high quality research facilities and technical support to university and industry researchers. 1. Planning and Policy Leadership. The planning and policy leadership function will be especially important in the early years of the advanced materials program. It will have several objectives. In this function, the national center will: Provide direct and ongoing ways for material users to provide input to R&D priorities such as through workshops organized by sector (oil and gas, medical,
defense, etc.) and by technology area (membranes, polymers, composites, etc.) Develop technology roadmaps in key areas of advanced materials that define the technical advances needed in specific time frames, and define the roles of university, industry, and government. Prioritize and organize advanced materials R&D programs. Develop a national plan for materials research facilities (see below). Support an advisory board, made up of key stakeholders, that will oversee the development of the plan, budget and resource allocations, and execution of the plan. Develop an advanced materials human resource plan that will estimate the need for researchers and technicians
6
Technology Areas
and the skills needed, and determine how to meet these needs through education, training, and international hiring. Promote universities. Support an advanced materials professional society to exchange knowledge and build trust among members of the KSA advanced materials research community. Advocate changes in national policies that affect many areas of technology, including: - Legal framework to support technology partnerships - Procedures for sharing of research equipment Incentives and accountability for researchers to Policies on employment of non-Saudis and women 3. Research Facilities and Related Human Resources The objective in this area is to provide KSA researchers with access to state-of-the-art research equipment. An important role for national laboratories is to provide for advanced research facilities that can be shared by many users. Examples around the world include light sources (synchrotrons or accelerators), advanced microscopes, 2. Applied Research and Development Most specific areas of applied research and development conducted by KACST, in collaboration with universities and other research institutes, will be determined as an outcome of the detailed planning and technology platforms described above. as follows: more applied and time-urgent. larger scale. require specialized (e.g, nuclear materials) facilities KACST will conduct a combination of independent and client (either government agency or industry) funded work. Independent projects will be prioritized according to their potentially beneficial economic or R&D conducted at the national center will typically differ from university work KACST work in this area will begin with the development of both a near- and a long-term plan to acquire, or acquire access to, the modern analytical equipment needed to conduct the research needed to meet current and emerging national R&D needs in materials.8 The plan will begin by developing an inventory of current experimental and test facilities in the Kingdom and an inventory of the types of equipment needed in the priority research magnet laboratories, ion beam facilities, neutron sources, high temperature facilities, clean rooms, pilot processing plants, and many other types of facilities. Such facilities are expensive and may be technically challenging to build and operate; many have had significant cost and time overruns. Careful planning is important. improve research productivity researchers - Improved primary and secondary school education in math and science a material science curriculum in humanitarian impact on the Kingdom. For each project, there will be a clear path or paths through which the project is likely to provide evident, desirable, and timely benefits to the Kingdom. This may be through solving important problems in existing industries, enabling a technological advancement in an emerging or needed industry, or meeting an unmet need that will result in a new KSA industry of significant size (either homegrown or through foreign investment). Programs will involve both KACST R&D and extramural funding of existing research centers
Examples of such plans include European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (2006). European Roadmap for Research Infrastructures Report 2006, and U.S.
Department of Energy (2003). Facilities for the Future of Science: A Twenty-Year Outlook.
7
Technology Areas
fields. The plan will identify which needs can be met adequately through arrangements with existing regional and international centers. The plan will then prioritize and design to acquire the new facilities needed for the Kingdom. The plan will also consider the training needed for KSA scientists and technicians to build and operate the facilities. This planning will be conducted jointly with groups in related areas that share needs for research equipment, including physics, nanotechnology, petroleum and petrochemicals, and water, because of their mutual need for similar instrumentation. Based on this plan, KACST will establish a National User Facility containing a comprehensive and integrated array of up-to-date scientific equipment, supported by a well-trained technical staff. The facilities and technical staff will support university and industrial researchers as well as KACST researchers. KACST will develop policies and procedures for prioritizing the use of these facilities by various parties. KACST will also develop policies to facilitate the flow of research supplies including solvents, resins, chemicals, etc. needed in materials research. A major national technology project to be managed by KACST, in conjunction with SWCC and universities, is R&D in membrane technology. This project will transfer membrane manufacturing techniques and develop new technologies with the goal of supporting membrane manufacturing and innovation in the Kingdom. This project will also support the water scarcity plan that relies on desalination as a strategic option. Another proposed national project is the development of advanced materials in the field of medical applications, to be conducted primarily at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre. This would strengthen the research activities and tools for the applications of KACST will run a competition for the multi-year support University TICs in Advanced Materials The University TICs in Advanced Materials Program will include financial support for several university-industry research centers in advanced materials, coordinated with KACST activities, in such key areas as: Engineering materials corrosion, biomedical, composites, ceramics. Membranes - water, medical, petrochemical. Materials processing catalysts, etc. Coatings & smart materials. The goals of these centers are to: Develop a critical mass of expertise at universities in areas of research that are important to industry. Expand human resources for advanced materials by training students in technical fields of direct relevance to industry. Build trust and collaboration among industry and academia. Change the culture of universities to emphasize systems level work and work on important problems. Each academic center will primarily be funded by government but will be expected to obtain partial funding from industry, which will serve to ensure that the centers studies are focused on real industrial needs. Each center will also have an industrial advisory board. Each center will involve both undergraduate and graduate students in research, preparing them for employment in areas of industrial need. The output will be new knowledge and technology, but equally important, students who are trained in conducting research on projects with direct relevance to industry and other users. molecular imaging and treatment by using the proton/ carbon method. This will contribute to new methods of diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of disease.
8
Technology Areas
of such centers, and an external review committee will evaluate their performance over time, recommending continuation or termination, as appropriate. The universities will be free to define the technical focus of their centers, but the involvement of industrial advisors and the requirement of significant industrial cost-sharing should help ensure that relevant and useful results are produced. The Centers will be intimately involved in the KACST planning process described above. From this process, the Centers will receive guidance about user needs. The Centers will also be an important source of technical input to the processes. Current Research Centers The third element of the Advanced Materials Program is made up of the existing research centers that have some advanced materials activities. There are several existing university materials centers, including: The King Saud University (KSU) Center of Excellence on engineering materials. The KSU SABIC Polymer Research Center. Various centers at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) and the KFUPM Research Institute, which is a contract research institute affiliated with the university. Although not yet established, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is also expected to have significant materials research activities, starting in 2009. In addition to the university centers, there are several industrial and medical research centers that conduct materials related research, including: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC). Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) Saline Water Desalination Research Institute. Aramco Research and Development Center, which includes a materials science division Saudi Arabian Basic Industry Corporation (SABIC) In addition, several KACST institutes or technology programs have activities related to advanced materials. These include: Petrochemicals. Water. Aerospace. Nanotechnology. Math and Physics. Atomic Energy. Energy. All of these research centers currently receive their main funding from a variety of sources, and will continue receive the major funding from outside of the Advanced Materials Program. But all of these centers will be involved in the Advanced Materials Program in several ways. They may receive funding from the Materials Program to support the centers participation in national advanced materials projects. They will also participate in the planning activities, and members of these centers will participate in the Advanced Materials Advisory Committee. The centers will share information to ensure that they collaborate in areas where it is beneficial and appropriate for them to do so.
9
Program Implementation
Portfolio Management
The Advanced Materials Program will include a variety of projects with different goals and objectives. The program will be managed to achieve a balance across multiple objectives. include: Some factors to be considered in program balance
The balance between projects to achieve an immediate objective versus building long-term capacity (especially human resources) for the program. The balance between meeting the needs of existing companies versus establishing new technology-based industries in the Kingdom. The balance between low risk incremental projects and high risk/high return projects. The balance among different national needs and major stakeholders (water, petroleum, petrochemical, medical, etc.). The program manager and advisory committee will review the program to ensure that it maintains an appropriate balance among these factors.
Program Management
Organizational Structure and Performance Indicators The Advanced Materials Program will be directed by a Program Manager, who will be a KACST employee, and responsible for the overall execution of the plan. The Advanced Materials Advisory Committee will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will provide advice to the Program Manager, and will also report to the National S&T Plan Supervisory Committee, which will oversee all of the Strategic Technology Programs. The Advanced Materials Advisory Committee will meet approximately four times a year and review progress in the program and approve updates to the plan as necessary. Key
40
performance indicators will be established for each subprogram. General long-term performance indicators include: Growth or establishment of technology-based businesses due to the Advanced Materials program. Amount of revenue or jobs created. Successful importation and adaptation of technology resulting in new businesses or applications. Number of licenses and amount of licensing revenue to universities and research institutes. Number of advanced materials-related patents. Private sector funding of university and KACST Advanced Materials research (indicates the value private sector places on university or KACST R&D). Number and level of presentations in international conferences. Changes in policies (described previously) to improve advanced materials R&D in the Kingdom. Number and impact of publications. Extent of domestic and international R&D collaborations. Numbers of materials science advanced degrees awarded. In the near term, the program will be evaluated on the progress in implementing this plan, including the establishment of the national facilities at KACST and the university-industry centers, the implementation of applied research programs, the development of technology roadmaps and the facilities plan, and the development of policies to improve advanced materials R&D. The advisory committee will also sponsor and oversee studies of emerging areas of advanced materials to serve as the basis for developing new program areas. This plan is intended to be a dynamic document that will be updated at least annually and more frequently if required. In addition to the advisory committee input, it is expected that workshops with the research community, users, and other stakeholders will also contribute to both a continual evolution of the plan as well as a stronger advanced materials R&D network in the Kingdom.
41
Key Management Issues Two key management issues are quality management and human resources. With respect to quality management, the Advanced Materials Program will follow international best practices for science and technology programs. Elements of this plan include: Advisory committee review of the overall program design and budget. Competitive, peer-reviewed selection processes for university-based research centers and projects. Annual reviews of technology development projects to ensure that milestones are being met. Periodic (every 5 years) evaluation of the Advanced Materials Program conducted by a review committee supported by an experienced evaluator. Procedures will be developed for disclosing and managing potential conflicts of interest among reviewers. In many cases, some international experts will be used on review panels to reduce possible conflicts of interest and to provide an independent external assessment. With respect to human resources, the availability of skilled people, including both researchers and technical managers and leaders, is likely to be a limiting factor in the growth and success of the KSA Advanced Materials program. The program will require substantial number of materials professionals, including additional researchers, technical managers, and technical leaders at KACST, universities, and companies. In the short-run, a critical need is to recruit people with appropriate skills to KACST for Advanced Materials to manage the various tracks of this plan. Without the ability to recruit people with adequate knowledge of advanced materials and program management skills, the plan will not meet its goals. In the near term, other strategies to expand the human resources for the materials program are: Allow salary flexibility to be able to pay competitive, market-based salaries to attract key people. Change policies to allow more international hiring, to bring specialized expertise to the Kingdom. Train researchers to become R&D managers and leaders. This plan is designed to help increase the number of materials researchers over the long term through its emphasis on university-industry centers and the development of material science curriculum for universities. These university-industry centers will be designed to train new students with the research and innovation skills needed by research organizations and industry.
4
Appendices
Appendix A - Plan Development Process and Participants
The development of this plan was overseen by the Advanced Materials Advisory Committee. A one-day stakeholder workshop was held on June 17, 2007 to receive input from a wide range of stakeholders. The workshop focused on the needs of the Kingdom in Advanced Materials, outlined programs to meet the needs, and identify barriers to success. Following the workshop, the advisory committee met on a weekly or biweekly basis to provide input and review drafts of the plan. List below are the members of the advisory committee, as well as the participants in the workshop.
Advanced Materials Advisory Committee Khalid A. Aleissa Director of Institute of Atomic Energy Research King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Abdullah I. Almarshad Prof. of Materials Eng &Corrosion Head, Corrosion Research Group King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Ahmed Alyamani Deputy Director of Nanotechnology Center King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Gasem M. Fallatah Non-Metallic Materials Specialist Saudi Aramco Abdullah M. Asiri Prof. of Organic Chemistry King Abdulaziz University
4
Appendices
Ibrahim AlJammaz Senior Scientist, Deputy Chairman Cyclotron Radiopharmaceuticals King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre luai Al-Hadhrami Center Director for Engineering Research King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Maher A. Alodan Vice President for Research Alfaisal University Rafea F. AL-Shehri Operation Research, R&D Department Ministry of Defense and Aviation Abdulrahman M. Abanmy Reverse Osmosis Desalination Specialist Saline Water Conversion Corporation Tariq Shukri Deputy Director of Institute of Atomic Energy Research King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Mohammed S. AlSuhybani Scientific researcher Atomic Energy Research Institute King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
44
Appendices
Participants in Advanced Materials Stakeholders Workshop Table: A-1 Participants in Advanced Materials Stakeholders Workshop Participant Abdulaziz A. Alsugair Abdullah A. AlMahadef Abdullah I. Almarshad Abdullah M. Asiri AbdullrahmenA. Almuhanna Abdulrahman M. Abanmy Ahmed A. Basfar Ahmed AlSaya Ahmed M. Hala Asmail N. Andijani Gasem M. Fallatah Hamed F. Alharbi Hamed N. Alwashmi HunJai Bae Ibrahaim AlJammaz K.M. Idriss Ali Khaled A. Aladeli Khalid A. Aleissa Magdi M. AlRayes Maher A. Alodan Maher Essahab Mazen A. Babbad Mohammed A. AlDosari Mohammed A. Bahattab Mohammed Husain Mohammed Momen Mohammed S. AlSuhybani KACST Ministry of Water and Electricity KACST KAAU KACST SWCC KACST KACST KACST SWCC Saudi Aramco KSU SWCC KACST KFSHRC KACST KACST KACST KSU Alfaisal University KSU KACST KACST KACST KACST Momen Consult Office KACST Organization
45
Appendices
Participant Mohmoud S. Soliman Nabil H. AlHarthi Olgun Buven Osamah Draihem Rabeh Elleithy Rafa F. AlShahri Sakhawat Hussain Sultan A. AlMutari Suliman Alkhweiter Syed Sabir Tariq M. Shaukri Zain H. Yammani KSU KSU Hacetlepa Univesitu, Ankare, Turkey KSU KSU Ministry of Defense and Aviation KACST Saudi Aramco KACST KACST KACST KFUPM Organization
*KACST= King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology *KFUPM=King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals *SWCC=Saline Water Conversion Corporation *KFSHRC=King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre *KSU= King Saud University *KAAU=King Abdulaziz University
46
Appendices
Appendix B - Supporting Analyses and References
Following are some of the references reviewed in the process of developing this roadmap: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (2002). Enabling the Future: A Perspective on UK Materials Research. An international review of materials science & technology research in UK universities. European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (2006). European Roadmap for Research Infrastructures Report 2006 SRI International. (2007) Strategic Review: Advanced Materials. Unpublished report, August 2007. SRI International. (2007) Analysis of Status and Trends of Saudi Arabian Advanced Materials Publications and Patents. Unpublished report. August 2007. U.S. Department of Energy (2003). Facilities for the
Future of Science: A Twenty-Year Outlook.
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www.kacst.edu.sa
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Doc. No. 22P0001-PLN-0001-ER01
DAKKIN 01 478 8584
Tel 488 3555 - 488 3444 Fax 488 3756 P.O. Box 6086 Riyadh 11442 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia www.kacst.edu.sa
Building and Construction Water Medical & Health ECP Nanotechnology
Environment
Information Technology
Petrochemicals
Biotechnology
Energy
Agricultural
Strategic Priorities for Advanced Medical and Health Research Agricultural Technology
Strategic Priorities for Agricultural Research
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Scope Plan Development Process Strategic Context Agricultural Production in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Key National Issues and Challenges Science and Technology Activity in the Kingdom Analysis of Comparable Agricultural R&D Institutes Analysis of Publications and Patents in Agricultural Technology Global Trends in Agricultural R&D Kingdoms Agricultural R&D Needs SWOT Analysis for KSA Agricultural Research and Innovation Higher Strategy Vision Mission Program Values and Culture Program Strategic Goals Technology Areas Selected Technology Areas
4 6 7 7 8 10 11 14 16 19 0 30 3 33 34 34 34 34 35 36 36
Contents
Appendix A: Stakeholders and Strategy Participants Study Team Members Participating Experts Stakeholders Representatives 4 4 43 43
Executive Summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was given responsibility for developing 5-year strategic and implementation plans for each of these 14 technology programs. However, remain to many be critical issues For addressed. In addition, KACST facilitated agriculture in certain areas and certain crops has threatened the rural-urban development balance as well as the balance across the sectors value chain. Lack of policy attention and programmatic interventions limited have in resulted in growth value-added strategic planning in key applied technology areas that draw upon fundamental technologies and impact human lives.
example, the country has limited water resources and expansion of water-intensive farming has put additional stress on the national water resources. Expansion of
manufactured food products.
Given these and other challenges and the accelerating pace of progress in science and technology around the world, it is a national imperative for the Kingdom to draw appropriate technology road maps and strategies for the agricultural sector. Realizing the impending need to address important challenges facing the sector, agricultural technology research and innovation have received utmost priority in the countrys science policy agenda. In keeping with its national policy making and technology planning responsibility, KACST collaborated with major stakeholders to develop a National Agricultural Technology for the Kingdom. This document embodies the product of that stakeholder-driven strategic planning endeavor. This plan is based on input from the users and stakeholders of agricultural technology in the Kingdom, including research organizations, government agencies, universities and industry. The plan received extensive input, review, and comment from stakeholders as well as experts from reputed global institutions.
Executive Summary
The planning processes Identified the key needs of the Kingdom for agricultural research and innovation Assessed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the program, including an analysis of KSA research performance Defined a mission and vision for the program Defined the key technologies and other program areas needed to address the Kingdoms needs in agricultural research and innovation In addition to the technical needs, strategy participants identified a number of areas where policies need to be changed or barriers removed to facilitate agricultural technology innovation. These needs include: Policies to facilitate research and development (R&D) collaboration between KACST, universities, and industry. Policy and organizational changes in research performing institutions Expanded human resources for R&D. Provision of incentives, learning opportunities and career development paths for research professionals. A number of priority technology areas emerged from this process. These are categorized under the following higher-level categories: Production
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Plant Production Animal Production Aquaculture
Manufacturing - Food - Non-food - Aquaculture Natural Resources - Pastures and Forests - Genetic Origins
Introduction
Background The King Abdulaziz City for Science andTechnology (KACST) was directed by its charter of 1986 to propose a national policy for the development of science and technology and to devise the strategy and plans necessary to implement them. In accordance with this charter, KACST launched a comprehensive effort in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MoEP), to develop a long-term national policy on science and technology. In July 2002, the Council of Ministers approved the national policy for science and technology, entitled The Comprehensive, Long-Term, National Science and Technology Policy.
KACST and MoEP embarked on a national effort in collaboration with stakeholders to develop the national plan for science, technology and innovation (STI), which drew up the future direction of science, technology and innovation in the Kingdom, considering the role of KACST as well as that of that of universities, government, industry, and society at large. The plan encompasses eight major programs, depicted in figure 1, as follows: Strategic and advanced technologies. Scientific research and technical development capabilities. Transfer, development, and localization of technology. Science, technology, and society. Scientific and technical human resources. Diversifying financial support resources. Science, technology, and innovation system. Institutional structures for science, technology, and innovation.
Introduction
Figure 1: Science and Technology Plan
an Hum ces our Res
Strategic Technologies
Society
Techn olog Transfe ies Locali r & zation

R Cap &D abi litie s
l cia an rces Fin ou s Re
Private Sector Research & Education Institutes Ministries & Government Institutes
Ad
mi n NS istra TIP tio n
, ce & ien y, Sc olog ety i n ch oc Te he S t
Re NST gu IP lat ion s
National Science, Technology & Innovation Plan {NSTIP}
In the Strategic Technologies area, KACST is responsible for 5-year strategic and implementation plans for 14 technologies. In addition, KACST facilitates strategic planning in key applied technology areas that draw upon fundamental technologies and impact human lives. In keeping with this responsibility, KACST collaborated with relevant stakeholders to develop an agricultural technology strategy for the Kingdom. This document embodies the product of that stakeholder-driven strategic planning endeavor.
Scope
The scope of this plan is national: it is an agriculture research and innovation plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It details the strategic plan for acquisition, development and transfer of agricultural technologies in the Kingdom for the next five years (2010-2015). It was developed by KACSTs strategic planning department, in a coordinated effort involving key public and private sector organizations from food and agriculture stakeholders.
Introduction
The plan sets a vision and mission and strategic objectives aligned with the goals of the National Science & Technology Plan, taking into consideration the current and prospective scientific and research potential and needs of the Kingdom. It identifies stakeholders and users, determines the highest priority areas, and sets ambitious, yet realizable goals for the program. The plan focuses on three main issues: production, manufacturing and natural resources. Within each focal area, sub-areas are identified and specific paths to technologies and applications are developed to meet the goals of the national strategic plan.
Plan Development Process

The development of this plan began with identifying the stakeholders and users of agriculture research and innovation in the Kingdom. An assessment of broad national development goals, followed by a deep analysis of current activities, needs and challenges, set the foundation for the research strategy development phase. Understanding current and emerging technology trends, combined with an understanding of the national needs, allowed the strategy development team to set national technology goals and identify paths to attain those goals. The plan development methodology is summarized in figure 2.
Introduction
Figure 2: Plan Development Methodology
National Goals
Field Visits
Previous Plan
Analysis of current technology status SWOT National Goals Workshop and discussions with relevant experts Selection of world centers for technology transfer KSA current capabilities Plan program implementation
Key Goals Definition
Strategic Plan
As presented above, a series of workshops, which included experts in fields related to agricultural technology, was held to evaluate the Kingdoms current status in terms of production, pastures and mechanization. In these workshops, the most significant regional and international agreements, as well as relevant legislations and laws were discussed. R&D related stakeholders were identified and convened to exchange views. Current global technology trends were examined and challenges and issues facing agriculture in the Kingdom assessed. A SWOT analysis was conducted before the Kingdoms key R&D needs and priorities in agriculture were identified.
Strategic Context
The Kingdoms to be population is estimated approximately
27 million, and growing at 2.9% annually. This rate of growth, the highest in the world, implies a growing demand on agricultural goods and to raises the significant agricultural challenges
sector in the Kingdom. Agricultural technologies will help improve agricultural production both in quality and volume, and limit the depletion of water resources.
These technologies are also expected to develop the food manufacturing industry, while optimizing the utilization of the Kingdoms resources. Given the accelerating pace of progress in science and technology, it has become necessary for the Kingdom to draw appropriate technology road maps and strategies. These plans would serve the agricultural sector, which is one of the pillars of the Kingdoms national economy and a central component of the countrys food security. Strategic priorities of the agricultural technologies program revolve around three focal areas of the sectors value chain: agricultural production, agricultural manufacturing, and natural resources.
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Strategic Context
Agricultural Production in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Once dominated by traditional practices, Saudi Arabias agricultural sector has evolved rapidly, adopted modern production and marketing approaches and succeeded in generating export revenues. The value-add generated by the Saudi farming sector grew from SR 0.99 billion in 1969 to SR 37.19 billion (USD 9.92 billion) in 2004. The sector is estimated to have grown at 10.9% annually over this period, compared to an annual GDP growth of 11.6%. The agricultural sector accounts for nearly 7.2% of the Saudi production sector workforce. It employed 596.7 thousand workers in 2004, compared to 470.0 thousand workers in 1984. The agricultural sector is as important as the industrial sector in terms of job creation, with the exception of the oil and petrochemical industries, which alone account for 607 thousand jobs. Plant Production The overall harvest area in the Kingdom covered a surface of 1.074 million hectares in 2007, as shown in the following table, with a grains harvest area of 582,000 ha yielding nearly 2.967 tons. The Kingdom also produces many vegetable crops, with a harvest area of nearly 112,000 ha, yielding approximately 2.6 millions tons. Approximately 229,000 ha of land yielded over 1.58 million tons of fruits, including 982,000 tons of dates. Given the ban on fodder exports, the Kingdoms feed production has been gradually decreasing, although production in 2007 witnessed a slight increase compared to the previous year. Overall, the Ministry of Agriculture is moving to limit fodder production in view of its high consumption of water. In 2007, 151,000 ha of land were used for fodder production leading to a yield of 2.69 million tons that included 1.78 million tons of clover. Production Statistics for 2007
Crops
Grains Vegetables Fruits Fodder Total
Surface (thousands of ha)

85 11 9 151 4701
Source: 2008 Statistical Yearbook
Thousands of tons
769 956 1851 886
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Strategic Context
The Ministry of Agriculture has also dedicated efforts to pastures and forests, important renewable natural resources, with planting of seedlings, construction of dikes, embankments, and levees, and development of nurseries and national parks. The Kingdom has 30 grazing enclosures 200 km long with a surface of 172 km. In addition, Ministry 20,000 kgs of domestic and imported fodder seeds were planted. Furthermore, 4,820 ha of forests were planted. The perimeter of fenced forests was about 97 km in length. Over 791 thousand forest KSA Animal Production in 2007 Animal Production In 2007, the Kingdom produced 279,000 camels, 401 000 cows, 8.01 million sheep, 2.2 million goats, 506 million poultry, and 3.41 billion eggs. Raw milk production reached 1,095 million liters, whereas honey production reached nearly 156 tons. trees were planted in the afforestation sites in addition to plantation in roads and streets landscaping projects and the national parks projects.
Animals
Camel Sheep Goats Cattle Poultry Eggs Fisheries and Fishing Milk Honey Horses
Source: 2008 Statistical Yearbook
Quantity
279,338 8,082,852 2,212,543 101,210 506,268,656 poultry 3,411,557 thousand eggs 81,069 tons 1,095 million liters 155,929 kg 20,507
Fish Production The Kingdom enjoys significant fisheries resources along its coastal line, the longest in the region, stretching over more than 2,500 km along the Red Sea and the Arab Gulf. The Kingdoms total fisheries production in 2007 reached 81,059 metric tons (MTs), with 65,473 MTs (80.8% of total) of sea catches and 15,586 MTs from fish farms (19.2% of total). Sea catches from the Arab Gulf amounted to 42,038 MTs where as those from the Red Sea amounted to 23,435 MTs. Salt water fish farms yielded 12,094 MTs whereas fresh water fish farming yielded 3,492 MTs.
Food Manufacturing Saudi food manufacturing factories produce dairy products, meat products, pastries, oils, confections, biscuits, pasta products, dates and date products and tomato products. The food industry ranks 4th among manufacturing industries with 16% of overall Saudi manufacturing plants, investments totaling SR 55.1 billion (USD 14.7 billion), and an annual growth rate of 6%. The Kingdom lists 588 food manufacturing plants worth nearly SR 20 billion and employing more than 46,000 workers. Its noteworthy that the food and
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Strategic Context
beverages industries have been growing at a steady pace, from a net worth of SR 611 million in 2001, to SR 1.67 billion in 2004. Saudi exports of food reached SR 1.96 billion in 2004. Food imports however grew by 7%. Self Sufficiency The Kingdom is currently self-sufficient in terms of wheat production. It is 75% self sufficient in high corn production, and covers 85% of domestic consumption of vegetable products and 65% of domestic consumption of fruits. Animal production exceeds domestic consumption in eggs and milk, and addresses 50% of domestic consumption of meats.
Percentage of Self-sufficiency
Animal Product
Red Meats Poultry Fish Fresh Milk Eggs Total Meat
% self sufficient
63 55 55 49 117 105
Fruits
Dates Citrus Grapes Other Total
% self sufficient
105 30 84 35 63
Grains
Wheat Barley High Corn Millet Other Total
% self sufficient
100 0 76 40 5 3
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Strategic Context
Vegetables
Potato Tomato Cucumber Watermelon Other Total
% self sufficient
11 70 101 107 79 86
Key National Issues and Challenges

Water security and food security equilibrium The Kingdom has scarce water resources, and a farming sector that consumes nearly 90% of overall annual consumption of water. A growing Saudi population also means growing demand for water and food, and a need to boost food production, thus expanding farming activities and raising water consumption. This poses a serious challenge to the vital water security and food security equilibrium the Kingdom needs to maintain, preserving water resources while maintaining its farming production to support its food security. This critical equilibrium emphasizes the Kingdoms need for strategic technologies and methods to drastically reduce the current depletion of groundwater resources and optimize its water consumption without reducing agricultural production. The Kingdom also seeks to find new sources of water. Regional equilibrium between rural and urban areas The large producers were the main beneficiaries of the Kingdoms policy to subsidize the agricultural sector, whereas small producers were left at a disadvantage. The end result was an uneven subsidization amongst the Kingdoms regions. To remedy this situation, investment opportunities must be created to all individuals in the
agricultural sector, and income levels need to be raised in rural farming areas to provide a social framework that would help contain rural flight. Structuring regional agricultural production and
comparative advantage The extensive production of wheat, fodder and palm trees in the Kingdom has come at the expense of the production of other crops. This trend contradicts the regional comparative advantage principle which distributes crops farming according to the advantage of each region in terms of water and soil abundance and quality. Efficient allocation of resources The Kingdoms efforts to achieve agricultural selfsufficiency have come at a heavy cost of water, land and capital resources. Horizontal expansion of wheat, fodder and palm trees growth has severely depleted groundwater sources, especially non-renewable reservoirs. Furthermore, the horizontal expansion in the distribution of fallow land amongst farmers and agricultural projects without proper regular follow up of land reclamation and maintenance methods has resulted in the deterioration of soil fertility. In addition, the extensive subsidization of barley production came at the expense of more efficient production sectors, not
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Strategic Context
to mention the increased support and loans of imported farming equipment and machinery, inflicting useless excess spending on the government budget. Workforce in the agricultural sector Agricultural marketing The Kingdoms agricultural development was directed to increase agricultural production, yet it lacked effective marketing policies to deliver farm crops to consumers. Furthermore, this development initiative was also flawed with weak cooperative marketing associations and a poor spirit of cooperative work amongst farmers whose products were not being marketed in a manner that protected their rights. Agricultural manufacturing The exponential increase in agricultural production intended to satisfy the growing demand on food goods and achieve self sufficiency in some kinds of crops, was disproportionate to manufacturing of food products. As a result, manufactured food imports grew, causing severe competition with domestic industries. Fodder manufacturing The deterioration of pastures, continuous subsidization of barley, and the shortage of fodder manufacturing have deeply damaged the concept of balanced nutrition, crippling the optimal operation of existing fodder factories and/or weakening investments in fodder manufacturing. Domestic production of animal and fish products for domestic consumption Overfishing recently peaked in the Red Sea and the Arab Gulf with the use of both modern and traditional techniques. Urban and industrial expansion, filling and burial of coral reefs and sea pollution have also resulted in serious reduction of fish stock below acceptable levels. To replenish this deficit, fish farming needs to Technology transfer, implementation and localization Scientific research is constantly evolving and generally focused on developing specific technologies with potential applications for beneficiary sectors. The farming sector is among the top priority sectors as it produces, manufactures and markets food products. Each new technology thus needs to have an economic Agriculture-related information The Kingdom has a lack of integrated and accurate agricultural information, which creates a serious obstacle to agricultural development. The recent developments in computer technologies and agricultural information systems have made it further important to deliver requested information in due time to farmers, engineers, supervisors and public and private officials. KACST thus recently supported the development of a computer system for the water needs of farming crops in the Kingdom. It also supported the design of an integrated computer encyclopedia of green crops farming in the Kingdom to include key green crops farming data (such as diseases, pest epidemics and others, crops storage) with an electronic map of the Kingdoms farming regions. These digital information systems are expected to help develop optimal agricultural methods and transactions for farmers and agricultural companies in the Kingdom. Issues related to the agricultural sector workforce include limited opportunities in the private sector for Saudi workforce, inadequate education and professional development, enduring rural exodus and continuous flow of foreign labor, all of which have resulted in lower wages in the private sector. be developed, especially with the growth of the annual consumption of fish products per capita to 13.8 kg/year.
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Strategic Context
and practical value to facilitate its implementation. The Kingdom has diverse environmental conditions and an arid weather, which means that a thorough feasibility study must be conducted before any technology applied in other countries with different environments, can be transferred to the Kingdom. Applied research leads research activities at KACST and Saudi universities (55% to 80% of overall research activities), yet falls below 20% of all research at the Ministry of Agriculture. It is noteworthy that the Ministrys research centers provide a great part of the miscellaneous services, including analysis of soil, water, fertilizer and plant tissue samples, offering recommendations and consultation, as well as other guiding newsletters and services (50% of the activities of centers affiliated with There are many stakeholders in the Kingdom involved with agricultural services and research. Data was collected during this study from 6 research centers affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, in addition to university research centers and stations (Special Research station at KSU, and King Faisal University Research Center of Excellence). These centers are essentially dedicated to: basic research, applied research, technology development, technical and scientific services and education and training related to agricultural sciences, as well as other miscellaneous services. the Ministry of Agriculture).
Science and Technology Activity in the Kingdom
100
80
80
60
55 50
40
KACST Universities Ministry of Agriculture
0
10 5 5
0 10 Applied Research 5 10
17.5 13 4 7.5 1 Education and Training 5
0
Basic Research
Tech/Experiment Division
Science & Technology Services
Miscellaneous
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Strategic Context
Agricultural research bodies are essentially interested in: plant production, animal production, plant protection and soil research. This study shows that both the academic sector and KACST seem to address similar topics, while Science and technology activity areas the Ministrys research centers are lacking in activities related to awareness and guidance, irrigation, and food industries.
KACST () Activity exists (-) none
Universities -
Ministry of Agriculture
Sc. Activity
Plant production Animal Plant Protection Soil Awareness & guidance Irrigation Food Industries Others
The study also showed that individuals working for relevant stakeholders were either researchers, technicians or support services specialists. Furthermore, it appears that universities accounted for the greatest number of full-time researchers, technicians and support services specialists, followed by the 6 centers of the Ministry of Agriculture across the Kingdom, and KACST.
50 16 00 0
150
140
100 68
110
50 50 3 1
56
Supporting Services Technicians Researchers
Universities
KACST
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Strategic Context
The study also showed that the academic sector employs the most number of PhD and Masters degree professionals, followed by KACST and the Ministry of Agriculture research centers. Both KACST and the academic sector seem to focus on sabbatical scholarships, while internal and external training represents 39%.
50 0 00 188
150 11 100 94
130
PhD
86
70 40 5 10
KACST
Masters Degree
50 4 6 0
30
18
18
0
Bachelors Degree Diploma Others
Universities
The study indentified the following main challenges facing the agricultural research sector: 1. Lack of strategic planning and shortage of equipment. 2. Lack of external and internal cooperation with centers of excellence. 3. Deficient of funds and inadequate staffing (in every aspect). 9% 30% 31% 27% 3%
Schoolarships Domestic Training External Training Sabbatical Other
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Strategic Context
Key Challenges Identified by
100
Percentage of Stakeholders Identity Challenge
80 60 38% 40% 31% 31% 56% 56%
40 0 0
33%
HR
Funds
Cooperation
Administrative Procedures
Development
Equipment
Strategic Planning
Analysis of Comparable Agricultural R&D Institutes

Agricultural technology research publications are
is the leading agricultural research organization in the world. The USDA has a strong emphasis on plant production and protection research. National research agencies and institutes are significant producers of agricultural research articles worldwide, notably the USDA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), the Spanish National Research Council (CSIS), and the Canadian Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food (AAFC).
produced by more than 20,000 research institutions throughout most of the world. A study of research performance measured by number of publications in peer-reviewed journals in 2008 shows that the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2,247 articles)
Global Agricultural Technologies R&D Organizations (2008)
Institution
Total
Average Impact
Plant Production and Protection

16 807 340 76
Animal and Dairy

443 186 6 350
Food Sciences and Nutrition

85 70 00 115
Soil and Water Resources Management

90 305 98 86
Economics, Policy, and Interdisciplary Agricultural Studies

153 40 97 60
Fish
USDA
47 1395 98 834
0.43 0.33 0.47 0.49
41 70 1 1
Chinese
Acad Sci INRA Univ Calif Davis
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Strategic Context
Economics, Policy, and Interdisciplary Agricultural Studies
98 51 38 7 3
Institution
Total
Average Impact
Plant Production and Protection

73 196 84 0 80
Animal and Dairy

18 8 161 10 14
Food Sciences and Nutrition

33 154 90 114 100
Soil and Water Resources Management

10 60 94 41 87
Fish
CSIC Univ Fed Sao Paulo China Agr Univ Cornell Univ
Agr & Agri Food Canada
766 75 6 574 574
0.46 0.20 0.33 0.50 0.37
9 3 13 1
Analysis of Publications and Patents in Agricultural Technology

In 2008, there were 82,848 articles published worldwide Figure 3: Publications by Country (2008)
in agricultural technologies research fields. The following figure 3 shows the number of publications produced by selected countries over this time period.
Turkey South K.. Spain 4.026 Taiwan Canada 3.922 Mexico
India 4.057
UK 4.932 USA 19.468 Brazil 5.218 France 3.655
Italy 3.106
Saudi Arabia
Australia 3.384 China 5.925 Japan 5.429 Germany 4.830
Iran
0
Strategic Context
The United States is the largest producer of agricultural technologies articles, by a wide margin, with 19,468 articles - more than 23% of total global output. The Peoples Republic of China was second, producing 5,925 articles followed by Japan and Brazil with 5,429 and 5,218 articles respectively. Saudi Arabia was ranked 71st in article output, producing 77 articles. Plant production and protection research together with animal and dairy research account for the majority of agriculture-related articles(26,826 and 25,919 respectively) followed by food science and nutrition (14,886), soil and water resources management (10,132), economics, policy and interdisciplinary studies (10,132), and fish (3,736). Activity in Saudi Arabia was focused relatively heavily on animal and dairy, accounting for 38% of total KSA publications compared to 31% total for the field in the rest of the world.
Agricultural Research Sub-Topics 2007
Sub-Topic
Plant Production and Protection Animal and Dairy Food Sciences and Nutrition Soil and Water Resources Management
Economics, Policy, and Interdisciplinary Agricultural Studies
World Publications 686 5919 14886 1013 5733 3736
% of World Publications
32% 31% 18% 12% 7% 5%
KSA Publications 17 9 15 14 0 3
% of KSA agricultural research publications
22% 38% 19% 18% 0% 4%
Fish
Globally, the benchmark countries selected by KACST for inclusion in this study account for approximately 55% of agricultural research publications. The relative output levels of the benchmark countries have not changed significantly over the last 10 years, with the exception of the United States, which has dropped from 35% of global output in 1996 to 25% on 2007. Other benchmark countries with notable changes in their level of output include Brazil, which more than doubled its share of global output from 1.26% in 1996 to 3.06% in 2007, Mexico which increased from 0.67% in 1996 to 1.15% in 2007, and Iran which increased from 0.09% in 1996 to 0.84% in 2007. Saudi Arabias share of global output decreased from 0.17% in 1996 to 0.09% in 2007.
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Strategic Context
Figure 4: Share of World Agricultural Technologies Publications (1996-2007)
40%
Share of World Agriculture Technologies Publications
United States Brazil UK Germany India
35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 1996 1997 1998 1999 000 001 00 003 004 005 006 007
Australia Netherlands Mexico Iran New Zealand Pakistan Saudi Arabia
The relative emphasis placed on agricultural research in a given country can be measured by the fields activity ratio. The activity ratio compares the relative level of activity in a specific country to the global level of activity
in a given field.
For example, in 2007, agricultural
technologies publications accounted for 14.8% of all global publication activity. In New Zealand, agricultural technologies accounted for 38.1% of all publication output, yielding an activity ratio of 2.58 (38.1 divided by 14.8). By this measure, agricultural research is strongly
Share of Publication Activity (2007)
emphasized in countries such as New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil and Australia, while countries like Germany and Saudi Arabia show less emphasis in this field. Benchmark Country Publication Impact Average publication impact is calculated as the number of citations of articles from a particular country divided by the total number of articles published by authors from that country. For instance, a country that published 50 articles that were cited 100 times would have an average publication impact of two. Because this analysis is focused on recent publications from 2008, the impact statistics are biased in favor of articles that have immediate, widespread readership in fast-moving fields with rapid rates of publication.
Country
New Zealand Mexico Pakistan Brazil Australia India Netherlands United Kingdom United States Iran Germany Saudi Arabia
Activity Ratio
2.58 2.10 1.91 1.87 1.70 1.52 1.31 1.23 1.22 1.19 0.93 0.71

Strategic Context
In 2008, the Netherlands had the highest average publication impact of all countries at 0.63 followed by the United Kingdom (0.54) and Australia (0.49). The average publication impact for Saudi Arabia was 0.06 with 5 citations of 77 articles. By this measure, the agricultural research articles that are published by authors affiliated with KSA institutions appear to have a lower impact when compared with those from benchmark countries. Highly cited agricultural technologies publications included Effect of various pretreatment methods on anaerobic mixed microflora to enhance biohydrogen production utilizing dairy wastewater as substrate (18 citations) authored in India and History of commercializing sexed semen for cattle (14 citations) authored in the USA and China. KSA-affiliate authors produced 4 articles cited by others, including Splenic rupture and splenectomy in a foal, authored by Stables King Abdullah & Sons in Riyadh. International Collaboration and Publication Impact For countries with a similar level of publication activity, those countries with a high level of international collaboration also tend to produce publications with a high level of impact. In this study, international collaboration is calculated as the average number of countries represented per publication, based on authors addresses. The chart below plots a countrys level of international collaboration (horizontal axis) against the average impact of its publications (vertical axis). The Netherlands and the United Kingdom which show significant international collaborative activity also tend to produce papers with a higher average impact. Countries such as the Brazil and India, on the other hand, are significant producers of agricultural technologies research outputs but show low levels of both international collaborative activity and impact. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia achieves relatively low impact for its level of international collaboration.
Impact of Collaboration and Publication in Agricultural Technologies (2008) 0.80 0.70 0.60
UK
Netherlands
0.50
United States
Australia
Germany
0.40 0.30
Mexico
New Zealand
0.20 0.10 0.00 1.00
Pakistan India Brazil Iran Saudi Arabia
1.20
1.40
1.60
1.80
2.00
2.20
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Strategic Context
Agricultural Research Collaboration Patterns
Scientific research is frequently an international activity. Connections between researchers across the globe can be analyzed as a network; countries with a high level of connectivity in the network serve as centers for collaborative activity and may be well positioned to tap into international knowledge flows. The following Number of Collaborating Countries (2007) table identifies leading centers of global collaborative activity in the agricultural technologies field. The United States is a key player linking researchers together from many nations, but other significant hubs of collaborative activity include the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.
Country
USA UK Germany Netherlands Australia India Mexico Brazil New Zealand Iran Pakistan Saudi Arabia
Number of Collaborator Countries

145 11 11 97 96 73 68 66 6 5 37 3
As shown in the following table, within Saudi Arabia, the institutions generating the largest number of articles related to agricultural technologies are: King Saud University (18), King Faisal University (13), and Al Qasseem University (11). These institutions rank 1426th, 1800th and 1989th in terms of total number of publications among all agricultural research institutions captured in the SCI-E database. These same three institutes are the KSA leaders in both animal & dairy and plant production & protection. King Saud University and King Faisal University are the leading organizations in Food Science and Nutrition. King Fahd University of
Petroleum and Minerals, the Saudi Geologic Survey and the Saline Water Conversion Company are the leading soil & water resources management institutions, while in the fish sub-topic, no KSA institution produced more than a single publication in 2008.
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Strategic Context
KSA R&D Agricultural Technologies Organizations Animal and Dairy 4 7 6 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Plant Production and Protection 4 4 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Food Sciences and Nutrition 5 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 Soil and Water Resources Management 1 0 0 1 3 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
Institution
King Saud University King Faisal University Al Qasseem Univ King Abdulaziz University King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals
Fish 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Natl Wildlife Res Ctr Saudi Geologic Survey King Khalid Univ King Khalid Wildlife Res Ctr Saline Water Conversion Corporation United Sugar Co Taif Univ Stables King Abdullah & Sons Saudi Aramco Satellite Plants Jeddah King Abdulaziz Medical City
Natl Commiss Wildlife Conservat Natl Commiss Wildlife Conservat & Dev
Minist Agr EXPEC Res Ctr Jamjoom Pharmaceut Co Ltd Teachers Coll Islam Dev Bank Girls Coll Sci Girls College Biol Pest Control Expert CO UNDP FAO Al Watnia Poultry
5
Strategic Context
Authors affiliated with KSA institutions collaborated with researchers in 23 countries throughout the world. Significant partners included researchers in the United States (8 publications), the UK (6), Egypt (6). Additionally, KSA-affiliated authors collaborated on more than one publication with authors from: Pakistan, China, Spain, UAE, Germany Ireland, Italy, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Yemen, and Qatar. Figure 4 provides an overview of KSA collaboration activity (blue lines), national publication output (country color), and leading research centers (green dots). Several of these leading research centers are summarized below.
KSA Agricultural Technologies Collaboration Activity
Number of Publications
Bottom Quintile (1-467) 4th Quintile (468-1771) 3th Quintile (1772-3655) 2th Quintile (3656-7024) 2th Quintile (7025-19468)
Collaborative Relationships (Line thickness raleitve to number of collaborative publications)
Top 30 Research Institute (measured by publication output)
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Strategic Context
Agricultural Technologies Journals
The table below presents the top journals, by publication count, for agricultural technologies sub-fields in 2008.
Agricultural Technologies Journals by Publication Count (2008) Journal BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY Plant Production and Protection PLANT PHYSIOLOGY JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY PHYTOCHEMISTRY PLANT JOURNAL NEW PHYTOLOGIST EUPHYTICA CROP SCIENCE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY ZOOTAXA VACCINE Animal and Dairy VETERINARY RECORD5 JOURNAL OF DAIRY SCIENCE INDIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY POULTRY SCIENCE INDIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCES JOURNAL OF ANIMAL AND VETERINARY ADVANCES Food Sciences and Nutrition JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY FOOD CHEMISTRY FOOD AND CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGY JOURNAL OF DAIRY SCIENCE BIOSCIENCE BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NUTRITION OBESITY EUROPEAN FOOD RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD MICROBIOLOGY Publications 1180 490 41 406 355 34 91 69 65 53 1108 873 566 516 477 391 376 351 34 330 330 1646 958 50 516 489 463 40 371 340
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Strategic Context
Journal JOURNAL OF NUTRITION Soil and Water Resources Management WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH WATER RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIA DO SOLO WATER AIR AND SOIL POLLUTION Economics, Policy, and Interdisciplary Agricultural Studies GEODERMA JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CIENCIA E AGROTECNOLOGIA INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES PESQUISA AGROPECUARIA BRASILEIRA AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS IN AGRICULTURE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS SCIENTIA AGRICOLA AQUACULTURE JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES Fish FISHERIES RESEARCH AQUACULTURE RESEARCH FISHERIES SCIENCE FISH & SHELLFISH IMMUNOLOGY ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE NIPPON SUISAN GAKKAISHI Publications 330 560 497 496 41 401 376 314 85 46 33 1646 340 76 55 40 178 143 110 108 105 43 366 7 15 06 184 173 14 17
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Strategic Context
Agricultural Technologies Patent Activity Between 2006 and 2008, there were 13,931 agriculture related patent applications filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The majority of these (9,515 applications) listed at least one inventor from the United States. Other countries with a significant number of inventors include: Germany (884 applications), Japan (768 applications), and Canada (653 applications). The most cited agriculture related patent applications (6 citations each): Camera system for canines, felines, or other animals and Training guidance system for canines, felines, or other animals both list the same inventor from the United States: Kates, Lawrence. There were two agriculture related patent applications that listed an inventor from Saudi Arabia over this time period. System for delivery of insecticide involved two inventors from Saudi Arabia, while Carbon Neutralization System (CNS) for CO2 Sequestering involved one inventor from Saudi Arabia.
Top Agriculture Related Patent Applications by Country (2006-2008) Food Sciences and Nutrition 58 86 335 146 178 180 118 56 106 61 0
Rank 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5
Country United States Germany Japan Canada United Kingdom Netherlands France Australia Denmark Taiwan Saudi Arabia
Animal and Dairy 1589 60 104 96 76 5 49 8 10 36 0
Soil and Environmental Management 131 1 10 13 3 4 3 0 0
Fish 509 4 49 7 11 3 11 1 13 0
Plant Production and Protection 4704 533 70 371 08 15 00 139 80 85
Total 9515 884 768 653 476 44 374 37 197 197
1 Kates, Lawrence. Camera system for canines, felines, or other animals. Patent US7424867. 2008. 2 Kates, Lawrence. Training guidance system for canines, felines, or other animals. Patent US7434541. 2008. 3 Sheppard, Norman J. Carbon Neutralization System (CNS) for CO2 sequestering. Saudi Arabian Oil Company, assignee. Patent US20070092962A1. 2007. 4 Al-Sulaiman, Faleh A., and Muhammad A. Huwwa. System for delivery of insecticide. Patent US20090007481A1. 2009.
9
Strategic Context
Two inventors are listed on significantly more agriculture related patent applications than any other. Eby, William H. and Weder, Donald E. are listed on 89 and 70 applications, respectively. Other inventors listed on a Top Agriculture Inventors (2006-2008) significant number of applications include: Kovalic, David K. (38 applications), Prakash, Indra (38 applications), and Dubois, Grant E. (37 applications). The top five agriculture inventors are all from the United States.
Inventor
Eby, William H. Weder, Donald E. Kovalic, David K. Prakash, Indra Dubois, Grant E.
Inventor Country
United States of America United States of America United States of America United States of America United States of America
Number of Patent Applications

89 70 38 38 37
While the majority of agriculture related patent applications are defined as individually owned patent applications (7,606 applications) by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, some institutions are designated as the patent assignee on a number of applications. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. is listed as the patent assignee on 398 agriculture patent Leading Agriculture Assignees (2006-2008) USPTO Assignee* Individually owned patents (no assignee) Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. Monsanto Technology LLC Syngenta Seeds B.V. Sources: US Patent Trademark Office
applications followed by Monsanto Technology LLC (212 applications) and Syngenta Seeds B.V. (114 applications). One of the two patent applications with an inventor from Saudi Arabia lists Saudi Arabian Oil Company as the patent assignee. The other is an individually owned patent.
Number of Patent Applications 7606 398 1 114
of the depletion of significant resources worldwide for
Global Trends in Agricultural R&D

Trends in Sustainable Agriculture Sustainable agriculture has been the subject of growing interest over the last two decades, especially in light
harvesting purposes, and extensive farming which heavily relies on water resources, fertilizers, pesticides and other elements with adverse effects on the ecosystem health. Sustainable agricultural systems thus aim to develop cost-effective production techniques to harvest healthy
30
Strategic Context
foods with limited adverse impact on water resources and soil properties. Examples of this trend include: Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) & organic farming techniques. Precision agriculture techniques. Development of detection and treatment technologies for environmental pollutants. Development of renewable energy technologies (solar, wind, etc.) to limit consumption of water and energy. Efficient use of agricultural and industrial residues. Anti- desertification research. Role of farming in economic, social and rural development. Soil properties treatment technologies, as well as salt, pollutant, heavy minerals and pathogens resistant technologies to protect soil and groundwater. Focus on research to optimize highly efficient productivity with minimal impact on soil, environment and least consumption of fuels. Comparative advantages in water resources, soil properties and environmental conditions Trends in Water Resources Conservation and Water Security Crops and fodder harvesting require heavy consumption of water. Research has therefore been conducted to find techniques that require efficient irrigation, such as: Study water farming needs and crops productivity under environmentally straining conditions. Non-traditional food and fodder farming, such as fish harvesting from coastal fisheries, and fodder production from algae plants irrigated with sea water. Farming techniques designed to enhance the efficient consumption of water and energy with soilless culture and hydroponic technologies. Create integrated databases on soil, water, harvest and the environment to program and enhance effective Biotechnology Trends Biotechnology and genetic engineering research studies and technologies have lately tackled various agricultural and food security issues, including: Environmentally resistant plant and animal breeds, with enhanced resistance to salinity, drought or thermal conditions, or highly resistant to weeds, insects and lesions. Farming Automation and Mechanization Trends The progress of science and computer systems has been paralleled with tremendous progress in farming operations (soil conditioning, crops storage, etc.). Due to the growing demand on food, research has been increasingly focused on the development of automation and mechanization systems, such as: Agricultural data and statistics precision and availability on the World Wide Web, and systems enhancing speed and precision of information access due to its importance to agricultural policies. R&D of farming equipment design and operation to fit different regions, crops kinks and animals. Automation technologies and mechanization systems development and their applications in agricultural operations. Support of greenhouse modern production technologies, including thermal, humidity and lighting automated control technologies. irrigation techniques. Irrigation control of extreme thermal properties impact on farming crops. Development of use of non-traditional water resources, such as municipal and agricultural wastewater treatment. Support food security studies and its relation to water security.
31
Strategic Context
Allopathy. Knowledge-based bio-economy research. Genetic enhancement of domestic animal breeds to adapt them to environmental conditions. Identification of genes responsible for undesirable genetic traits. Agricultural nanotechnology. Animal health research. Biosafety and germplasm conservation studies. Development of food manufacturing techniques with increased efficiency and lower costs, ensuring food security for longer periods of time with conservation and packaging techniques. Quarantine research support to enhance early detection of any potential contamination with future influx to the Kingdom. Farming product quality research. The rationalization of water consumption policy resulted in limiting areas of fodder farming in the Kingdom, which created a shortage in animal production fodder. Thus, there needs to be a policy to limit the shortage of fodder The strategic agricultural R&D process for the Kingdom revealed the key needs of this sector in light of the Kingdoms economic, social and environmental needs. The rationalization of water consumption is at the top of those priorities given the scarcity of the Kingdoms resources. This implies optimizing the use of water, and supporting technologies to limit water consumption as well as looking for new renewable water sources. From the point of view of economics of agriculture, the Kingdoms farming sector has high investment costs and suboptimal demand ensuing from ineffective marketing. Consequently, a comprehensive marketing strategy needs to be developed to ensure improved related regulations including market-based pricing, regulatory and technology policy. A marketing database needs to be developed to serve stakeholders. Furthermore, The Kingdoms key R&D needs in the agricultural sector were identified as follows: Contribute to food security while preserving water security. Transfer, localization and development of agricultural technologies to help support a knowledge-based economy. Employ agricultural R&D outputs to help achieve sustainable agricultural growth. Development of national R&D capacity to serve the Kingdoms farming sector. resources, such as increasing the fodder nutritional value and saving pastures from decline. In addition, the shortage of fish production requires supporting fish farms as well as the traditional and industrial fishing sector. Rural flight to urban centers with employment and investment opportunities is another aspect of the economic context of the Saudi farming sector. Agricultural investment opportunities thus need to be created in rural areas to serve small local investors, as they are essential to rural communities. From a geographic point of view the significant size of the Kingdom and the diversity of its environment emphasize the need to use regional comparative advantages, which require adjusting the allocation of crops farming to serve each region. agricultural manufacturing investments need to be supported to remedy situations where increases in farming are not matched with similar growth in manufactured food products.
Kingdoms Agricultural R&D Needs
3
Strategic Context
Preservation and development of agricultural water resources. Apply comparative advantage principle to some of the Kingdoms regions. Maintain balance between rural and urban development. Databases. Weaknesses Insufficient staff and inadequate training in the agricultural sector Weak links between R&D technology sectors and parties benefiting from research outputs Poor R&D technology outputs in the Kingdom Need for additional support for modern R&D activities infrastructure Poor coordination and cooperation among the Kingdoms research sectors Insufficient effective international cooperation on This section presents a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Saudi Arabia Agriculture Research and Innovation Program relative to achieving its vision. In a SWOT analysis, strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization while opportunities and threats are defined as external to the organization. For the purpose of this analysis, the organization is the Saudi Agricultural Technology Program, including KACST, universities, Ministry of Agriculture and companies. Strengths Availability of funding for R&D activities Significant part of infrastructure available to support R&D activities in this sector Availability of trained and qualified R&D staff Research sectors (universities, KACST) interest in modern technologies, such as nanotechnology and biotechnology, which promise to lead to new R&D horizons in agriculture Access to advanced agricultural technologies in the private sector A long term R&D strategy for the Kingdom Threats / Challenges Scarcity of water resources and maintaining the delicate balance between agriculture and the conservation of water reserves Insufficient awareness of R&D beneficiary sectors of the importance of research support, funding and adoption Low economic returns of agriculture (compared to industry and commerce for example) Competition with imported products Rural exodus Harsh environmental conditions (drought and extreme temperatures) Opportunities Comparative advantage principle Geographic and environmental diversity in the Kingdom Significant investments (private and public) in agriculture Existing opportunities in international agreements Need to diversify sources of national economy Government interest in achieving food security technology transfer
SWOT Analysis for KSA Agricultural Research and Innovation
33
Higher Strategy
This section provides the vision, mission, and strategic priorities for the Kingdoms Agricultural Technologies Program.
Vision
The vision for the Agricultural Technology Program is leadership in sustainable agricultural development.
Mission
The mission of the KSA Agricultural Technology Program is to transfer, localize and develop agricultural technologies, and to conserve and grow natural resources for the benefit of Saudi Arabia.
Program Values and Culture

To achieve excellence and carry out its mission, the program will develop an internal culture through both the sponsorship of its leadership and commitment of its operational teams, based on the following values: Spirit of team work Creativity and innovation Excellence Competency Loyalty and transparency Moderation Dialogue Partnership
34
Higher Strategy
The following direct, program-level strategic goals of the Agricultural Technology Program are aligned with broader goals of economic development, self-reliance, security and sustainable growth set forth by the National Policy for Science and Technology. Furthermore, these strategic goals provide a basis for defining technology area selection criteria and program implementation objectives. Transfer, localization and development of competitive and environmentally safe agricultural technologies intended to promote the Kingdoms sustainable growth and biosafety. Development of human knowledge of urgent agricultural issues and related technology. Development of a competitive R&D infrastructure for KSA agricultural technologies. Creation of a competitive environment for an agricultural technologies industry to compete in global markets. Steering modern technology applications and research to support vertical farming.
35
Technology Areas
Selection Process An initial list of important Extensive inputs from stakeholders shaped the final list of priority areas, subareas and technologies. technology areas in the field of agriculture was developed by the strategy development team taking into account the programs strategic goals and the higher strategy. The initial list was narrowed down using a set of selection criteria developed through stakeholders workshops.
Selected Technology Areas The following three areas and the subareas underneath those represent the core components of the agriculture sector value chain. An expanded list of related sub-paths and priority technologies needed are presented in the following table. Production
-
Plant Production Animal Production Aquaculture Food Non-food Aquaculture Pastures and Forests Genetic Origins
Manufacturing
-
Natural Resources
-
36
Technology Areas
Core area
Technologies Irrigation scheduling technologies Water harvesting techniques Irrigation systems enhancement technologies Irrigation water salinity treatment Water-use efficiency techniques in crop production Hydroponic techniques Sewage water treatment and use techniques Agricultural drainage water utilization techniques Development of water resources
Production increase and enhancement Dates production increase and enhancement technologies Post-harvesting technologies Genetic enhancement Greenhouse technologies Agricultural mechanization technologies Best agricultural management practices technologies Agricultural clean technologies Fodder production enhancement technologies Organic agriculture technologies Plant environmental control technologies Soil free agricultural technologies Precision agriculture technology Land reclamation Soil salinity treatment technologies Soil survey and classification Fertilizers and enhancers development technologies
Sub-paths
Paths
Sub-areas
Irrigation water sources Drainage and irrigation systems Water quality Water relations Irrigation management Irrigation water
Plant production
Field crops Fruit crops Green crops Fodder crops Nontraditional crops Crops
Soil properties Soil fertility Soil degradation
Soil
37
Technology Areas
Core area
Technologies Chemical control techniques Bio-control techniques Plant epidemics control techniques Detection and diagnosis techniques Integrated control techniques Plant quarantine Control mechanisms technology Red Palm Weevil control techniques
Nutrition requirements technique Genetic enhancement techniques Milking equipment technology development Abattoir machines technology development Stockyards technology Production increase and enhancement technologies Pollutants emission control technologies Stockyard environmental control technologies
Sub-paths
Paths
Sub-areas
Microbial diseases Pets Control techniques
Plant health
Camel Goat Lamb Cattle Other Animals/ Farm Animals
Air quality control in poultry stockyard Pollutants emission control technologies Nutritional needs Genetic enhancement technologies Environmental control technologies Stockyard design and development techniques Breeding techniques Production increase and enhancement technologies Disease detection and diagnosis technologies Quarries development techniques Biosafety technologies Zoonosis control technologies Trans-boundary disease control
Female poultry Poultry meat Poultry egg Ostrich Other Poultry

Animal Production
Disease prevention and control Immune system response enhancement Zoonosis Effect of hormone and doses use
Animal and poultry health
Animal Production
38
Technology Areas
Core area
Technologies Fishing systems development Closed water system Integrated fish farming technologies Floating cages and enclosure agriculture Production increase and enhancement Genetic enhancement techniques Aquaculture proliferation techniques Live food production techniques Detection, diagnosis and treatment techniques Aquaculture Immune system enhancement techniques Aquaculture environmental enhancement techniques Manufacturing technologies Conservation technologies Nanotechnologies Irradiation technologies Dates and palm trees Food safety testing and detection techniques (chemical, microbial, biological, irradiation) Hormones and antibiotics detection techniques Pesticides residues detection techniques
Sub-paths
Paths
Sub-areas
Freshwater fish farming Sea fish farming Crustaceans farming Mollusks farming Algae, and herbs farming Farming
Aqua culture
Microbiological Environmental Nutritional Genetic Aquaculture health

Aqua culture
Manufacturing Conservation Transportation, storage and handling
Plant sources Animal sources Bio-sources Water Food
Raw food products Manufactured food products Food additives safety Food safety Food
39
Technology Areas
Core area
Manufacturing
Technologies
Nutritional value enhancement techniques Fodder manufacturing techniques Traditional fodder alternative technologies Non traditional product Recycling technologies Biological reactions (fermentation) Manufacturing technologies Product conservation technologies Dates and palm residues recycling technologies Information systems Farming technologies Bio-analysis environmental technologies Environmental pollution assessment techniques Pastures survey and environmental evaluation techniques Rehabilitation techniques Use of forests and pastures byproducts Plants disposal technologies Spatial information technologies Timber residues manufacturing technologies Forest trees enhancement technologies Rain harvesting technologies (forest areas) Forest fires control technologies
Sub-paths
Paths
Sub-areas
Non traditional fodder Fodder additives
Fodder
Food
Manufacturing Recycling
Animal sources Bio-sources Water Residues
Non Food
Pastures and forests survey Protection and sustainable development Long term productivity Pastures and forests development Pastures and forests assessment Natural resources economics Environmental interpretations Windbreaks, shelterbelts and sand dune fixation Environmental changes Invasive plants Grazing animal feeding (wild and domesticated)
Environment Management Treatment and enhancement Pastures and forests
Collection and identification technologies Propagation technologies Conservation Genetics Conservation informatics Exchange technologies
Collection and identification Propagation Conservation Exchange Plant Animal Aquaculture Microbiology Genetic origins
40
Natural Resources
Natural Resources
Manufacturing
technologies
Plant sources
Appendix A: Stakeholders & Strategy Participants

Strategy Participants
The plan received extensive input, review, and comment from the stakeholder participants through numerous strategy workshops. The following tables list the participants and contributors to this national effort.
Study Team Members
Name
KACST KACST KACST KACST KSU Ministry of Agriculture KACST KACST Team president Member Member Member Member Member Team director Team secretary
Name
Dr. Hassan bin Yayah Al-Aad Dr. Ahmad bin Hamdi Alharbi Dr. Ali bin Abdullah Al Jalaud Dr. Ibrahim bin Mohammad Al Rekei Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Al Sadun Dr. Abdulrahman bin Sulaiman Al Habib Dr. Abdullah bin Adulmuhksin Al Rajhi Mr. Mohammad bin Sayed Al Gamdi
Appendix A: Stakeholders & Strategy Participants

Participating Experts
Organization
KACST KSU King Faisal University KSU KSU
Name
Mr. Abdullah bin Sultan Al Khalid Dr. Ibrahim bin Mohammad Areef Dr. Ahmad bin Mohammad Al Jaber Dr. Abdullaziz bin Mohammad Al Sayed Dr. Mansour bin Saad Al Khuraidiz
Stakeholders Representatives
Organization
National Commission for wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD) Ministry of Agriculture Saudi Food and Drug Authority KSU Ministry of Water and Electricity KSU Ministry of Water and Electricity
Name
Mr. Tarek bin Mohammad Amin Al Abbas Dr. Abdullah bin Ali Al Hindi Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulrahman Al Shadi Dr. Abdullaziz bin Rabih Al Harbi Dr. Mohammad bin Ibrahim AlSaud Dr. Yusuf bin Mohammad Al Yusuf Engr. Sayed bin Ali Al Diyer
4
www.kacst.edu.sa
www.mep.gov.sa
DAKKIN 01 478 8584
Environment
Petrochemicals
Biotechnology
Energy
Agricultural
Building and Construction Technology Strategic Priorities for Advanced Medical and Health Research
Strategic Priorities for Building and Construction Technology
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Scope and Plan Development Process Strategic Context Current State of KSAs Building and Construction Sector Saudi Arabias Current Position in Scientific Research Key Research Performing Organizations Key National Needs Stakeholders Roles Analysis of Regional and International Universities and Research Institutes International Trends in Building and Construction Technologies Benchmarking of Research Performance SWOT Analysis Higher Strategy Vision Mission Strategic Goals
4 7 7 9 10 10 15 16 17 18 18 1 4 8 30 30 30 31
Contents
Technology Areas Main Research and Development Programs Technology Selection Criteria Priority Project Areas Implementation Structure Structure and Strategic Connection Performance Indicators Technical Indicators Action Plan Appendix A: Stakeholders Stakeholders and their Activities Stakeholders Representatives and Plan Participants Appendix B: Research Focus of Local Universities & Research Institutes 32 3 34 34 35 35 35 37 38 40 40 43 44
Executive Summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was given responsibility for developing 5-year strategic and implementation plans for each of these 11 technology programs,
in addition to the Building & Construction Technology. KACST also facilitated strategic planning in key applied technology areas that draw upon fundamental technologies and impact human lives. The building and construction (B&C) sector in the Kingdom has undergone remarkable change in the last few decades. Reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures, combined with modern architecture, have replaced traditional mud and stone-based constructions. Steady economic development has resulted in a vibrant and expanding building and construction industry that uses the countrys large reserves of natural resources to produces a wide range of high quality building materials including cement, concrete, bricks, tiles, reinforce steel, ceramics, composite materials and glass. The sector not only generates significant domestic value-add and employment opportunities, it even contributes to export revenues. At the same time, the sector suffers from many weaknesses. For example, the use of energy-intense manufacturing processes, the lack of advanced know-how, lack of commitment to research have hindered the sectors development. Despite the introduction of a range of new technologies, the countrys building systems still depend mostly on old methods using reinforced concrete structures. Notwithstanding the recent expansion of markets and profits, many Saudi companies conduct little research and innovation.
Executive Summary
Collaboration among research organizations in the Kingdom is relatively weak and university-industry-government linkages are also not well developed. Given these and other challenges, it is a national imperative for the Kingdom to draw appropriate technology road maps and strategies for the B&C sector. Realizing the impending need to address important challenges facing the sector, KACST collaborated with the sectors stakeholders to develop a National Building and Construction Technology Strategy for the Kingdom. This document embodies the product of that stakeholder-driven strategic planning endeavor. This plan is based on input from the users and stakeholders of B&C technologies in the Kingdom, including government agencies, universities and industry. It was developed in three main stages. The first stage involved the identification of key stakeholders and a review of the present status of the building and construction sector. The second stage focused on key needs of the sector, assessment of emerging trends, benchmarking of research performance and a detailed analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). In the third stage, stakeholders collectively determined the vision, mission, strategic objectives, and priority technologies. A program management structure and an implementation plan for the national B&C technology strategy were developed.
Executive Summary
Stakeholders identified the following research and development programs in order to fulfill the strategic objectives and the Kingdoms needs in the B&C sector: 1. Safety. 2. Health. 3. Energy. 4. Environment. 5. New Trends. Initiatives in these program areas must be aligned with one or more of the following main technology themes: 1. Building and Construction Materials. 2. Building and Construction Systems. 3. Building Design, and Quality Assurance. 4. Building Assembly. For the first five years (1429-1434), the following set of priority project areas have been selected under each of the R&D programs: Safety: 1. Durable and serviceable structural systems (design, construction and maintenance). 2. Fire proofing materials and systems. 3. Smart and advanced electro-mechanical materials and systems. Health: 1. Moisture and damping insulation. 2. Sound proofing. 3. Advanced materials and systems for floors and walls. 4. Smart windows and openings systems. Energy: 1. Solar. 2. Heat insulation. 3. Buildings envelop orientation. A B&C Advisory Committee will be established, with stakeholder membership, to oversee the implementation of the plan. The Committee will report to the National Strategic Technologies Committee, which oversees all of the strategic technology programs. To facilitate the implementation of the B&CT strategic plan, a National Building and Construction Technologies Center (NBCTC) will be established at KACST. The NBCTC will take responsibility for the overall management of the plan and for the coordination and evaluation of program components at the national level. New trends: 1. Low cost structural systems (design, construction and maintenance). 2. Fiber composite materials (polymer, plastic, glass, carbon, etc.). 3. Smart (concrete, masonry and composite) materials and systems. 4. Advanced ceramics and alloyed materials and systems. Environment: 1. Water conservation. 2. Construction/ demolition waste reusing and recycling. 3. Environmental friendly Synthesis materials development.
Introduction
Background
The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was directed by its charter of 1986 to propose a national policy for the development of science and technology and to devise the strategies and plans necessary to implement them.
In accordance with this charter, KACST launched a comprehensive effort in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP), to develop a long-term national policy on science and technology. In July 2002, the Council of Ministers approved the national policy for science and technology, titled as The Comprehensive, Long-Term, National Science and Technology Policy. KACST and MEP embarked on a national effort in collaboration with stakeholders to develop the national plan for science, technology and innovation (STI), which drew up the broad lines and future direction of science, technology and innovation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), considering the role of KACST as well as that of universities, government, industry, and society at large. The plan encompasses eight major programs, as depicted in Figure 1: 1. Strategic and advanced technologies 2. Scientific research and technical development capabilities 3. Transfer, development, and localization of technology 4. Science, technology, and society 5. Scientific and technical human resources 6. Diversifying financial support resources 7. Science, technology, and innovation system 8. Institutional structures for science, technology, and innovation
Introduction
Tran Devel sfer, opme nt, and d Local c an an izat Sc ntifi Techn ion of Res ientifi Scie al Hum ology ea c c ni s Tec rch a Tech esource De hnic nd R v a Society Cap elopm l abi ent litie ng rt s fyi ppo rsi Su Sc Private Sector s ve an Tech ien Di cial urce c d an so In nolo e, no g Fin Re Sy Research & ste vat y, m ion Educational Institutes
Strategic and Advanced Technologies
Ins t Str itutio for uctu nal Te ch Scie res n Inn olog nce, ov y, a ati on nd
Ministries and Governmental Institutes National Science, Technology, & Innovation Plan (NSTIP)
, ce , ien gy Sc nolo ety ch ci Te d So an
In the strategic and advanced technologies, KACST is responsible for developing a 20 years (divided into 5 years operational plans) national strategic plan for the transfer, development and localization of 11 technologies with main stakeholder collaboration. In addition, KACST facilitates strategic planning in key applied technology areas that draw upon fundamental technologies and impact human lives.
In keeping with this responsibility, KACST collaborated with relevant stakeholders to develop a technology strategy for the building and construction (B&C) sector of the Kingdom. This document embodies the product of that stakeholder-driven strategic planning endeavor.
Introduction
Scope and Plan Development Process
The scope of this strategic plan is national: it is a plan for research and innovation in the building and construction sector of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The plan involves and affects independent research organizations, universities, industry, KACST and other government organizations related to the sector. The plan establishes a mission, vision, objectives, identifies stakeholders and users, and determines the highest priority technical areas for the Kingdom. In alignment with the 20-year National Policy for Science and Technology, the plans time frame covers 20 years, divided into 5-year operational phases. The development of this strategic plan comprised the following logical steps: Identification of stakeholders and their representatives. Assessment of the present status of building and construction related technologies in KSA. Assessment of the size and capacity of building and construction industry in KSA including the demand on buildings, manpower and technologies. Identification and prioritization of R&D programs and key technology areas needed to address the Kingdoms needs in the B&C sector. Review of the size and capacity of global building and construction industry. Review of research performance including an analysis of KSA universities and research institutes, publications and patents, and an assessment of international research institutes. Identification of emerging technologies and other trends in the building and construction sector. Development of a mission, a vision and strategic objectives for the Kingdoms building and construction technology strategic plan; and Identification of regional and international partners.
Strategic Context
Current State of KSAs Building and Construction Sector
Building Systems Building systems in the Kingdom have undergone remarkable change in the last few decades. Prior to the oil revolution, buildings were marked by load-bearing walls made of mud or stones, and roofs made of wooden beams and sheets. Use of local material and local building skills and knowledge gave distinct characters to buildings in each region of the country.
With the discovery of oil and development and import of new construction materials and techniques like concrete, the locally built, distinctive character of buildings gave way to uniformity in style and characteristics throughout the Kingdom. For example, reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures are currently the most prevailing structures in residential complexes and infrastructure projects, whereas steel-frame systems are more common for industrial structures, warehouses and a few other public and commercial buildings. In fact, reinforced concrete is the most common structural system used in the world. Approximately ten billion cubic meters of concrete are made each year, amounting to more than one cubic meter for every person on earth. There are various types of structural systems categorized under concrete structures including cast-in-place, pre-cast, pre-tensioned and post-tensioned systems. Load-bearing system is one of the earliest forms of construction. There are many different types of load-bearing systems, including RC cast-in-place, RC pre-cast, reinforced masonry system, un-reinforced masonry system, and combined system. Bending structures such as plate girders and truss systems originally developed for bridges are currently used in long-span buildings and skyscrapers. Steel is a major material for these structures. There are different
10
Strategic Context
types of steel forming systems, such as pre-fabricated systems and in-place fabricated systems. Despite the introduction of a range of new technologies such as the earthquake resistant monolite, the light-weight, load-bearing siporex and the insulated concrete form (ICF) systems, the construction industry has been a slow adopter of these innovations. Building systems still depend mostly on traditional methods using reinforced concrete structures. Building Materials Saudi Arabia has a vibrant and steadily expanding building materials industry that uses the countrys large reserves of natural resources to produces high quality materials including cement, concrete, bricks, tiles, reinforce steel, ceramics, composite materials and glass. High quality and competitive pricing by local producers has led to a reduction in import of building materials, including iron ore and other solid raw materials, from 26% to 21.1% of the total imports in recent years. Data from industrial census indicates that there were 533 factories producing building materials in the Kingdom in 2004. As shown in the following table, these factories had a total investment of over SR 22 billion, led by the cement subsector. While the large capital requirement of this subsector has led the Saudi government to play a bigger role in its development, the cement sector generates significant export revenue. Factories producing building materials employed over 42 thousands people, most being non-Saudi nationals. Table 1: Factories and labor force by building materials segment Description Mosaic and pavement tiles Stones, marbles and granite Cement Gypsum products manufacturing Precast concrete panels, posts etc. Fiberglass, Rockwall and glass Clay, sand & cement bricks, and curbs Total Factory (No.) 59 90 9 1 67 63 33 533 Labor Force (People) 3350 70 7666 1058 6860 53 11103 42561 Investment Value (Million $) 521.13 1106.51 14258.45 431.74 1417.62 1780.2 3069.73 22585.38
11
Strategic Context
The total yearly production of Saudi factories increased from 22 million tons of clinker and 24 million tons of cement in 2003 to more than 27 million tons of clinker and 30 million tons of cement in 2007. In four years, clinker production increased by 22% whereas cement production went up by 25%. Cement export from Saudi Arabia increased from 2.2 million tons in 2006 to 3.5 million tons by the end of 2007. On the other hand, export of clinker decreased by 51 % in 2007. Portland cement concrete leads all construction materials used in the Kingdom. Economic and widespread availability of its constituents; and its versatility and adaptability to different construction environments are key factors behind its high degree of use. However, extensive use of concrete points to the fact that most problems in construction are related to concrete including low energy performance of concrete, deteriorations and other problems warranting costly repair, and wastage of construction material. While concrete is also used in producing bricks, blocks and tiles for structural and non-structural construction, clay bricks and blocks are produced using clay as main raw material. Their quality, combined with high strength and low heat transfer properties, drives the use of clay bricks and blocks in buildings requiring insulated walls. Ceramic tiles and glass sheets, also used extensively in the Kingdom, are manufactured in the country using limestone, silica, sand, feldspar and dolomite from Saudi sources. Steel, aluminum and other alloys are also used as structural or architectural materials. Steel is used as hot- or coldrolled bars, galvanized bars, pipes and tubes steel whereas aluminum sheets and frames are extensively used. Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed), the only local producer, produces about 4 million tons of steel per year. The construction sector in general and the building materials segment in particular, suffers from the lack of advanced know-how, use of energy-intense manufacturing processes, lack of commitment to research, and disregard to improvement of material properties to meet Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO) standards. Some technologies in use have high maintenance cost and others involve semi-automated and manual production systems that require skilled or semi-skilled labors. Fiber reinforced polymers (FRP), a composite material with superior engineering properties such as strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistance and high fatigue strength, has gained attention in the field of structural engineering. Available in three forms, namely, rods, flexible sheet and rigid laminate (pre-cured), FRPs are categorized as Aramid Fiber Reinforced Polymers (AFRP), Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (GFRP), and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) based on the type of reinforcement used. CFRP is the most commonly used form in the construction industry given its superior properties over the other two. However, since FRPs are relatively new materials, their use in Saudi Arabia is limited to special applications of strengthening and repair of concrete bridges and other infrastructural components. Need for higher skills, lack of awareness among builders and engineers and, to some degree, higher costs over alternatives such as steel, limit the use of FRPs. Relatively new materials in use include petrochemicalsbased products such as the PVC pipes, panels, doors and windows, plastic sockets and breakers etc. as well as several insulating materials including rock wool, and polyethylene and polystyrene sheets produced from local raw materials in relatively simple manufacturing processes.
1
Strategic Context
Size of the Construction Sector The Kingdoms population is estimated to be approximately 27 million, and growing at an annual rate of 2.9%. Such high rate of growth, coupled with the fact that nearly 70% of the population is under 30 years of age, implies a growing demand on residential and commercial buildings. Rapidly increasing demand for housing is one of the governments primary concerns. During the Seventh Development Plan period 20002004, the number of housing units completed or under construction topped 300,000 of which about 240,000 units were financed and implemented by the private sector, and the remaining by the Real Estates Development Fund (REDF). In addition, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MOMRA) issued about 150,000 building permits for construction of private and investment housing units. REDF could not meet a total of 270,000 requests up to the end of year 2004. The highest unmet demand for housing units is seen in Makkah, followed by Riyadh and Assir. Between 2005 Table 2: Unsatisfied housing demand by region
Region Riyadh Makkah Al-Madina Qassim East Region Assir Tabuk Hail Northern Borders Jizan Najran Baha Jouf Unsatisfied Demand (%) 18.2 18.4 33.9 32.4 16.4 47.8 40.7 51.4 48.5 46.2 47.1 33.3 41.7 Unsatisfied Demand (thousands) 40 44 0 1 7 3 1 19 8 30 8 8 10
and 2009, the cumulative demand for housing units has exceeded one million and it is estimated that over the next 15 years, Saudi Arabia will require double the number of housing units available currently. Data indicates that spending on construction of the residential units increased by approximately 5%, from SR 78 billion in 2006 to SR 82 billion in 2007, and may further increase to SR 112.125 billion by 2016. Spending on non-residential construction increased by 8% from SR 42 billion in 2006 to SR 46 billion in 2007, given the governments focused promotion of foreign investment opportunities and removal of the minimum capital investment rule for foreign investors. Spending on nonresidential construction is expected to grow further to SR 73 billion in 2016. Infrastructure spending, which increased from SR 82.5 billion in 2006 to SR 90 billion in 2007, is expected to grow to SR 171 billion in 2016 backed by the governments privatization initiatives.
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Strategic Context
Despite the growth in demand, the construction sector in the Kingdom faces several difficulties. The most critical ones include the absence of advanced standards, specifications, construction equipment and materials, lack of enabling financing systems, scarcity of Saudi professionals, skilled and non-skilled workers, and the general lack of incentives to use latest technology and non-conventional building materials. Firms in Construction In keeping with the increase in construction-related spending, the number of registered contactors increased from 3,690 in 2002 to a total of 9,448 in 2007, representing 27.7% of the total registered companies in the country that year. Most of the classified contractors are concentrated in Riyadh, Eastern province and Makkah region, constituting 54.5%, 16% and 13% respectively of the total registered contractors in the country. The following chart presents the distribution of construction contractors by region. Figure 2: Construction contractors by region Large contractors are limited in numbers compared to their medium and small counterparts in Saudi Arabia. Only 216 large contractors, classified as degree (1), were registered in the country and located in four regions. Small contractors classified as degree (4) and degree (5) and totaling 7,964, represent the majority (84%) of the total number of contractors operating the construction sector. Inadequate access to financial resources, in conjunction with bureaucratic financing systems, impedes the quality of work and productivity of most small and mediumsized construction firms. These firms, perceived to have higher risk than large firms, find it hard to receive timely finance from commercial banks. Developing the financial structure through introduction of standard evaluation criteria, and adoption of mandatory licensing for all contractors on the basis of specific qualification and objective performance criteria will improve the overall growth prospects for the construction sector.
6000
Total Construction Contractors
5154 5000 4000 3000 000 1000

Makkah Riyadh
13 39
Al-Madina
1516 391
Qassim East Region
361
Assir
3
Tabouk
154
Hail
50
Northern Border
69
Jizzan
139
Najran
67
Baha
53
Jouf
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Strategic Context
Despite the evolution of the national economic structure, the unprecedented construction boom of recent times has led to the reemergence of the problems and challenges seen in the construction sector during the previous boom era of the 70s and 80s. These challenges may be summarized as: 1. Weak capabilities and low capacities of local contractors. 2. Scarcity and increasing cost of manpower. 3. Shortage of construction and building materials and consequent inflation of material prices. 4. Slow construction process. 5. Higher cost of construction. is stronger than that of many countries in the Middle East region but is far behind others, such as Egypt, Israel and Turkey. The contrast with Turkey is especially illustrative. Turkeys scientific output was comparable to that of Saudi Arabia in 1988, but it has grown rapidly as Turkey has become better integrated with Europe. Turkeys growth was a result of concerted policies that increased R&D as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from 0.32 percent in 1990 to 0.67 percent in 2002. Saudi Arabias publications exceed those of Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Oman, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. As with other countries, Saudi Arabia-based scientists and engineers increasingly collaborate with colleagues in other countries. By 2006, around 50 percent of articles were internationally coauthored. KSAbased scientists and engineers collaborates the most with their counterparts in the United States, Egypt, and United Kingdom. Science and engineering publications are concentrated in a small number of institutions in Saudi Arabia. Patents are a measure of inventive output how much new technology, as opposed to new knowledge measured by publications that a country or organization produces. For this indicator, SRI examined patents in the Scientific publications are commonly used as an indicator of scientific output. The number of papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals is considered to be an indicator of overall production of new knowledge. The number of times papers are cited by other scientific papers provides a measure of the impact of the paper. The number of patents produced provides an indicator of new technology developed. The Kingdoms science and engineering output, as measured by publications, has been relatively flat over the last 20 years. Its performance in science and technology As indicated in U.S. patents from 1976 to 2006 in the USPTO database, Saudi Arabia has more patents (374 patents) than many countries in the region, but it lags far behind India (3867 patents) and Singapore (4985 patents). It is interesting that Saudi Arabia patents are U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. Although this is an incomplete measure as it does not capture all patents filed in all patent offices, it provides a good measure of significant inventions, because generally all internationally significant inventions file for U.S. patents.
Saudi Arabias Current Position in Scientific Research

Most recently, SRI International (2007) assessed KSAs current position in science and technology through a combination of literature reviews, interviews, and bibliometric analyses. While a specific assessment for building and construction technology fields was not conducted, the overall assessment of Saudi Arabias scientific performance was instructive for this planning effort.
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Strategic Context
more than Turkey, in spite of Turkeys impressive growth in publications. It was shown that, relatively few Saudi organizations are involved in the great majority of Saudi patenting activity. Only three organizations namely, Sabic, Saudi Aramco, and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Research Institute, are responsible for 90 percent of KSA-based patents assigned by the U.S. Patent Office. This indicates that very few Saudi companies or research institutes are currently creating new-to-theworld technologies. KSA has a relatively small number of institutions that are responsible for most of the Kingdoms research, and even smaller number that are responsible for the majority of the Kingdoms patents. Applied research and technology development has not been highly valued in the Kingdom. Despite a steady expansion of markets and profits, many Saudi companies conduct little research and inventive activity. Collaboration among research organizations in the Kingdom is relatively weak. University-industrygovernment linkages are also not well developed. The above qualitative findings support the overall conclusion that Saudi Arabia has capabilities in science and technology, but these capabilities need to be further developed. Universities King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh is the largest university in the Kingdom and has the largest number of scientific publications among all KSA universities. It has strong engineering and architectural schools. King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran is strong in many areas related to the building industry. After KSU, it stands second in publications. KFUPM has a research institute that conducts applied research in economics and management systems, engineering, environment and minerals. King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah is a major university with competencies in architecture, engineering and environmental science and technology. In addition to these and other existing universities, such as King Faisal University in Dammam, Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah, Al-Qassim University (QU) in Qassim, and Taibah University (TU) in Madinah, several new universities are under establishment. Notable among those are the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST), and universities in Taif, Jazan, Hail and Al-Jouf. There are other independent, non-profit private institutions offering undergraduate education in the Kingdom. The top-tier KSA universities rank among the best in the region, but none of them are among the worlds leading KSA Universities and Research Institutes Saudi Arabias universities and research institutions play a very important role in engineering and architectural education and research relevant to the building and construction sector. This section outlines the most important universities and research institutions. innovation and value addition through new technologies. These firms will benefit from research on materials, especially on materials processing, advanced materials, prefabrication and production techniques.
Key Research Performing Organizations

Industries Saudi Arabias building and construction sector includes materials processing and manufacturing firms in addition to builders and contractors. Many manufacturing firms set up in various industrial zones focus primarily on production and fabrication of products for the Saudi market. These companies have generally benefited from import protection and cheap foreign workers. With WTO accession, drive toward Saudization and constraints ensuing from immigration laws, these advantages are slowly eroding. Saudi manufacturers need to compete on
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Strategic Context
universities in terms of research performance measured in terms of publications and patents, or in terms of broader, composite measures such as the Shanghai rankings. Lack of incentives for research, lack of availability of doctoral and post-doctoral students, teaching overloads and weak interaction with industry are cited as top reasons for such poor performance. Research Institutes There are four major building and construction technology centers and research institutes scattered within the Kingdom. The General Director of Building Research of the Ministry of Municipality and Rural Affair is one of the major building research centers in the Kingdom. It has programs on major aspects of building components, such as soil foundation, concrete and concrete structures, cement, ceramic, fire resistant materials and other. The center is mainly specialized in testing materials and its properties. The Research Center, College of Engineering, at KSU hosts research conducted by KSU faculty members in theoretical and applied areas. The Center provides the researchers with financial, technical and administrative support. Recently, a Center of Excellence for Research in Engineering Materials was established within the College of Engineering at KSU. It aims to support short and longterm material research and development leading to potential breakthroughs in building materials. The Center for Engineering Research at KFUPM conducts high quality contract and applied research and to provide outstanding consultancy services to the industry in materials, energy systems, corrosion, and construction technologies and related engineering fields. King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology (KACST), the national science and technology agency, conducts research and provides grants to university researchers. KACST operates several national research institutes that perform, materials related research, including, Institute for Petroleum and Petrochemicals Research, the Energy Research Institute, the Institute of Natural Resources and Environmental Research, the Institute of Atomic Energy Research, and the Space Research Institute. Through its extramural research arm, KACST funds research at universities in building materials properties, building systems, construction and maintenance cost analysis and other construction or material related problems. In 2007, the Custodian of Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz approved three major nanotechnology centers in KAU, KSU and KFUPM. In addition, KACST established a national research center for nanotechnology. Development of cement-carbon and other building materials are part of the centers research agenda. The College of Engineering in KAU established a consultant center to build relationships with the private sector, especially in the building and construction industry.
Key National Needs

The stakeholders of the building and construction technology strategy have identified the following as the most pressing national needs of Saudi Arabia: Optimizing building design, construction, and operation and maintenance cost. Enhancing and developing new affordable and durable local building materials, utilizing local raw and waste materials. Enhancing and developing new affordable building systems. Developing sustainable and secure buildings; Safeguarding the environment and improving quality of life. Developing building capacity and infrastructures, and diffusing scientific and technological knowledge.
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Strategic Context
Enhancing the current status of research and development (R&D). Enhancing the manpower needed to achieve the objectives through clear training policies and structured programs aiming at building local expertise in required specializations with due respect to priority areas. research in building and construction-related disciplines. The main departments related to the building and construction field are: Architectural. Structural engineering. Civil engineering. Mechanical engineering. Electrical engineering. Environmental engineering. Material engineering. Chemical engineering. Building and Construction engineering and management. Fire engineering. Industrial engineering. A wide range of innovative research is being carried out at various international universities in sustainable construction and development. Global awareness toward climate change, sustainable development, energy efficiency, smart communities and other related issues, is driving research and shaping education in the building and construction field. Regional and International Research Institutes Internationally, there are more than 400 building research centers and institutes supported either by government or private sector. In the region, there are seven building research institutes supported by national governments of the KSA, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Sudan and Israel. Most of these regional and international research institutes perform long-term strategic research and applied research directed specifically to building and structural materials, systems and performance. The main research activities Regional and International Universities There are about 254 universities in fifteen countries in the region and more than 4,000 universities around the world. Most of these universities teach and carry out Building Materials and Technology Under this category, research is primarily concerned with: carried out in these institutes include:
Stakeholders Roles
Construction is a major industry in Saudi Arabia. It requires a multidisciplinary approach involving experts from materials research, engineering, architecture and a host of other fields. It also requires regulation, and enforcement of standards at the national and local levels. Given the countrys aspiration to transform itself into a knowledge-driven economy, and given the importance of the construction sector to the national economy, it is important that all relevant stakeholders in the construction sector coordinate their efforts in a systemic manner. The stakeholders for B&CTS include KACST, universities, various Independent or specialized research institutes, Ministries, other government agencies, and private companies. The following table shows the roles of these stakeholders in the program.
Analysis of Regional and International Universities and Research Institutes

For Saudi Arabia to excel in building and construction technology research and innovation, collaboration with regional and international research centers and universities is a prerequisite. This section elaborates on some of the current trends at leading centers and universities.
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Strategic Context
Utilization of wastes and by-products in building materials. Improvement of cement; Concrete and fiber reinforced concrete properties. Masonry, glass, wood, plastic, ceramics and new innovated materials. Analysis and development of new building materials Table 3: National stakeholders and their roles Stakeholder KACST Roles Plan, coordinate and manage the strategic plan. Conduct applied research, technology transfer and prototype applications development. Manage and participate in national projects. Provide support for university and industrial participation in national projects. Provide support for national research facilities. Provide advice and services to government on science and technology. Host and participate in Centers of Excellence for technology development and Innovation. Conduct applied research, technology transfer and prototype applications development. Teach and train students in science and engineering. Create new basic and applied scientific knowledge. Participate in collaborative projects. Provide technical advice and services to government and industry. Create new applied scientific knowledge. Participate in collaborative projects. Operation and implementation of technologies and projects. Provide input to program on government R&D needs. Reduce regulatory and procedural barriers to R&D and innovation. Unifying and standardizing governance systems (laws, regulations, code, specs). Support R&D in universities and industry. To participate in practical training through their specialized training centers such as Engineering Training Centre in MOMRA. To monitor and enforce updated codes, regulations,etc. Develop and commercialize products & processes resulting from the research and development program. Communicate company needs to the research and development programs. Support and participate in collaborative R&D projects. Support and participate in the Technology Innovation Centers. and components. Polymeric and bituminous materials for coatings and waterproofing. Durability of building materials and building elements. Corrosion of steel in concrete. Repair and maintenance. Microstructure and properties of building materials.
Universities
Independent or Government Specialized Research Centers Ministry and Government Agencies
Private Sector
19
Strategic Context
Solution of problems in application of prefabrication technologies. Industrialization of finishing work in buildings. Adaptation of materials to special uses in buildings and infrastructures. Advanced and Nano-materials. Rehabilitation of structures using composite materials. Use of pre-cast concrete elements in buildings. Use of autoclaved concrete in construction. Structural Engineering Research under this category primarily includes: Earthquake engineering. Damage and repair of buildings. Assessment of existing structures. Strength and serviceability requirements of concrete and steel structures. Behavior of Steel structures. Optimization of design. Composite structures. Prefabricated systems. Lightweight elements. Masonry. Prestressed elements. Structures for special loading conditions (wind, snow, temperature, vibrations, dynamic and impact loading). Structural stability. Computer implementation. Cost-effectiveness of building codes. Structural damage and fracture mechanics. Structure foundations and soil-structure interaction. Special purpose structures. Protective structures. Modeling of structures. Structural safety and reliability. Smart structures. Construction Management and Engineering Research subtopics under this category include: Industrialization, automation and robotics in construction. Computerized information systems. Expert systems. Neural network in constructions. Management techniques in construction planning, organization and control Management under uncertainty. Construction equipment and site organization. Life-cycle costing of building systems and building equipment. Computer-aided design for building construction and site management. Production rates control. Building Performance Research under this category includes: Hydrothermal analysis and properties of materials, components and buildings. Air quality and moisture problems in buildings. Building climatology and thermal analysis of buildings and of urban areas. Passive thermal control systems and means. Ventilation and wind effects. Acoustic performance of components and spaces. Effect of environmental noise on buildings. Fire safety, building services, intelligent buildings, etc. Development of criteria and evaluation methodologies for overall performance of buildings. Development of test methods. Building systems and components. Building envelope testing. Energy and water conservation systems. Ecologically sustainable development (ESD).
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Strategic Context
Some of the leading research institutes around the world that offer promising collaboration opportunities are presented in the following table. cost, life-cycle cost, and resale value. Durable: offering enhanced safety and resistance to natural hazards, including moisture, fire, and disaster, as well as decreased maintenance needs. Environmental: harmless to the natural environment, resource-efficient, and appropriately balanced between embodied energy and durability. Healthy and comfortable: harmless to the well-being of construction workers and occupants and providing good air quality and flow, thermal and visual comfort, natural ventilation and light, and protection against fire, moisture, chemicals, radon, and noise pollution. Intelligent: using advanced sensors, monitors, controls, and communication technologies to improve resource efficiency, comfort, affordability, adaptability, durability, and environmental harmony. The concept of sustainable building, green building or carbon-neutral development is getting a lot of policy attention around the world. For example, the British governments call for all homes to be zero carbon by 2016 has sent the construction industry into a green overdrive. Related to this subject, the Germans have developed and practiced the use of renewable energy sources at homes, incentivizing the home producers of energy to trade excess energy through a national energy exchange. These Global trends point to a paradigm shift in characteristics of buildings. These trends indicate that the buildings of the future will tend to be: Energy-positive: minimizing energy use; providing heating, cooling, and electricity; and storing or returning excess electricity to the grid. Adaptable: designed for movable walls, convertible rooms, flexible systems and future technology innovations. Affordable: cost-effective in terms of comprehensive home ownership, spanning first cost, maintenance Green building could involve the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings use resources --energy, water and materials-- while reducing building impacts on human health and the environment through better sitting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal (the complete building life cycle). Generally, it incorporates five major components: sustainable design; initiatives are an indication of possible future trends in building technologies in general, and the green building concept in particular.
International Trends in Building and Construction Technologies

The building industry represents one of the oldest, largest, and most important economic sectors in the world. However, this sector is facing new challenges manifested in consumer demands for lower cost, more adaptable, smarter and lower maintenance buildings while simultaneously reducing the impact on the environment. Major challenges derived from social, economic and environmental factors and trends are necessitating new advancements in technology for the sector. For example, key environmental considerations driving technological change include reduced energy consumption, conservation of primary resources, reduced use of water, and climate change effect (the need to reduce GHG emissions). Social factors driving change includes demand for new homes, greater variations in the make-up of households, changing demand for different types of buildings at lower costs, and demand for reductions in risks to health and safety. Integration of new technologies into the buildings fabric and construction is also an emerging change driver.
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Strategic Context
safeguarding water and water efficiency, energy efficiency and renewable energy, conservation of materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. Research and development related to energy efficiency and renewable energy, comprise the main activities in green building development initiative. The creation of an energy-efficient building starts with the design process itself. Research related to this stream covers building envelope, orientation, materials, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, as well as the use of artificial intelligence to reduce the energy consumption of a building.
Table 4: Some of the leading research institute in the world Country USA UK Japan Denmark Jordan India Canada UK China China Austria Korea South Africa Germany USA USA USA Germany Egypt Organization Name National Science Foundation Building Research Establishment Building Research Institute Danish Building Research Institute Building Research Center, Royal Scientific Society The Central Building Research Institute National Research Center Central Research Institute for Building Structures China Academy for Building Research China Building Technology Development Centre Austrian Institutes for Building research Korean Institute for Construction Technology National Building Research Institute Academy of Building Green Building Research Center at the Univ. of California-Berkeley Building Technology Center at Oak Ridge National Lab rotary Construction Research Center, the Univ. of Texas at Arlington German Research Community (DFG) Housing and Building Research Center

Strategic Context
Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal can be used to reduce the carbon footprint of a building. Conservation of materials and resources is another research area in green building approach. This area of research focuses on technologies that are made from environmentally attractive materials (salvaged products, postconsumer or post-industrial recycled content, rapidly renewable products, minimally processed materials), green products, engineered materials and reconstituted materials. Indoor environmental quality is a major technological challenge. Reduction of potentially harmful chemicals and biological agents, including carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), molds, various allergens, and infectious agents utilizing nanotechnology, organic based substance and advance material technology is a priority area. A green building approach also embraces not just how we build but also where we build, taking into consideration site selection, development density, transportation, and other factors that contribute to the sphere of the approach. Until recently, the concept of high-performance green buildings was difficult to define and the practice even more obscure. Today, advances in technology, combined with growing industry awareness and attractive financial incentives and benefits, are rapidly transforming the green building landscape. The search for affordable, less time-consuming, and maintenance-free buildings and constructions have led to the promising Advanced Panelized Construction (APC) technology. Panelized construction is a method where the building is subdivided into basic planar elements that are typically constructed offsite through mass production, and then shipped directly to the Advanced composite material is another technology that has been transferred into and utilized by the building and construction sector. New and improved materials with better thermal and structural properties are enhancing building efficiency and reducing environmental impacts. An example of use of improved material is Pixel Panels that are a mix of 92.5% concrete and 7.5% polymers that allows light to penetrate, thus reducing electricity bills. Transparent ceramics is another innovative material that could be widely used in buildings. These ceramics are durable and super-strong, and at the same time they are also transparent, meaning they can be used for highly durable windows including rich, jewel-like colors. In addition, carbon or glass fiber reinforced plastic sheet and rebar are being used in strengthening and rehabilitation of buildings and structures. These are a few of the emerging trends in technology shaping the building and construction sector. Technology transfer from other fields of science into the building and construction field is beginning to have significant impact on construction around the world. For example, nanotechnology is altering material properties in unprecedented ways. In the United States of America alone, 130 startups and established companies are offering or developing nanomaterial for green buildings, 54 projects are underway at universities and research centers, and 43 recent patents are available for licensing. A case in point is the use of nanotechnology to develop Aerogel frozen smoke, which has been used to develop organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). OLEDS make light ten times more efficient. construction site for assembly into the finished structure.
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Strategic Context
Benchmarking of Research Performance
Publication Activities There is a general agreement that publications and patents strongly correlate with scientific research capacity, although publication and patent counts alone do not fully represent the quality or scope of research. Nonetheless, publication and patent activity have long been used as indicators for knowledge creation and research output. Research in building technology is published by several thousand public and private institutions of higher education in more than 140 countries. A limited assessment of research publication was carried out as part of this planning effort. This analysis covered articles published by each country in tier 1 journals in related subject between the year 2005 and 2008. The journals on which the study was based included: Journal for Construction and Building Materials; Journal for Composite Structure; A factor for comparison was calculated by dividing the number of articles published over the number of higher education institutions in each country. Also, a referenced factor was calculated by dividing the number of articles published by each country over the number of articles published by KSA. As presented in the following tables, China was the largest producer publishing 304 related articles, followed by the USA (199) and the UK (154). KSA institutions published only 16 articles. However, when the number of articles were normalized over the number of higher education institutions in each country, (4th column in table), Korea was the largest producer of research papers (1.04) followed by Australia (0.85) and UK (0.68). The following chart depicts data on total number of research articles by each benchmark country. Journal for Energy and Building; and Journal for Building and Environments.
Table 5: Building and construction technology publications (2006-2008) Country Australia Canada China Germany India Japan Korea KSA UAE UK USA Higher Education Institutions (No.) 79 05 891 390 36 671 10 4 33 8 3348 Articles (No.) 67 55 304 4 6 73 106 16 8 154 199 Articles/HEI Factor 0.85 0.27 0.34 0.11 0.19 0.11 1.04 0.38 0.24 0.68 0.06 Referenced Factor 4.20 2.85 19.0 2.63 3.88 4.56 6.63 1.0 0.62 9.6 12.4
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Strategic Context
Figure 3: Publications by country
Number of Publications by Benchmark

350
19
0 18 16
300
Number of Published Articles
50
12.4
14 1
9.6
00
10 8 6
150
6.6
100
4.2 2.85 2.63
3.88
4.56
4
1 16 0.62 8 154 199
50
67 55 304
0
4
6
73
106
China
Germany
Australia
Canada
KSA
UAE
UK
India
Japan
Patent Activities The building and construction sector is marked by a high degree of intellectual property creation and protection. As shown in the following table, there were several patent applications filed between 2006 and 2008 with the International Patent Classification (IPC) and listed by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Statistics Database in July 2008. The majority of these patents are related to engineering and building fields. KSA shows the second lowest number of patents as compared with other
benchmark countries (see Figure 9). It can be seen that the USA was the largest producer with 116,975 related patents, followed by Japan and Germany with 62,336 and 38,786 patents respectively. Saudi Arabia produced only 150 patents over the same period. However, when the number of patents is normalized over the number of higher education institutions in each country, Korea was the largest producer of patents (145) followed by Germany (99.5) and Japan (93).
Korea
USA
Referenced Factor
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Strategic Context
The following table shows the technical fields of PCT international patent applications published for 20062007 and annual growth in 2007. The fastest growing technical fields included environmental technology The following chart depicts data on total number of registered patents by benchmark country. (12.3%) and civil engineering and building (6.6%).
Table 6: PCT application field (2006-2008) Higher Education Institutions (No.) 79 05 891 390 671 10 4 33 8 3348
Country Australia Canada China Germany Japan Korea KSA UAE UK USA
Patents (No.) 4506 6136 10713 38786 6336 14811 150 8 1008 116975
Patents/ HEI Factor 57.0 30.0 12.0 99.5 93.0 145.0 3.60 0.24 52.67 35.0
Referenced Factor 30.0 41.0 71.0 258.0 416.0 99.0 1.0 0.05 80.0 780.0
Table 7: Technical fields Year 2006 6399 5680 3836 1585 4748 2007 6688 5863 4045 1780 5084 6.6 3.2 5.4 12.3 7.1 Growth (%)
Technical Field Civil engineering and building Chemical engineering Materials Environmental technology Mechanical
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Strategic Context
Patents by country The aforementioned comparative assessment of research performance should be read in the context of a broader set of demographic and economic factors. The following table shows the total spending on construction for selected countries for the year 2007. The spending on construction per capita for Saudi Arabia ranked third after Japan and UK. The table also compares relevant demographic and economic indicators such as population, GDP, GDP per capita etc.
Figure 4: Patent by Benchmark

10000
780
900 800 700
100000
Number of Registered Patents
416
500 400
60000
58
40000
300 00
0000
30 41 6136 71 10713 38786 6336
99 1 14811 150 0.05 8
80
100
1008 116975
4506
Germany
Australia
China
KSA
Canada
Japan
Korea
USA
UAE
UK
Referenced Factor
80000
600
7
Strategic Context
SWOT Analysis
This section presents a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Saudi Building and Construction Technology Strategic Plan relative to achieving its vision. In a SWOT analysis, strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization or strategic plan while opportunities and threats are defined as external to the organization. Strengths 1. Establishment of Saudi Building Code (SBC), SASO standards and the General Specifications of Building Construction (GSBC) issued by Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MOMRA). 2. Attention of government (as manifested in the national development plans) and industry to building technology. 3. Present and future promising business opportunities Table 8: Economic and demographic indicators for various countries Population (Millions) 60.27 127.4 48.8 25.2 4.3 10.3 47.4 Const. Market (Billion $) 08 500 96 85 47.3 4.4 25.6 Const. Market /Population 3.45 3.92 1.97 3.37 11 0.43 0.54 GDP Growth (%) 2.1 2.7 5 4 6.3 6 4.8 GDP (Billion $) 1664 4664 897.4 378.1 113.6 7 177.1 GDP /Capital ($) 27,700 31,500 16,291 15,887 26,500 2,600 3,700
Country UK Japan Korea KSA UAE Tunisia South Africa
Area (km2) 242,900 377,915 99,678 2,000,000 83,600 163,610 1,221,037
in the B&CTs field. 4. Availability of the technical and scientific research infrastructure. 5. Interest at the national level in developing, utilizing and integrating modern technologies such as nano-technology, biotechnology, advanced materials, and other technologies into building and construction technologies. 6. Government support to stimulate new, value-adding, downstream industries utilizing crude oil. 7. Rapid growth in the construction sector encompassing housing and commercial complexes, new economic cities and industrial zones. 8. Availability of the necessary financial support for
technology transfer within the National Science and Technology Policy. 9. Regional and international agreements and collaboration in science and technology. 10. The growing demand for building and construction technologies and the lack of competition in the technology market at the local level. 11.Commitment to implementation of the science and technology policy and its strategic plans. Weaknesses 1. The slow development and implementation of SBC and SASO standards. 2. Non-unified and standardized governmental systems
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Strategic Context
(laws, regulations, code, specifications etc.); 3. Failure to activate the scientific and technical infrastructure for transferring and developing technologies at appropriate levels; 4. Poor quality of scientific research in science and technology systems at the local level. 5. Fragmentation of building industry and lack of investment in research and development, as well as in adoption and use of new technologies. 6. Poor utilization of the international cooperation agreements and opportunities related to technology transfer. 7. Shortages of technical research personnel and equipment. 8. Lack of involvement of national specialists in planning, design and project management in both government and private sectors; 9. The difficulty of attracting distinguished experts and scholars to live in KSA. 10.Insufficient Saudi colleges or departments specialized in building and construction technologies; 11.The absence of civil society institutions that would contribute in the awareness of the importance of technology developments; 12.Lack of clear training policies and structured programs needed to enhance local expertise in required areas. 13.Low remuneration (income) for individuals working in research field and educational institutions compared to some other occupations. Opportunities 1. Growing demand, at a global level, for innovative building and construction technologies in keeping with emerging trends related to sustainable developments, green buildings, and durable construction; 2. Enforcement of standards and specifications such as SBC, SASO standards and the General Specifications Threats 1. Global competition to develop innovative solutions for the building and construction sector. 2. The difficulty in transferring technology from proprietors. 3. Contradictions and conflicts among policies and government regulations. 4. Lack of access to knowledge due to concerns of technical security and political controls. 5. Entry of lower-cost foreign competitors due to WTO agreements. of Building Construction (GSBC) at the local level; 3. Growing demand for innovative Building and Construction Technologies, to commit and adhere with policy and regulatory drive through international treaties such as; United Nation Framework to combat climate change (UNFCCC) and Basel Convention etc; 4. Presence of international agreements with KSA related to technology transfer of building and construction technologies 5. The growing awareness regarding environmental security at the global level and their relationship to international security and integrity of natural systems;
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Higher Strategy
This section provides the vision, mission, and strategic priorities for the Kingdoms Building and Constructions Technology Strategic Plan.
Vision
To be recognized as a developer of innovative and knowledgeable solutions in the field of building and construction technologies.
Mission
To enhance and develop feasible research and development programs that will catalyze the transfer, localization and development of technologies and solutions for the domestic building and construction sector through national and international collaboration.
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Higher Strategy
Strategic Goals
The strategic objectives of the plan are aligned with the key needs of the Kingdom and the broad developmental goals set forth in the National Policy for Science and Technology: 1. Transfer, localize and develop feasible and cost effective building and construction technologies to improve quality of life. 2. Enhance the quality and productivity of research in strategic areas relevant to safety and long-term service life of the structures. 3. Develop sustainable, durable and environmental friendly structures based on latest research and technological advancements. 4. Encourage construction industry to have professionals who add value to the development of building and construction technologies. 5. Bridge the gap between end users, R&D organizations and private sector to generate new investment opportunities. 6. Involve stakeholder in action plan and decisions making. 7. Develop human resources in numbers and caliber - to undertake these formidable tasks.
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Technology Areas
Main Research and Development Programs:
In order to fulfill the strategic objectives and the kingdoms needs, considering national issues, economical impact, optimization and sustainability, stakeholders identified major R&D programs to be: 1. Safety. 2. Health. 3. Energy. 4. Environment. 5. New Trends. The sphere of the programs main R&D activities, generally involve one of the following areas: a. Enhancement and improvement of an existing technology. b. Development of a new technology. c. Localization of an existing or a new technology. Principal Initiatives These main R&D programs are based on and designed to satisfy the following principal initiatives: 1. Affordable and Cost-effective. 2. Adaptable and durable. 3. Safeguarding water and water efficiency. 4. Energy efficiency and renewable energy. 5. Conservation of materials and resources, and 6. Indoor environmental quality. Main Themes The target of these programs will be accomplished by transferring, developing and localizing selected technologies that could serve either design or construction or/and operation and maintenance O&M projects, and should address one or more of the following main themes: 1. Building and Construction Materials, Architectural: Structural
3
Technology Areas
Geotechnical (Grid and backfill materials) Electrical. Mechanical. Sanitary. Insulation. Advance/ composite. Other materials. 2. Building and Construction Systems; Concrete. Masonry. Steel. Composite. Other Systems. 3. Building Design, Performance and Quality Assurance; and Buildings safety, serviceability and durability. Structural Dynamics and earthquake engineering. Geotechnical aspects ( foundation soil interaction) Hydrothermal analysis and properties of materials, components and buildings. Air quality, ventilation and moisture problems in buildings. Building climatology and thermal analysis of buildings and of urban areas. Passive thermal control systems and means. Acoustic performance of components and spaces. Effect of environmental noise on buildings; Fire safety, building services, intelligent buildings, etc. Development of criteria, evaluation methodologies and monitoring overall performance of buildings. Development of test methods. Building systems and components. Building envelope testing. Energy and water conservation systems. Ecologically sustainable development (ESD).
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Technology Areas
4. Building Assembly systems. Electrical; Mechanical. Electro-mechanical. Sanitary. Safety, Security and monitoring. Other Systems. 5. Technologys strategic alignment. Alignment with the plan strategic objectives. Alignment with the priority programs.
Priority Project Areas

For the first five years (1429-1434) a priority project areas are identified based on the most pressing kingdoms need in the building and construction sectors, and in alignment with the R&D programs. These areas are: Safety: 1. Durable and serviceable structural systems (design, construction and maintenance). 2. Fire proofing materials and systems. 3. Smart and advanced electro-mechanical materials and systems. Health: 1. Moisture and damping Insulation. 2. Sound proofing. 3. Advanced materials and systems for Floors and walls. 4. Smart windows and openings systems. Energy: 1. Solar. 2. Heat Insulation. 3. Buildings envelop orientation. Environment: 1. Water conservation. 2. Construction/ demolition waste reusing and recycling. 3. Environmental friendly Synthesis materials development. New trends: 1. Low cost structural systems (design, construction and maintenance). 2. Fiber Composite materials (Polymer, Plastic, Glass, Carbon, etc.). 3. Smart (concrete, Mansonry and composite) materials and systems. 4. Advanced ceramics and alloyed materials and systems.
Technology Selection Criteria

Selection of projects (related to improving, transferring and developing building and construction technologies) under each R&D program will be subjected to certain criteria that will adapt to evolving strategic needs of the kingdom. For the first five year plan (1429-1434H) the criteria for selection are: 1. Technologys Demand/Need. Impact of technology on existing/Future industry. Size of industry benefit from technology. 2. Technologys Surrounding Environment. Intellectual property issues. Accessibility to the technology. Availability of local infrastructure and man power. Availability of international science and technology cooperation/ Signed agreement. Integration with other strategic technologies. 3. Technologys Competence and Quality. Technology Life Cycle. Environmental impact. Suitability to local weather and geological condition. 4. Technologys Economics. Size of jobs it could generate. Cost effectiveness. Economic shortfall from not using the technology.
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Implementation Structure
Structure and Strategic Connection
The following schematic depicts the connection among strategy components. It captures the main inputs and outputs of the process for selecting, transferring, developing and localizing building and construction technologies.
Performance Indicators
General Key Performance Indicators Have been set for assessing and monitoring the operation and implementation of this strategic plan. These indicators are grouped technically and administratively. The administrative indicators include: Number and impact of successful applications of Building and Construction to stakeholder needs. Expansion of number of research-active specialist in the Kingdom. Number of papers published in journals and their impact. Number of generated patents. Number of products successfully entering the market. Number of successfully incubated new companies. Number of researchers trained and applications eveloped. Number of man-hours achieved in structured training related to the programs of this plan.
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Figure 5: Strategic connections among strategic plan elements
Kingdom Key Needs Strategic Objectives Principal Initiatives Priority Programs Main Themes Design Issue O & M Issue Cons. Issue Technology Development or Enhancement Enhancement or Improvement of an Existing Technology Development of New Technology Localization of an Existing New Technology Private Sector
Vision and Mission
Technology Selection Critiria Technology Selection Technology Transfer
Research and Development Institutes (projects) Environmental, Social, Eco and Other Needed Studies Technology Localization
Government Sector
Problems and Needs Technology Development
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Technical Indicators
Technical indicators are presented in the following table. Table 9: Technical performance indicators Priorities Safety Objective 1) Transferring, localizing and developing feasible and cost effective building and construction technologies to improve life quality 2) Enhancing the quality and productivity of research in strategic areas relevant to safety and long term life of the structures. 3) Developing of a sustainable, durable and environmental friendly materials based on latest researches, current technological advancements and challenges of building and construction technologies 4) Elevating the construction industries to have the professionals who will have added value to the development of building and construction technologies. 5) Bridging between end users, R&D and privet sector to generate new investment opportunities (business opportunities). 6) Involving stakeholder in action plan and decisions making. Techniques Conduct applied research and prototype applications Strengthen industrys ability to competence in international market Provide support to Universities Participate in collaborative projects Develop internationally competitive products and processes Sustainable and safe environment Conservation of national resources Conservation of energy Conservation of water
Health
Energy
Environment
Research-active specialist Create new applied scientific knowledge Support and participate by privet sector in R&D projects Coordinate privet sector needs with strategy priorities Support and participate in technologies centers Reduce regularity & procedural barriers Participation in the advisory committee for B&CTSC
New Trends
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Action Plan
Implementation of the strategic plan for building materials technology will require activities at three levels: the initiation, the transition, and the action levels. Initiation level Enriching the awareness of the importance of building and construction technology for various objectives i.e. healthy environment, energy conservation, and low maintenance cost for long term. Some of the techniques that can be used are: Establishing a Building and Construction National Research Center. Building a chain of local professional groups including the establishment of a scientific society. Developing a detailed roadmap. Prioritizing and organizing R&D programs. Organizing national and international workshops and conferences. Holding international exposition in B&CTs in Saudi Arabia. Establishing structured training courses in Saudi universities and colleges and other capable entities such as MOMRA and the Engineers Council. Transition level Developing or inventing technologies in building and construction materials and systems. Examples of techniques that can be used are: Initiating funded projects in Saudi R&D institutes with international experts. Initiating exchange programs with different professional levels. Setting regulations and policies enforcing the use of B&CTs in harmony with the new Saudi Building Code (SBC), with setting the priorities of these technologies. Establishing centers of excellence in B&CTs in Saudi Arabia. Application level pplying transferred and developed technologies in the industry sector.
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Implementation Plan To facilitate the implementation of the B&CT strategic plan, a National Building and Construction Technologies Center (NBCTC) should be established at KACST. NBCTC will take responsibility for the overall management of the plan and for the coordination and evaluation of the program components at the national level. A network of centers of excellence in building and construction materials and technologies should be established at Saudi universities and institutions to accelerate technology transfer and development. A major task for the first year of the program will be for KACST to develop the necessary governance infrastructure and operational plan. That will require hiring skilled technical staff capable of overseeing large scale technical initiatives that span several different institutions and research centers. It is essential to build the skills necessary to lead and develop these programs, and to plan them carefully. As part of the initial activities under this plan, KACST staff and other stakeholder members will visit programs of a similar nature elsewhere in the world to discuss their management practices and lessons learned. A Building and Construction Advisory Committee will be established, with stakeholder membership, to oversee the implementation of the plan. It will review performance metrics and provide advice on the portfolio of projects. It will also propose appropriate regulations and government incentives to promote wider utilization of high impact new building and construction technologies. The Committee will report to the National S&T Plan Supervisory Committee, which will oversee all of the National S&T Programs. The Advisory Committee will meet four times a year and review progress in the programs. The national advisory committee will also sponsor and oversee studies of emerging areas of Building and Construction Technology, to serve as the basis for developing new program areas. This plan will be reviewed and updated annually. In addition to the national advisory committee input, it is expected that workshops with the research community, users, industry and other stakeholders will also contribute to both a continual evaluation of the plan as well as a stronger technology research and development in the Kingdom
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Appendix A: Stakeholders
Stakeholders and their Activities
Organization Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MOMRA) Activities The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs is by far the largest stakeholder of all private and governmental entities in the Kingdom. It has 8 deputies which have control over the general land planning and urban development as well as the enforcing of building regulations through granting building and occupancy permits. The Deputy Ministry of Central Directorate for Development of Projects (CDDP) formerly Public Works is the Ministrys arm to implement projects in Holy Areas. The CDDP has in the last twelve years supervised the planning and implementation of MEGA Projects in addition to being a party in engineering developments in the Kingdom. The Ministry conducts several activities through different deputy and general directorate. This includes: Contractor Classification, Building Materials Research, Engineering training, Re-engineering. Enhancing industrial competitive capabilities. Providing an infrastructure supportive of enhanced industrial development. Enacting suitable laws and regulations to ensure a fair, competitive market for industrial products. Building an industrial data base which will monitor & coordinate inter-industry flows. Promoting investment in the infrastructure of industrial cities & technology zones. Formulating of regional deployment of particular technologies. Formulating and approving of national standards. Setting the rules for granting certificates of conformity and quality mark and regulating their issuance and use. Utilizing advanced technology to acquire and interpret geo-science information, and develop sustainable mineral and water resources. Protecting the environment and monitor geo-hazards to secure a better life for our people. Attracting sufficient investment to achieve sustainable rapid economic growth while capitalizing on the Kingdoms competitive strengths as the global capital of energy, and as a major hub between East and West. Providing comprehensive licensing and support services to investors in establishing their businesses. Identifying opportunities that are linked to the countrys competitive advantages and match them to investors fitting a strategic, risk, and financial profile. Cooperating with regional authorities to create region-specific investment promotion plans and strategies. Host and participate in Centers of Excellence for technology development and Innovation. Conduct applied research, technology transfer and prototype applications development. Teach and train students in science and engineering. Create new basic and applied scientific knowledge. Provide technical advice and services to government and industry.
Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI)
Saudi Arabian Standard Organization (SASO) Saudi Arabian Geological Survey Authority (SGS)
Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA)
Saudi Universities
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Organization Saudi Council for Engineering (SCE) Activities Promoting the engineering profession, develop and upgrade its standards and those practicing it. Setting criteria and standards. Profession development. Setting license terms and conditions. Setting rules and regulations. Conducting examinations for obtaining professional degrees. Promoting, assisting, servicing and otherwise encourage the development of basic, downstream and light industries that would utilize the Kingdoms natural resources to produce value added products for local use and export. Planning, developing, constructing, operating and maintaining the various infrastructure and services needed for the above industries and for the people working in these industries. Encouraging the use and enhancement of the skills and talents of the Saudi citizens in the above activities. Maintaining a balance between industrial development and environmental safety that is compatible with sustainable development. Encouraging the participation of local and foreign private investment. Working in liaison with other agencies such as Saudi Aramco, the Seaports Authority and others to facilitate the availability of feedstock and other services needed by the industries. Functioning as a City Manager responsible for the safety and security of the entire industrial area under its jurisdiction. Preparing and train individuals to perform the required industrial, commercial, agricultural and services activities that contribute to the national economy whether by working in public or private sectors. Providing the individual with the Islamic values and general knowledge that help them adopt a good way of thinking and adjust to different environments. Creating a scientific base of technical manpower that can easily deal with the rapid development in technology. Providing opportunities for individuals who desire to learn a profession or continue training to the highest level that his mental and physical capabilities allow. Developing the skills of technicians and update their professional information on a continuing base. Underlining the importance of handicraft and vocational work and their role in the prosperity of the society. Contributing in halting the movement of citizens to big cities by opening vocational training centers in all Kingdoms regions. Preparing a building code for the Kingdom including criteria of designing building that are resistant to earthquakes. Preparing a plan to study the assessment and improvement for the earthquake efficiency of buildings that are currently found in earthquake-stricken areas in the kingdom. Proposing regulations that obligate public and private sectors to implement Code requirements and the criteria of buildings design that resist the earthquakes in the Kingdom.
Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY)
Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC)
Saudi Arabian Building Code National Committee (SBCNC)
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Organization Saudi Aramco Activities Saudi Aramco uses and develops innovative approaches to maximize productivity, efficiency and safety. R&D Center hosts a Technical Exchange Meeting to provide a forum for scientists and engineers to exchange new ideas, identify mechanisms for technology transfer and review the latest scientific developments in a variety of disciplines. R&D Center sponsors membership in scientific societies, where members are encouraged to give presentations and conduct discussion groups. Producing and undertake R&D in chemical, plastic and steel industry. It contributes a vital role in the construction, development and industrialization of some of the worlds fastest-growing economies. Representing Saudi building materials and construction traders, contractors & manufacturers.
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC)
The Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce (CSCC)
4
Stakeholder Representatives and Plan Participants
Participants Name Mohammed Binhussain Mohammed Alhussaini Abdullah Alkhalid Walid Molla Badr Alsderi Magdi Khalifa Lother Powroschnik Khalid Alotaibi Sami Mirza Khalid Alfi Moataz Badawi Tarek Almusallam Alfarabi Sharif Faris Alfaraidy Adnan Alsahhaf Abdullah Alarainy Rajeh Alzaid Abdulaziz Al-Negheimish Khalid Alsharif Fuad Bukhari Mohammed Alisa Organization
KACST
MOMRA
MCI SASO SGS UQU KSU KFUPM KFU SCE RCJY SBCNC Saudi Aramco Ithar Consultant Plastbau Arabia Co.
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Appendix B: Research Focus of Local Universities and Research Institutes

University/Institute King Fahad University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) Colleges/Departments Sciences, Computer Sciences & Engineering, Engineering Sciences & Applied Engineering, Environmental Design, Industrial Management, Civil Engineering Research Topics and Fields Building Material: raw material, concrete, composite and others. Building Systems: concrete, masonry, steel, composite system; Building Assembly Systems: mechanical, electrical & safety systems. Building Material: raw material, concrete, masonry, others; Building Systems: concrete, block, steel, mixed system. Building Assembly Systems: mechanical system (e.g. HVAC) electrical & safety systems, others. Building Material: raw material, manufacture product. others; Building Systems: concrete, block, steel, mixed system; Building Assembly Systems: mechanical system (e.g. HVAC) electrical & safety systems, others. Building Assembly Systems: mechanical system (e.g. HVAC) electrical & safety systems, others. Building Material: raw material, concrete, masonry, steel, composite and admixture. Building Systems: concrete, block, steel, FRPS structural strengthening; Building Assembly Systems: HVAC, indoor quality electrical & safety systems, others. Building Material: raw material, manufacture product. others; Building Systems: Concrete, block, steel, mixed system; Building Assembly Systems: mechanical system (e.g. HVAC) electrical & safety systems, others. Building Material: raw material, manufacture product. others; Building Systems: concrete, block, steel, mixed system.
King Abdulaziz University (KAU)
Electrical and Computer, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Industrial Engineering, Urban Design.
King Faisal University (KFU)
Architecture and planning architecture, construction engineering, urban and interior design, Islamic arch. Research center.
King Khalid University (KKU) King Saud University (KSU)
Science, Information Technology, Mechanical, Industrial Engineering Sciences, Information Technology, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Industrial Engineering, Survey, Architecture & Planning
Um Alqora University (UQU)
Islamic Architecture Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Computer Engineering.
Qasim University (QU)
Electrical, Civil, Mechanical Engineering, Health Engineering
Taif University (TU) Jouf University (JU)
Computer Engineering Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Computer, Industrial Engineering
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www.kacst.edu.sa
www.mep.gov.sa
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Doc. No. 22 P0001-PLN-0001-ER01
DAKKIN 01 478 8584
Petrochemicals
Biotechnology
Energy
Strategic Priorities for Energy Technology Program
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Scope Plan Development Process Strategic Context KSA Energy R&D Needs Stakeholders Roles Analysis of Comparable Energy R&D Institutes Analysis of Energy Publications and Patents SWOT Analysis for KSA Energy Research and Innovation Program Higher Strategy Vision Mission Program Values and Culture Program Strategic Goals Technology Areas Selection Process Selected Technology Areas Program Structure Program Objectives
4 7 7 8 8 10 10 11 1 13 3 4 4 4 4 5 6 6 6 8 8
Contents
Performance Indicators for Objectives Program Projects Categories Operational Plans Technology transfer plan Quality Management Plan Human Resources Plan Communications Management Plan Risk Management Plan Implementation of the Plan Appendix A: Plan Development Process Portfolio Management 9 9 30 31 3 3 33 34 35 36 38
Executive summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined 11 programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was given responsibility for developing 5-year strategic and implementation plans for each of these 11 technology programs. This roadmap is the plan for one of these programs, the Energy Technology Program.
Energy technologies are of particular importance to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Energy is a key driver of the countrys development and economic growth. Furthermore, the electricity sector in the Kingdom faces great challenges in fulfilling the rising demand for electricity consumption that is the foundation for economic and social development. The annual growth of electricity consumption in the KSA is estimated at 6.4 percent. In order to meet this demand, additional generation plants and reinforcement of distribution and transmission systems are needed. The estimated power generation for the year 2023 is estimated at 59,000 megawatts compared with 25,000 megawatts in 2001. Attempts to find scientific solutions to keep pace with this growing demand necessitate technology transfer and the development of technologies to improve electrical energy generation, transmission, distribution, and utilization. New and renewable energies also show potential to gain a larger share of energy production in the future. High cost and production difficulties related to these technologies still have to be worked out in order to facilitate their more widespread use. Adaptation of these technologies in the KSA will contribute to a balanced and sustainable pace of development in the Kingdom, especially in remote areas. Sustaining the utilization of petroleum oil and gas in the transportation sector is a strategic goal for the Kingdom.
Executive summary
Hence, technologies leading to improved efficiency, fuel economy and reduced impact on the environment need to be developed. This plan is based on input from the users and stakeholders of energy technologies in the Kingdom, including government agencies, universities and industry. The plan received extensive input, review, and comment from stakeholders through 16 small workshops as well as through a comprehensive workshop attended by more than forty participants. The planning processes: Identified the key needs of the Kingdom for energy research and innovation. Assessed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the program, including an analysis of KSA energy publications and patents and an assessment of international research institutes. Defined a mission and vision for the Kingdoms energy program. Defined the key technologies and other program areas needed to address the Kingdoms needs in energy research and innovation. In addition to the technical needs, workshop participants identified a large number of areas where policies need to be changed or barriers removed to facilitate energy technology innovation. These needs include: Policies to facilitate research and development (R&D) collaboration between KACST, universities, and industry. Policy and organizational changes in universities to improve the ability of faculty members to conduct research. Expanded human resources for energy R&D. Improved knowledge exchange with respect to international technology developments. The priority technology areas that emerged from this process are as follows: Renewable Energy Generation: Solar Energy (Resource Assessment, Solar thermal, collectors , Solar Cooling, Solar Desalination, Solar Expanded international collaboration, including cooperation between Saudi universities and international universities. Saudi participation in international standardization bodies. Small business contracting preferences to support innovative small companies.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, PV Cell fabrication, PV applications). Wind Energy (Resources Assessment, Grid-connected Conventional Energy Generation: Steam and Gas Turbines (turbine efficiency and blade Micro-Turbines. Waste Heat Extraction Processes. Multi-Generation. Combined Cycle. Electricity Distribution and Transmission: Electrical Transformers (auto/smart transformer, new construction material ,sensors for measurement and protection). Electrical Cables (new insulation material and design Electrical Networks (automation, smart networks, for high voltage). development of software, hardware and sensors for communication in local and wide area networks). Electrical Circuit Breakers; CB (CB for high voltage and extra high voltage; EHV, advanced design and operating mechanism, protection, insulation material. treatment). and stand-alone systems, Wind energy applications).
Executive summary
Energy Conservation and Management: Air Conditioning and Refrigeration( heat pump, central AC, AC cycles, refrigerants, compressor, condenser, energy auditing, control, absorption chillers). Lighting System( efficient lighting, ballast, auditing, Building Envelope (thermal insulation, window The Energy Technology Program consists of a program leadership function, responsible for overall planning, management, and cross-cutting issues, and seven priority technical areas corresponding to the fields above. The Energy Program will be directed by a Program Manager, who will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. The Energy Technology Research and Innovation Advisory Committee, with stakeholder membership, will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will establish and review performance metrics and provide advice on the portfolio of projects. The Committee will advise the Program Manager and will also report to the National S&T Plan Supervisory Committee, which will oversee all of the Strategic Technology Programs. compact fluorescent lamp, Control). glazing, building shading, building energy management, building automation System). Boiler / Furnace Efficiency. Electric motors. Heat Exchangers(compact heat exchangers). Energy Storage: Super Capacitors. High-Speed Flywheels. Superconducting Magnetic. Advanced Batteries. Thermal Energy Storage. Pumped Storage. Fuel Cell and Hydrogen: Hydrogen Production from Hydrocarbon Fuels. Hydrogen Storage. Proton Exchange Fuel Cell. Solid Oxide Fuel Cell. Direct Methanol Fuel Cell. Stack Fabrication and Testing. Fuel Cell Electrodes. Fuel Cell Membrane. Fuel Cell Catalyst. Combustion: Automotive combustion. Direct Injection. Auto-Ignition/ Homogenous Charge Compression Industrial combustion. Efficiency Enhancement. Emission Reduction. Combustion Modeling. Laser Application. Fuel Technologies.
Ignition.
Introduction
Background
The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was directed by its charter of 1986 to propose a national policy for the development of science and technology and to devise the strategy and plans necessary to implement them. In accordance with this charter, KACST launched a comprehensive effort in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MoEP), to develop a long-term national policy on science and technology. In July 2002, the Council of Ministers approved the national policy for science and technology, entitled The Comprehensive, Long-Term, National Science and Technology Policy.
KACST and MoEP embarked on a national effort in collaboration with stakeholders to develop the national plan for science, technology and innovation (STI), which drew up the future direction of science, technology and innovation in the Kingdom, considering the role of KACST as well as that of universities, government, industry, and society at large. The plan encompasses eight major programs, depicted in figure 1, as follows: 1. Strategic and advanced technologies 2. Scientific research and technical development capabilities 3. Transfer, development, and localization of technology 4. Science, technology, and society 5. Scientific and technical human resources 6. Diversifying financial support resources 7. Science, technology, and innovation system 8. Institutional structures for science, technology, and innovation
Introduction
an Hum ces ur Reso
Techn olog Transf ies er & Local izatio n

R Cap & D abi litie s
Society Private Sector

Research & Educational Institutes
Ministries and Governmental Institutes
ial nc ces a Fin sour Re
Ad
m of inis NS tra TI tion P
, ce & ien y, Sc olog n iety ch Te Soc
National Science, Technology, & Innovation Plan (NSTIP)
In the Strategic Technologies area, KACST is responsible for 5-year strategic and implementation plans for 11 technologies: 1. Water. 2. Oil & Gas. 3. Petrochemicals. 4. Nanotechnology. 5. Biotechnology. 6. Information Technology. 7. Electronics, Communication, & Photonics. 8. Space and Aeronautics. 9. Energy. 10. Environment. 11. Advanced Materials. Each plan establishes a mission and vision, identifies stakeholders and users, and determines the highest priority technical areas for the Kingdom.
Scope
The scope of this plan is national: it is an energy research and innovation plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The plan involves universities, industry, and government stakeholders. KACST has overall responsibility for the development and execution of the plan.

The development of this plan began with identifying the stakeholders and users of energy research and innovation in the Kingdom, creating vision and mission statements, and conducting background research on the current position of the Kingdom in energy research and development (R&D) and on the role of other energy research institutes around the world. The plan development methodology is summarized in the following figure.
Introduction
Figure 2: Plan Development Methodology
Methods - Examples: Workshops Interviews Group Analysis SWOT Analysis Gap Analysis
Stakeholders Needs Analysis / SWOT Analysis
Preliminary Analysis
Vision / Mission / Values
Higher Strategy
Perspectives / Themes
Strategic Alignment Framework
Objectives
Tools - Examples: Brainstorming Questionaires Mind Maps Decision-making Tech
Strategic Management
Measures Performance Indicators Targets Performance Evaluation
Cascading
(Balanced Scorecard)
Projects
Tools & Techniques defined in Portfolio & Program Management Standards (PMS)
Projects Portfolio
Program Core Plans Scope / Time / Cost / Quality / Integration
Program Management
Support Plans HR / Commu / Risk / Procu
Core & Support Plans
Project Management
The plan received extensive input, review, and comment from the stakeholders through conducting 16 small workshops in addition to a comprehensive workshop attended by more than forty participants. This workshop focused on reviewing the elements of the strategic planning activities resulting from the preceding
workshops. These elements include the SWOT analysis, vision and mission statements, and technology areas of importance to the Kingdom & other countries. The workshop was also used to brainstorm R&D projects in the selected energy fields. The workshop participant names are listed in Appendix A.
Strategic Context
KSA Energy R&D Needs
The following key needs of the Kingdom were identified through workshops with the stakeholders:
The demand for energy in Saudi Arabia will continue to be extremely high. The current population of Saudi Arabia is about 27 million. The annual population growth rate is approximately 2.9% that represents one of the highest in the world. The Kingdoms energy sector faces great challenges due to the growing demand in electricity consumption. The annual demand growth of electricity, which is a major foundation for any economic or social development, is estimated at 6.4 percent. In order to meet this demand, electricity companies are required to make substantial investments in order to increase the generation capacity as well as to upgrade and reinforce the distribution and transmission system. The power generation capacity required in the year 2023 is estimated at 59000 megawatts, compared with 25000 megawatts in 2001. There is a critical need to provide energy to the Kingdoms remote areas where renewable energy can be highly competitive in power generation. Connecting these areas to the conventional grid is prohibitively expensive. Furthermore, the KSA is embarking on a new age of industrialization. This new direction manifests itself in gigantic government-sponsored national construction projects such as Economic Cities and Industrial Clusters. In addition, industrial activity is expected to rise significantly due to the Kingdoms joining of the World Trade Organization. New industrial and development installations are therefore expected to add to the demand for energy and require new solutions for generation, distribution, conservation, and management.
10
Strategic Context
It is also of interest to the Kingdom to support and improve the use of petroleum in the transportation sector. This sector utilizes nearly 60 percent of the worlds oil production. Hence, programs to enhance the energy efficiency, improve the generation, and reduce the environmental impact of fuels need to be emphasized. Moreover, the Kingdom needs to keep pace with world advances in energy related technologies to be a technology producer, rather than just a user, in this field. In addition to the technical needs, workshop participants identified a large number of areas where policies need to be changed or barriers removed. These needs include: Policies to facilitate R&D collaboration between KACST, universities, and industry. Policy and organizational changes in universities to improve the ability of faculty members to conduct research. Expanded human resources for energy R&D. Improved knowledge of international technology developments. Expanded international collaboration, including cooperation between Saudi universities and world universities. Saudi participation in international standardization bodies. Small business contracting preferences to support innovative small companies. This plan is focused on the technical needs but also includes steps to address the non-technical needs, although some of these are primarily the responsibilities of other organizations.
Stakeholders Roles
The stakeholders for the Energy Research and Innovation Program include KACST, KSA universities, various independent or specialized research institutes, other government agencies, and private companies. The following table shows the roles of each of the stakeholders in the program.
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Strategic Context
Table 1: Stakeholders and Their Roles Stakeholders Role Plan, coordinate and manage the program Conduct applied research, technology transfer and prototype applications development KACST Manage and participate in national projects Provide support for university and industrial participation in national projects Provide and manage national research facilities Provide advice and services to government on science and technology Create new basic and applied scientific knowledge Universities Train students in science and engineering Host and participate in Technology Innovation Centers Participate in collaborative projects Independent or Government Specialized Research Centers Create new applied scientific knowledge Participate in collaborative projects Operation and implementation of environmental projects Ministries and Government Agencies Provide input to program on government R&D needs Reduce regulatory and procedural barriers to R&D and innovation Support R&D in universities and industry Develop and commercialize products and processes resulting from the program Private Sector Communicate company needs to program Support and participate in collaborative R&D projects. Support and participate in the Technology Innovation Centers
Analysis of Comparable Energy R&D Institutes

As part of the background work for this plan, the planning team reviewed several other energy technology research laboratories/centers around the world, selected to include a mix of government supported laboratories with functions similar to that of the energy program. These centers include: Research Institute for Sustainable Energy (RISE),
Australia. Centre for Energy Technology (CET), Finland. Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), Netherlands. Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), South Korea. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), U.S. Department of Energy,United States.
1
Strategic Context
The research foci and scope of the five institutions reflect interesting and useful approaches regarding strategies and options for development of energy research and related technology. From a national planning perspective, the consideration of national government research institutes (United States, the Netherlands, and South Korea) and university-based national institutes (Australia and Finland) provides a continuum of policy and institutional understanding in regard to the strategic role and activities of research institutes. These institutes are working in a range of technical areas similar to those considered for this plan, including: Renewable energy. Methods to produce cleaner fossil fuels. Technologies and processes to improve energy efficiency. Development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. A full description of these laboratories programs can be found in a separate document.
1
researchers and other KSA stakeholders who provided detailed lists of keyword terms that were used to query publication and patent databases. The KSA energy program identified seven sub-topics: renewable energy generation, conventional energy generation, electricity energy distribution and transferring, energy conservation and management, energy storage, fuel cell and hydrogen, and combustion. The scope of this analysis was restricted to only recent publication (2006 - 2007) and patent (2002 - 2006) activity in these fields. There is general agreement that publications and patents strongly correlate with scientific research capacity, although publication and patent counts alone do not fully represent the quality or scope of research. Nonetheless, publication and patent activity have long been used as indicators for knowledge creation and research output. 3 Several indicators are presented below. These include forward citations, which are the frequency at which publications and patents are cited by others and are an indicator of impact, and co-authoring relationships, which are an indicator of scientific collaboration. Together, these indicators provide measures of collaboration, globalization and impact of science and technology research in fields related to the KSA energy program.
Analysis of Energy Publications and Patents

Energy is a broad field encompasing many different research areas and enabling technologies, such as: mechanical engineering, thermodynamics, chemical engineering, applied physics, and environmental sciences. The overall field, energy, as well as subtopics, were defined in close consultation with KACST
1 Strategic Review: Energy Technology. Report prepared by SRI International for KACST. 2 ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific publication and U.S. patent application data, respectively. The ISI Web of Science is a database of peerreviewed articles in major scientific journals from around the world. Delphion is a searchable database of global patent activity, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is one of the worlds major granters of patents and it has been argued that the U.S. market is so large that most important inventions from around the world are patented there. 3 Seminal research in the use of publications as a measure of scientific productivity includes A.J. Lotka, The frequency distribution of scientific productivity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 16 (1926); D. Price, Little Science, Big Science, (New York: Columbia university Press, 1963); J.R. Cole and S Cole, Social Stratification in Science, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973); J. Gaston, The reward system in British and American science, (New York: John Wiley (1978); and M.F. Fox, Publication productivity among scientists: a critical review, Social Studies of Science, vol 13, 1983.
13
Strategic Context
Global Energy Publication Activity Between 2006 and 2007, there were 17117 articles published worldwide in energy fields related to KSA energy priorities. The United States was the worlds
4
China was second, producing 2430 articles, followed by Japan and Germany, with 1522 and 1061 articles respectively. Saudi Arabia was the 43rd largest producer of publications, producing 48 articles in ISI-indexed journals. Figure 3 shows the number of publications produced by selected countries over this time period.5
largest producer of related articles, generating 3770 articles over this time period. The Peoples Republic of Figure 3: Energy Publications (2006 - 2007)
Russia Turkey Greece Spain 583 South Korea 943 Australia USA 3770 Germany 1061 Sweden India 616 France 81 Taiwan 569
Saudi Arabia
Peoples R China 430
Japan 15
UK 1041
Italy 681 Brazil Poland
Canada 76
Iran
4 Throughout this report, environment refers only to the subset of environment-related fields defined by the KSA environment program. 5 A publication is assigned to a country if any of the publications authors affiliations are located in that country. Because publications often have multiple authors, a single publication may be assigned to multiple countries. Aggregate figures, such as total global publication output, count each publication only once, but adding up sub-totals may yield a result larger than the reported total due to multiple counting.
14
Strategic Context
Table 2: Energy Sub-Topics (2005 - 2007)
Sub-Topic
Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Conservation and Management Renewable Energy Generation Combustion Electricity Energy Distribution and Transferring Conventional Energy Generation Energy Storage
Publications
461 377 3167 2242 1964 1509 1045
As shown in table 2, Fuel cell and hydrogen R&D accounts for the highest number of energy related publications (4621) followed by: energy conservation and management (3727), renewable energy generation (3167), combustion (2242), electricity distribution and transferring (1964), conventional energy generation (1509), and energy storage (1045). Benchmark Country Publication Impact Average publication impact is calculated as the number of citations of articles from a particular country divided Table 3: Publication Impact (2006 -2007) Country Netherlands USA Germany South Korea UK Publications 300 3770 1061 943 1041
by the total number of articles published by authors from that country. For instance, a country that published 50 articles that were cited 100 times would have an average publication impact of two. Between 2006 and 2007, the Netherlands had the highest average publication impact of all countries at 1.63 followed by the United States (1.57), Germany (1.34), and South Korea (1.22). The average publication impact for Saudi Arabia was 0.29 with 14 citations of 48 articles. Table 3 below presents publication and citation counts for benchmark countries.6
Total Citations 490 5906 143 1155 13
Average Publication Impact 1.63 1.57 1.34 1.22 1.17
6 Benchmark countries include global leaders in terms of total energy publication output in addition to a list of specific countries provided by KACST.
15
Strategic Context
Country Japan Peoples R. China Australia Finland UAE Egypt Saudi Arabia Algeria Jordan Tunisia Bahrain Kuwait Oman Syria Publications 15 430 88 15 13 93 48 45 6 54 10 6 8 4 Total Citations 1770 530 93 106 9 3 14 1 6 1 1 0 0 Average Publication Impact 1.16 1.04 1.02 0.85 0.69 0.34 0.29 0.27 0.23 0.22 0.10 0.08 0.00 0.00
Energy Research Organizations The energy publication dataset included nearly 40,000 different authors from thousands of research organizations in 119 countries. As shown in table 4, the three institutions producing the largest number of publications related to energy R&D are the Chinese Academy of Sciences (502), Tsing Hua University (249), and the Indian Institute of Technology (211). Shanghai Jiao Tong University is the leading publisher of energy conservation and management related articles while Xian Jiaotong University is the leading producer of electricity energy distribution and transmission articles and the Indian Institute of Technology is the leading producer of conventional energy generation related articles.
16
Table 4: Global Energy Research Organizations (2006 - 2007)
Strategic Context
Institution
Total Publication
Average Impact
Fuel Cell and Hydrogen 5 106 36 54 3 18 71 37 3 9 17 56 31 4 53 1 7 17 1 16 4 9 30 4 18 1 6 5 16 11 17 36 17 18 37 9 7 11 9 4 51 7 7 1 30 45 15 33 7 19 7 13 5 7 10 10 16 90 3 31 10 60 36 5 30 5 8 13 6 1 6 6 10 8 9 6 46 3 30 0 18 59 14 45 3 3 31 0 13 5 10 1 4 7 6 3 4 7 9 8
Energy Conservation and Management
Electricity Renewable Conventional Distribution Energy Energy Combustion Energy and Storage Generation Generation Transmission
Chinese Acad Sci 0.88 0.38 0.58 0.64 0.55 3.37 0.28 1.25 0.99 1.25 2.18 1.90 1.00 1.09
50
1.56
Tsing Hua University
49
Indian Inst Technol
11
Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ
00
Univ Sci & Technol China
145
Xian Jiaotong Univ
137
Penn State University
134
Russian Acad Sci
13
Univ Texas
131
Univ Illinois
115
CNRS
114
Natl Inst Adv Ind Sci & Technol Seto
113
Univ Calif Berkeley
110
Tokyo Institute Technol
109
Seoul Natl Univ
104
17
Strategic Context
International Collaboration and Publication Impact In this study, international collaboration is calculated as the average number of countries represented per publication, based on authors addresses. Figure 4 plots a Figure 4: Energy Collaboration and Publication Impact (2006 - 2007)

countrys level of international collaboration (horizontal axis) against the average impact of its publications (vertical axis).
1.8
1.6
Netherlands USA USA Germany South Korea UK Japan Peoples R. China Japan Germany UK Australia South Korea Netherlands Australia Finland United Arab Emirates Egypt Tunisia Saudi Arabia Algeria Jordan Kuwait Algeria Jordan Bahrain United Arab Emirates Bahrain Oman 2 2.5 Oman Syria
1.4
1.2
Average Impact
Peoples R. China
0.8
Finland
0.6
0.4 Saudi Arabia 0.2 Syria 0 0.5 1
Egypt
Tunisia
Kuwait 1.5
KSA Collaboration Activity As shown in table 5, authors affiliated with KSA institutions collaborated on a significant number of articles with authors from: Canada (4 publications), Egypt (2), and
the United States (2). KSA-affiliated authors collaborated on one article with authors from: Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Singapore, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom.
18
Strategic Context
KSA Collaboration Activity As shown in table 5, authors affiliated with KSA institutions collaborated on a significant number of articles with authors from: Canada (4 publications), Egypt (2), and Table 5: KSA Collaborators (2002 - 2006) Country Canada Egypt United States Ireland Italy Jordan Singapore Tunisia United Kingdom Energy Journals Table 6 presents journals with a significant level of publication activity related to KSA energy sub-fields from 2006-2007. Table 6: Energy Journals (2006 - 2007) Journal APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REFRIGERATION-REVUE INTERNATIONALE DU FROID Energy Conservation ENERGY AND BUILDINGS ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER ENERGY INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH ENERGY POLICY APPLIED ENERGY Publications 15 161 13 13 94 88 60 53 49 46 Number of Publications 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 the United States (2). KSA-affiliated authors collaborated on one article with authors from: Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Singapore, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom.
19
Strategic Context
Journal Electricity Distribution and Transmission IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON DIELECTRICS AND ELECTRICAL INSULATION IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON APPLIED SUPERCONDUCTIVITY IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEMS RESEARCH ENERGY POLICY IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL POWER & ENERGY SYSTEMS IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASME Conventional Energy Generation FOR GAS TURBINES AND POWERPublications 158 95 93 87 55 8 6 5 5 5 94 68 65 54 43 41 34 31 9 6
APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING ENERGY JOURNAL OF TURBOMACHINERY-TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASME ENERGY POLICY JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS PART A-JOURNAL OF POWER AND ENERGY JOURNAL OF PROPULSION AND POWER
0
Strategic Context
Journal PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMBUSTION INSTITUTE COMBUSTION AND FLAME ENERGY & FUELS FUEL Combustion COMBUSTION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS PART D-JOURNAL OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASME FOR GAS TURBINES AND POWERPublications 143 130 86 84 61 50 48 43 38 37
APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING
Energy Patent Activity Between 2002 and 2006, there were 6029 energy related patent applications filed with the United States Patent Office (USPTO). As shown in table 7, the majority of these (3208) listed at least one inventor from the United Table 7: Energy Patents (2002-2006) States. Other countries with a significant number of inventors include: Japan (1069 applications), Germany (671 applications), and the United Kingdom (310 applications).
Country
Renewable Conventional Energy Energy Generation Generation 556 18 11 41 30 16 156 40 317 3 16 5 6
Electricity Energy Dist. and Transferring 388 58 9 10 33 16 0
Energy Fuel Cons. Energy Cell and and Storage Hydrogen Mgmt. 9 8 4 3 10 0 0 44 3 3 3 3 0 83 158 39 8 9 0 3
Combustion
Total
United States Japan Germany United Kingdom Canada South Korea Netherlands
316 65 167 15 31 4 0
308 1069 671 310 55 49 5
1
Strategic Context
Country
Renewable Conventional Energy Energy Generation Generation 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 9 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Electricity Energy Dist. and Transferring 9 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Energy Fuel Cons. Energy Cell and and Storage Hydrogen Mgmt. 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Combustion
Total
Australia Finland China Saudi Arabia Algeria Bahrain Egypt Jordan Kuwait Oman Syria Tunisia UAE
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
While the majority of energy related patent applications are defined as individually owned patent applications (4174 applications) by the United States Patent Office, institutions are designated as the patent assignee on a significant number of applications. These institutions have established track-records as innovators in energy technology fields related to KSA strategic priorities and could be targets for Table 8: Leading Energy Patent Assignees (2002 - 2006) USTPO Assignee Individually Owned Patents General Electric Company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation Rolls-Royce PLC
future collaborative outreach efforts. As shown in table 8, General Electric Company is listed as the patent assignee on 173 energy-related patent applications followed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (90 applications), Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation (86 applications), and Rolls-Royce PLC (64 applications).
No. of Patents Apps. 4174 173 90 86 64

Strategic Context
SWOT Analysis for KSA Energy Research and Innovation Program
This section presents a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Saudi Arabia Energy Technology Program relative to achieving its vision. In a SWOT analysis, terms are defined as follows: Strengths: attributes of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objectives. Weaknesses: attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objectives. Table 9: SWOT Analysis Helpful Internal Strengths Financial and moral support from leadership. Qualified researchers and experts with high motivation to form an active research core. Ability to own some energy technologies. Harmful Weakness Lack of team spirit and teamwork among some stakeholders. Lack of proper incentives. Current governmental bureaucratic regulations and rules. Insufficient information and information technology infrastructure. External Opportunities Attracting qualified researchers, experts. Encouraging local and foreign investments. Ability to produce energy technologies at minimum cost through governmental support. Enormous increase in electricity demand in the Kingdom. Threats Difficulties of transferring some energy technologies. Deficiency of environmental protection regulations. Lack of protection for local technology products from global competition, especially after joining WTO. Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objectives. Threats: external conditions that are harmful to achieving the objectives. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization while opportunities and threats are defined as external to the organization. For the purpose of this analysis, the organization is the Saudi Energy Technology Program, including KACST, universities, other government agencies, and companies. The following table shows the main identified SWOT attributes.
3
Higher Strategy
This section provides the vision for the Kingdoms Energy Technology Program, and defines the mission, values, and strategic goals for the program.
Vision
The vision for the Energy Technology Program is to be an international pioneering and referential program in adaptation and development of energy technologies through advanced working systems.
Mission
To build an advanced collaborative system for adapting and developing energy technologies through promoting an effective research and development culture, formulating comprehensive and competitive solutions, and developing expert human resources. This will ensure the optimal utilization of available resources, preserve the environment, and create new investment opportunities. Our higher purpose is to support the national economy and sustained national development.

To achieve excellence, the program will develop an internal culture through both the sponsorship of its leadership and commitment of its operational teams, based on the following values: Excellence of work. Professional integrity and ethical behavior. Openness and transparency. Commitment to achieving objectives.
4
Higher Strategy
Support of creativity and innovation. Teamwork and collaboration.

The strategic goals of the Energy Technology Program are aligned with goals and objectives of the National Policy for Science and Technology and the key needs of the Kingdom that are compatible with and can be acted upon at this program level. Accordingly, the following strategically-aligned goals are selected for the program to work on for the next 5 years: 1- Efficiently exploiting national energy resources. 2- Supporting national self dependence in critical energy technologies. 3- Supporting the local energy industry to attain development and growth with technology solutions that facilitate new product development, improve production efficiency, price/value efficiency, environmental protection , especially in view of the rapidly rising demands for electrical and other forms of energy due to population growth, industrialization and globalization. 4- Developing innovative technologies for special needs that cannot be satisfied efficiently or economically through existing systems. For example, utilization of renewable energy technologies for remote areas. 5- Transferring, adapting and developing technologies for local users and markets through business models that promote creation and maximization of employment and investment opportunities, as well as economic diversification and competitiveness. 6- Supporting societal and cultural development towards optimal exploitation of technology and transformation from consuming to producing culture. 7- Promoting the national image and stature in science and technology. These goals are the direct program goals which indirectly serve higher national goals such as supporting the national economy, sustained development, selfreliance and security. Furthermore, these strategic goals provide a basis for defining technology area selection criteria and program implementation objectives.
5
Technology Areas
Selection process
Initial List An initial list of technology areas in the energy related fields was developed by stakeholders, taking into account the programs strategic goals and the higher strategy. The initial list was entered into a selection matrix that included selection criteria, weights, and scores. This led to a shorter list of priority technologies.
Selection Criteria The program technology areas are selected based on selection criteria developed through stakeholders workshops in alignment with the programs strategic goals, while also considering the programs mission. The selection criteria are as follows: Need for self dependence in technology/area. Ability to generate employment opportunities. Ease of transferring technology. Ability to generate investment opportunities. Possibility for further development of technology. Possibility to reduce electricity generation costs. Low technology adaptation & development cost. Possibility to reduce energy waste. Availability of local qualified human resources. Contribution to environmental protection.

The above selection criteria in addition to a weighing mechanism were used to narrow the initial list of the energy technology areas to those listed below: Renewable Energy Generation: Solar Energy (resource assessment, solar thermal, solar collectors , solar cooling, solar desalination, solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, PV cell
6
Technology Areas
fabrication, PV applications). Wind Energy (resources assessment, grid-connected Conventional Energy Generation: Steam and Gas Turbines (turbine efficiency and Micro-Turbines. Waste Heat Extraction Processes. Multi-Generation. Combined Cycle. Electricity Distribution and Transmission: Electrical Transformers (auto/smart transformer, new construction material ,sensors for measurement and protection). Electrical Cables (new insulation material and design Electrical Networks (automation, smart network, for high voltage). development of software, hardware and sensors for communication in local and wide area network). Electrical Circuit Breakers; CB (CB for high voltage and extra high voltage; EHV, advanced design and operating mechanism, protection, insulation material. Energy Conservation and Management: Air conditioning and Refrigeration( heat pump, central AC, AC cycles, refrigerants, compressor, condenser, energy auditing, control, absorption chillers). Lighting System (efficient lighting, ballast, auditing, Building Envelope (thermal insulation, window compact fluorescent lamp, Control). glazing, building shading, building energy management, building automation System). Boiler / Furnace Efficiency. Electric motors. Heat Exchangers(compact heat exchangers). Combustion: Automotive combustion. Direct Injection. Auto-Ignition / Homogenous Charge Compression Industrial Combustion. Efficiency Enhancement . Emission Reduction. Combustion Modeling. Laser Application. Fuel Technologies. Fuel Cell and Hydrogen: Hydrogen Production from Hydrocarbon Fuels. Hydrogen Storage. Proton Exchange Fuel Cell. Solid Oxide Fuel Cell. Direct Methanol Fuel Cell. Stack Fabrication and Testing. Fuel Cell Electrodes. Fuel Cell Membrane. Fuel Cell Catalyst. blades treatment). and stand-alone systems, wind energy applications). Energy Storage: Super Capacitors. High-Speed Flywheels. Superconducting Magnetic. Advanced Batteries. Thermal Energy Storage. Pumped Storage.
Ignition.
7
Program Structure
Work in each of the technology areas is achieved through a program structure that starts with identifying specific implementation objectives program within core three major domains/perspectives: operations throughout the objectives, indicators and projects definition process (balanced scorecard development process).
infrastructure,
and value delivery. Performance indicators (and target levels) are defined for each objective and then projects are identified to satisfy the indicators. Stakeholders participated
Program Objectives
To achieve the programs strategy and strategic goals, the following implementation-oriented objectives were defined by stakeholders: Infrastructure Objectives Develop Human Resources. Develop Organizational Culture. Develop Effective Financial Management. Develop Work Processes and Systems. Provide Laboratories and Equipments. Develop Knowledge Management System. Core Operations Objectives Select Technologies. Establish Strategic Partnerships. Develop Technologies: Conduct Fundamental Research. Conduct Applied Research. Build Pilot Plants. Localize Technology: Conduct Localization Research & Studies. Build Localization Pilot Plants.
8
Program Structure
Transfer Technology: Assess Ready Technologies. Percentage of Applied Research Resulting in adapted Technologies. Percentage of By-Product Technologies Resulting Value Delivery Objectives Work with the Incubators. Work with the Technology Innovation Centers. Work with the Program Beneficiaries: Provide Cost/Value Efficiency. Provide Job Opportunities. Provide Investment Opportunities. Support Environmental Protection. Use National Resources Effectively. Support National Goals: National Self-Reliance and Security. Continuous Development. Economic Growth. from adapted Technologies. Percentage of Adaptation Pilot Plants Leading to Production Line or Solution. Percentage of ready technologies leading to production lines or solutions. Number of ready technologies passed on to Adaptation and development. Percentage of Technologies, Prototypes and Pilot Plants Adopted by Incubators from Total Offered. Percentage of Pre-Incubation and Production Prototypes Developed with Technology Innovation Centers (TICs)to Total Offered.
Program Projects Categories Performance Indicators for Objectives

Performance indicators (measures) were defined by stakeholders for each of the program objectives mentioned above. Major performance indicators include: Percentage of HR Requirements Fulfilled. Program Return on Investment. Level of Strategic Objectives Fulfillment by Projects and Work Processes. Size of Used Knowledge Assets (Documented and Acquired). Level of Strategic Objectives Fulfillment by Selected Technologies. Percentage of Activated Strategic Partnerships to Total Required. Number of Innovations Leading to New Applications through Fundamental Research. Percentage of Applied Research Resulting in Prototypes, Pilot Plants or Applied Solutions. Percentage of Pilot Plants Leading to Production Line or Solution. To fulfill the program objectives and achieve satisfactory levels in the performance indicators for each objective, initial program projects were identified by stakeholders, which can be divided into the three main categories outlined below. These projects will be subject to evaluation during implementation and possible cancellation or replacement, if not satisfactory (portfolio management): Infrastructure Projects: these are projects to plan, establish and manage the infrastructure required for the success and efficiency of the program including its human capital, knowledge capital, organizational capital, financial capital and other systems / resources. Research & Development Projects: these are projects to develop new knowledge and technology in each of the selected technology areas. Value Delivery Projects: these are projects to assist the program in delivering value to beneficiaries or in working with incubators and Technology Innovation Centers (TICs).
9
Operational Plans
As highlighted in other sections, the energy program comprises a large number of projects including energyrelated research and development projects, infrastructure projects and value delivery projects. Success of the program will be largely and critically dependent on success in accomplishing these projects. At the program level, higher level functions are addressed, but of the most importance is the support of individual projects. This section discusses the measures and functions that will be undertaken at these two levels: project and program.
Project Level To maintain a high success rate in achieving the programs objectives, the following actions will be taken: 1. Achieving the required maturity level in the Program in managing and delivering projects as assessed by international standards. 2. Establishing a Project Management Office (PMO) structure with multiple tiers including program level, organization level (stakeholders / implementers) and project level PMOs. 3. Developing an effective unified process/methodology for project management to be used by the projects. This process could be customized as necessary by individual projects, but will generally adhere to this accepted standard. The unified process will cover all core project functions including scope, time, cost and quality management as well as project facilitating functions such as human resources, risk, communication, and vendor management. 4. Capacity building of project managers and supporting them with implementing PM functions. 5. Ensuring that the knowledge management function identified among the programs infrastructure objectives takes into account learning and building knowledge assets across projects, both sequentially and in parallel, and in both technical and project management domains. 6. Providing resource utilization efficiencies, such as pooling among projects
30
Operational Plans
including human resources, facilities, equipment, labs and automated tools. Program Level At the program level, a fundamental question that will guide decisions and actions is why is program level management needed? Areas in which management at the program level is needed include: Portfolio management provides benefits that cannot be obtained by managing the multiple projects individually. Examples of benefits include: Actions with effects across several projects; positive effects to be sought Decisions that can be exposed and handled only with a program Risks that can be best addressed at a shared program level. A Benefits Statement will be compiled for the Program and a Benefits Governance that will be provided by the Program to the higher national level(s) to ensure program performance and progress monitoring. Management of Stakeholders, to include: Higher level stakeholders that cannot be managed/coordinated at the Assisting project managers, especially startups, in managing their project Covering stakeholder interdependencies across projects. individual project level. stakeholders. and negative effects to be avoided. perspective.
Monitoring and Management scheme will be applied.
One of the most important aspects of program stakeholder management will be to facilitate, realize, and manage the successful and effective change that the program should produce. The following sections provide specific examples of concerns that will be addressed at program level through the: portfolio management plan, technology transfer plan, quality management plan, human resources plan, communications plan, and risk management plan.
Technology Transfer Plan

The energy research program will follow internationally recognized best practices in technology transfer. Key elements of the program that are designed to facilitate technology transfer are:
31
Operational Plans
Involvement of users in the program design: this occurs through user participation in the planning workshop and user involvement in the energy advisory committee. It is well recognized that user involvement in the research design leads to research and outcomes that are more likely to meet the needs of users, and thus are more likely to lead to successful innovation. Procedures will be developed for disclosing and National programs focused on the development of advanced pilot application projects: these projects involve KACST, government agencies, universities, and industry. Knowledge is transferred to companies in the course of the project. This is a proven method for developing technologies that serve a need and can be transferred easily to government or commercial users. Use of university/industry centers as a major research mechanism throughout the plan: industry involvement in these centers through the provision of advice and funding will encourage university research to be focused on user needs, thereby increasing the likelihood of technology transfer. These centers will also transfer knowledge to industry though the training and graduation of students (who have been trained on problems of interest to industry), who then take jobs in companies or form their own companies. Linkage between the energy program and technology business incubators and other programs will aid the start-up of new energy technology companies. To achieve the goals of the program, KACST will need to hire or develop additional program managers with the skills to lead national programs. To do this KACST will need additional flexibility with respect to compensation packages, speed of hiring, and ability to hire international staff. Stakeholders will need additional researchers and engineers with the skills to develop innovative technologies. As part of the activities in this plan, the energy technology program will: Work with the other agencies to improve the quality managing potential conflicts of interest among reviewers. In many cases, some international experts will be used on review panels to reduce possible conflicts of interest and to provide an independent external assessment. university-based research centers and projects. Annual reviews of technology development projects to ensure that milestones are being met. Periodic (every 5 years) subprogram evaluations conducted by a review committee supported by an experienced evaluator.
Human Resources Plan

As noted in the SWOT analysis, human resources are a critical barrier for the success of the energy research and innovation program. The availability of skilled people, including both researchers and technical managers and leaders, is likely to limit the growth and success of KSA Energy Technology Program. The plan will require substantial numbers of energy professionals, including additional researchers, technical managers, and technical leaders at KACST, at universities and at companies. A central task of the program management function will be to address this issue.
Quality Management Plan

The Energy Technology Program will follow international best practices in quality management for science and technology programs. Elements of this plan include: Advisory committee review of the overall program design and budget. Competitive, peer-reviewed selection processes for
3
Operational Plans
of undergraduate energy technology education, especially at regional universities. Work with new universities to develop research and education programs that especially match the Kingdoms energy technology research needs. Work to expand the contribution of women to energy research technology. Work to change policies to allow more international hiring, to bring specialized expertise to the Kingdom. Support training for researchers to become R&D managers and leaders. At the undergraduate and especially graduate level, this plan is designed to help increase the numbers of energy researchers through its emphasis on university-industry centers. These centers are designed to train new students with research and innovation skills that are needed by research organizations and industry.
Communications Management Plan

The purpose of the communications management plan is to provide appropriate information to the program participants and stakeholders. One element of the communications plan is to improve communication throughout the KSA energy research community and to expand collaboration among members of the community. Aspects of this include: There will be a public website with information on program goals, accomplishments, funding opportunities, and other news. Periodic workshops will be held with users and stakeholders to define future program needs. Requests for proposals (for university centers, grants, and pilot application development programs) will be announced to the public. The program advisory board will review and comment on the program, and advisory board reports will be made public on the website. The program will sponsor workshops, conferences, and professional society activities to expand communication and networking throughout the community. Presentations on the program will be made at national and international conferences.
33
Operational Plans
Another element of the plan is to define appropriate communications within the management structure of the plan. It is especially important that information about risks or difficulties in the program, such as delays, lack of resources, or non-attainment of goals be rapidly communicated to higher levels of management. surprised by bad news. A general principle is that management should never be development of other technical approaches. A way to address this risk is through: Designing programs based on carefully considered market needs. Monitoring international technology and market developments. Continual readjustment of plans in responses to changes in the environment. Financial risk is the risk of funding shortfalls or of cost overruns. The way to address risks in this area is through careful program planning and monitoring, and early identification of possible cost overruns. Another financial risk is due to changes in the plan or funding due to political or policy changes. It will be important for the plan management to maintain communication with policy One source of technical risk to attainment of technical goals is, as described above, the lack of adequate human resources to implement the program. Approaches to managing this risk are: Adopting policies to attract people with the needed skills. This may involve raising salaries and recruiting internationally. Delaying or phasing in some program elements if people cannot be hired. Expanding the pool of people with needed skills through education and training programs, such as university water research centers (see human resources plan). Another cause of technical risk is overly ambitious goals. To address this risk the program should have an independent review of technical goals to ensure they are feasible, and to adjust technical goals if milestones are not being met. Market risk is that projects, while technically successful, do not lead to successful products because of poorly understood or changing market conditions, such as the leaders to ensure they are aware of the accomplishments of the program and to get early warning of any policy changes that may affect the program.
Risk Management Plan

The program presented here is an ambitious program that will challenge the capabilities of the Kingdom. There are several types of risks that could prevent attainment of program goals, including technical risks, market risks, and financial risks.
34
Implementation of the Plan

Within KACST, the energy program manager will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. Some portions of the plan may be managed by other parts of KACST.
Many aspects of the plan represent new functions, especially in developing and managing national technology programs that include industry and universities and may involve international collaborations. A major task for the first year of the program will be, in addition to detailed program planning, for KACST to acquire or develop the necessary skills through hiring or training. Although it is critical to rapidly start new research programs, it is essential to build the skills necessary to lead and develop these programs, and to plan them carefully. The Energy Technology Advisory Committee will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will meet approximately four times a year and review progress in the program. Key performance indicators for each objective were described previously. The advisory committee will also sponsor and oversee studies of emerging areas of energy, to serve as the basis for developing new program areas. This plan is intended to be a dynamic document that will be updated at least annually and more frequently if required. In addition to the advisory committee input, it is expected that workshops with the research community, users, industry and other stakeholders will also contribute to both a continual evolution of the plan as well as a stronger energy research and innovation network in the Kingdom.
35
Appendix A: Plan Development Process

The plan received extensive input, review, and comment from the stakeholder participants through conducting 17 one-day workshops. The workshop participants names are listed in the following table. The level of to participation another. in the workshops varied from one workshop Nearly all the participants attended the comprehensive one-day stakeholder workshop on October 29, 2007.
Table A-1: Stakeholders Participants Name Dr. Hani A. Al-Ansari Dr. Bader A. HabebAllah Dr. Omer Al-Rabghi Dr. Ibrahim O. HabebAllah Dr. Khalid A. Al-Shaibani Dr. Ali M. Somali Eng. Tarek A. Al-Naem Eng. Salih A. Al-Amri Eng. Abdullah A. Al-Katheri Eng. Ahmed A. Al-Hassoun Eng. Abdulhamid Al-Mansour Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Hariri Dr.Ibrahim Al-Mofeez Dr. Sami Al-Sani Dr. Khalid Al-Amar Saudi Electricity Company Turbines Technology Company District Cooling Co. King Faisal University Saudi Aramco Affiliation King Saud University King Abdulaziz University King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals King Faisal University
King Saud University
36

Name Dr.Khalid Al-Salem Zeyad Al-Shaibani Dr.Yusef Al-Saqeer Dr. Mansour Al-Hazza Eng. Ahmad Al-Amri Eng. Abdulrhman Al-Areefi Eng. Mohammed Alghanam Eng. Abdullah Alajaln Eng. Ibrahim Altasan Eng. Mansour Alinzi Eng. Fayz Al-Jabri Eng. Habeeb Al-Mobarak Eng. Homoud Al-Madeen Dr. Majed Alhazmi Dr. Ahmed AlGhamdi Dr. Abdullah Aseri Dr. Mohammed Al-Beroni Dr. Abulghani Mansour Dr. Naif M. Al-Abbadi Dr. Yousef M. Al-Yousef Dr. Hassan A. AbaOud Eng. Saud A. Bin Juwair Eng. Gazi N. Al-Motairi Dr. Mohammed S. Samai Dr. Fozi A. Al-Azhari Dr. AbdullAh A. Al-Musa Dr. Mazen A. Ba Abad Dr. Hussam I. Khonkar King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Umm Alqura University King Abdulaziz University Electricity and Co-generation Regulatory Authority Saline Water Conversion Corporation Aleasa Air Conditioning Co King Saud University Affiliation
Ministry of Water and Electricity
37

Initial Portfolio Formation The R&D projects suggested for the program were entered into a project portfolio formation process to form an initial portfolio (subset) based on best utilization of available resources to achieve the programs strategic objectives. This included the following main phases: Phase 1: Evaluate vs. Strategy In this phase, only projects aligning with the Programs strategic goals were selected. These projects were distributed into strategic groups (buckets), and the total available resources were distributed/allocated initially to the strategic groups based on strategic significance. The program adopted a Project Distribution Matrix technique for defining the strategic groups. Nine groups resulted from the intersection of two dimensions having three elements each. These are: Strategic Technology Paths: Development. Adaptation. Transfer. Research & Development Types: Basic Research. Applied Research / Pilot Plants. Product Development / Added Value.
Phase 2: Prioritization for Resources In this phase, projects competing for the same resources within a group were prioritized from a resource-related viewpoint. The Program adopted a paired comparison technique for this purpose. Accordingly, nine paired comparison tables were developed. Projects were selected to the portfolio one-by-one starting from the top of the prioritized list in each group down until the initially allocated resource for that group was exhausted. This resulted in formation of a portfolio, but it may be unbalanced. Phase 3: Select vs. Balancing Factors In this phase, some projects were eliminated and some new ones were added to those selected in Phase 2. The goal of this process is to balance the portfolio in terms of:
38

Research vs. Development. Long-Term vs. Short-Term. High Risk vs. Low Risk. Growth vs. Sustainability. Outsourced vs. In-sourced. Local / National vs. International. Portfolio Management Process Phase 4: Execute and Review vs. Strategy As indicated, the portfolio formed so far is the initial or start-up portfolio. Projects are then funded and the portfolio is managed over the life of the program through continuous reformation as active projects are evaluated, completed, postponed or cancelled based on their performance in: Achieving the strategic objectives they were selected for. Achieving satisfactory implementation progress (in terms of scope, schedule, budget and quality). At the same time, strategic objectives may be adjusted and resources may change, which will require portfolio reformation. This portfolio management process ensures that the program is using its resources most efficiently. Without an objective and methodical process, project initiation and resources utilization is usually subject to personal preferences, organizational political pressures and subjective factors.
39
www.kacst.edu.sa
DAKKIN 01 478 8584
Petrochemicals
Biotechnology
Energy
Strategic Priorities for Environmental Technology Program
Contents
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Program Scope Plan Development Process Strategic Context KSA Environmental Technology Needs Stakeholders Roles Analysis of Comparable Environmental Technology R&D Institutes Analysis of Environmental Technology Publications and Patents Findings SWOT Analysis for KSA Environmental Technology Program Higher Strategy Vision Mission Program Values and Culture Program Strategic Goals Technology Areas Selection Process Preliminary Priority Technology Needs Implementation Plan Appendix A: Environmental Technology Program Stakeholders 4 6 6 8 9 1 1 1 14 14 15 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 0 1 4
Executive summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined 11 programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. This report represents the strategic priorities for one of these programs, the Environmental Technology Program (ETP). The ETP plan was developed in response to key environmental concerns among an the in which advanced Saudi are: Arabia, establishing enhancing of Saudi
environmental
technology
industry,
competitiveness
Arabia in the world environmental technology market, and joining the international community to protect the environment and promote sustainable environmental development.
Environmental technologies are particularly important in the Kingdom, where waste, pollution, air quality and degradation of natural resources have significant environmental implications. The importance of advanced environmental technologies is to protect the environment and maintain a high quality of life within the Kingdom. The Environmental Technology Plan is based on input from a variety of stakeholders and representatives from Saudi institutions with a vested interested in developing a platform for environmental technology in the Kingdom.
The planning process included the following steps:

Identifying the key needs of the Kingdom for environmental technologies. Assessing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the program, including an analysis of KSA environmental technology publications and patents, and an assessment of international research institutes. Defining a mission and vision for the Kingdoms Environmental Technologies Program. Defining the key technologies and other program areas needed to address. the Kingdoms needs in Environmental Technologies research, development and innovation.
Executive summary
As a result of the process, the key environmental needs of the Kingdom were grouped into the following four main categories: Waste: 1. Municipal waste water. 2. Municipal solid waste. 3. Industrial waste water. 4. Hazardous medical waste. 5. Hazardous waste. 6. Industrial solid waste. 7. Agricultural waste. Pollution: 1. Food contamination. 2. Oil contamination. 3. Radioactive contamination. 4. Thermal pollution. 5. Noise Pollution. Air Quality: 1. Ambient air quality. 2. Greenhouse gases. Degradation of Natural Resources: 1. Desertification. 2. Degradation of coastal areas. 3. Biodiversity. 4. Degradation of water resources. In each of these areas, avoidance technologies, monitoring and assessment technologies, control technologies, and remediation and restoration technologies were considered and prioritized based on multiple criteria. The priorities for Saudi Arabia during the first five-year plan are to transfer, localize, and develop the following environmental technologies: Within each of these priority areas, KACST will work in concert with universities and industry to develop the necessary network for research, development and innovation in this field. The ETP will be directed by a program manager, who will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. The ETP Advisory Committee, with stakeholder membership, will oversee the implementation of the plan. They will establish and review performance metrics and provide advice on the project portfolio. The Advisory committee will advise the program manager and will also report to the National S&T Plan Supervisory Committee, which will oversee all of the Strategic Technology Programs. 1. Municipal solid waste remediation and restoration technologies. 2. Food contamination avoidance technologies. 3. Air pollution monitoring & assessment technologies. 4. Greenhouse gases avoidance, monitoring & assessment technologies. 5. Desertification monitoring & assessment technologies.
Introduction
Background
KACST was directed by a 1986 Royal Decree to propose a national policy for the development of science and technology and to devise the strategy and plans necessary to implement them. In July 2002, the Council of Ministers approved the national policy for science and technology, which drew up the broad lines and future direction of science, technology, and innovation (STI) in the Kingdom, considering the role of KACST as well as that of universities, government, industry, and society at large. The plan, depicted in figure 1, encompasses:
1. Strategic and advanced technologies. 2. Scientific research and technical development capabilities. 3. Transfer, development and localizing technology. 4. Science, technology and society. 5. Scientific and technical human resources. 6. Diversifying financial support resources. 7. Science, technology and innovation system. 8. Institutional structures for science, technology and innovation.
Introduction
Figure 1: Science and Technology Programs
an Hum ces ur Reso

Society Private Sector Research & Educational Institutes Ministries and Governmental Institutes National Science, Technology, & Innovation Plan (NSTIP)
l cia an rces Fin sou Re
Ad
In the Strategic and Advanced Technologies area, KACST is responsible for implementing the following technology areas: 1. Water 2. Oil & Gas 3. Petrochemicals 4. Nanotechnology 5. Biotechnology 6. Information Technology
7. Electronics, Communication, & Photonics 8. Space and Aeronautics 9. Energy 10.Environment 11.Advanced Materials Each plan establishes a mission and vision, identifies stakeholders and users, and determines the highest priority technical areas for the Kingdom.
Introduction
Program Scope
The scope of ETP is national: it is an environmental research and innovation plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The plan involves universities, industry, and government stakeholders. KACST has overall responsibility for the development and execution of the plan. The scope of activities under the Environmental Technologies Plan includes projects and policies designed to meet the Kingdoms needs as articulated in the National Policy for Science and Technology. The program will not undertake freestanding basic or fundamental research in environmental topics, although basic research may be included as part of environmental technology development processes. The scope does not include the development of environmental rules and standards. For implementation, the program will concentrate on areas of application and projects that lead to technology localization, transfer and development through efficient utilization of available skills and resources. The programs main deliverables are environmental technologies that are localized and developed through building prototypes, pilot plants, designs, and similar products. These localized technologies will be exploited by end users, including technology incubators and Technology Innovation Centers to serve defined needs. The programs main method is research and development (R&D). The program scope includes technical work that supports the transferring, localization and development of technology, spanning research to applications. As a result, scope realization will require collaboration and coordination with all related parties along the localization and development paths. The program is comprised of major stakeholders in the Kingdoms environmental domain from both the public and private sectors. These stakeholders are both benefactors and beneficiaries of the program. The synergy generated by marshalling the mutual efforts of these stakeholders is a main strategic core competency of the program. The time span of this plan is the first 5-year phase of the 20-year National Policy for Science and Technology.
Introduction
The development of this plan began with the identification of relevant stakeholders within the Kingdom and the creation of vision and mission statements. In addition, background research was conducted to identify the current international position of the Kingdom in Environmental Technologies and the capacity of other countries environmental technologies. The process for developing the Environmental Technologies Plan is outlined in figure 2 and figure 3.
Introduction
Figure 2: Development Process for the Environmental Technology Program
The First - Five Year Plan Environmetal Technology Priority Projects in Saudi Arabia
Environmetal Technology Priorities (5 years)
Workshop/statistical Analysis/Selection Criteria/in depth discussion
National Environmental Issues
Vision/Mission/Strategic Objectives/Values
Current Status and prospective analysis
Official Documents / brain storming, / in-depth discussion / closed workshops, and benchmarking studies
10
Deterioration of Natural Resources
General Tracks (20 years)
Pollution
Waste
5. Desertification monitoring and assessment technologies
3. Air-pollution monitoring and assessment technologies
4. GHG avoidance, monitoring, and assessment technologies
1. Municipal solid-waste remediation technologies
2. Food-contamination avoidance technologies
Introduction
Figure 3: Framework Method for Studying National and Global S&T Status for the Environmental Technology Program.
National Status
Environment Environmental Technologies Research & Development
Global Status
Environment Environmental Technologies Research & Development
SWOT Analysis
National R&D trends in environmental technology
International R&D trends in environmental technology
Strategy
Vision Objectives Tools, Methods & Resources to Achieve Preferred Trends. Mission
Strategy 11
Prospective Analysis
National and Global Status
Strategic Context
KSA Environmental Technology Needs
The key needs of the Kingdom as outlined in the 20-year National Policy for Science and Technology are the following:
To solve national environmental problems and respond to international environmental challenges. To support national industry with sound environmental technology solutions to improve production efficiency, and to promote environmental protection and sustainable development. To meet the high demand for sound environmental technologies that support the accelerating national development. To enhance national capabilities to fulfil regional and international obligations in environmental conventions. To achieve domestic capability in critical environmental technologies. To improve employment, investment opportunities and economic diversification in the Kingdom.
Stakeholders Roles
The stakeholders for ETP include KACST, PME, KSA universities, various independent or specialized research institutes, other government agencies, and private companies. Table 1 shows the roles of these stakeholders in the program.
1
Strategic Context
Table 1: Stakeholders and their roles: Stakeholders Roles Plan, coordinate and manage the program. Conduct applied research, technology transfer and prototype applications development. KACST Manage and participate in national projects. Provide support for university and industrial participation in national projects. Provide and manage national research facilities. Provide advice and services to government on science and technology. Create new basic and applied scientific knowledge. Universities Train students in science and engineering. Host and participate in Technology Innovation Centers. Participate in collaborative projects. Independent and Government Specialized Research Centers Create new applied scientific knowledge. Participate in collaborative projects. Operation and implementation of environmental projects. Ministries and Government Agencies Provide input to program on government R&D needs. Reduce regulatory and procedural barriers to R&D and innovation. Support R&D in universities and industry. Develop and commercialize products and processes resulting from the program. Private Sector Communicate company needs to program. Support and participate in collaborative R&D projects. Support and participate in the Technology Innovation Centers.
1
Strategic Context
Analysis of Comparable Environmental Technology R&D Institutes
As part of the background work for this plan, the planning team reviewed several other environmental technology research laboratories around the world, selected to include a mix of government supported laboratories with functions similar to that of KACSTs ETP in diverse countries. They included: National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), in India. National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), in Japan. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), in United Kingdom. The U.S. EPA Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), in the United States of America. These institutes are working in a range of technical areas similar to those considered for this plan, including: Global Environment. Waste/Recycling. Atmospheric Environment. Health. Municipal solid and hazardous wastes. Biodiversity. Environmental Informatics. Safe land. A full description of these laboratories programs can be There is general agreement that publications and patents strongly correlate with scientific research capacity, although publication and patent counts alone do not fully represent the quality or scope of research. Nonetheless, publication and patent activity have long been used as indicators for knowledge creation and research output. Several indicators, including forward citations found in a separate document.1
Analysis of Environmental Technology Publications and Patents

Environmental R&D is a multidisciplinary field that spans many research areas, including food science, meteorology, environmental engineering, biotechnology, toxicology, and geosciences. The overall field, environment, as well as sub-topics, were defined in close consultation with KACST researchers and other KSA stakeholders, who provided detailed lists of keyword terms that were used to develop search queries for publication and patent database. The KSA environment program identifies five sub-topics: municipal solid waste remediation technologies, food contamination avoidance technologies, air pollution monitoring and assessment technologies, greenhouse gases avoidance, monitoring, and assessment technologies, and desertification monitoring and assessment technologies. The scope of this study was restricted to only recent publication (20052007) and patent (2002-2006) activity in these fields.
1 Strategic Review: Environmental Technology. Report prepared by SRI International for KACST. ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific publication and U.S. patent application data, respectively. The ISI Web of Science is a database of peerreviewed articles in major scientific journals from around the world. Delphion is a searchable database of global patent activity, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is one of the worlds major granters of patents and it has been argued that the U.S. market is so large that most important inventions from around the world are patented there. Seminal research in the use of publications as a measure of scientific productivity includes A.J. Lotka, The frequency distribution of scientific productivity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 16 (1926); D. Price, Little Science, Big Science, (New York: Columbia university Press, 1963); J.R. Cole and S Cole, Social Stratification in Science, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973); J. Gaston, The reward system in British and American science, (New York: John Wiley (1978); and M.F. Fox, Publication productivity among scientists: a critical review, Social Studies of Science, vol 13, 1983.
14
Strategic Context
(the frequency at which publications and patents are cited by others), a measure of impact, and co-authoring relationships, an indicator of scientific collaboration, are presented below. Together, these indicators provide measures of collaboration, globalization and impact of science and technology research in fields related to the KSA environment program.
Findings
Global Environment Publication Activity Between 2005 and 2007, there were 11369 articles published worldwide related to KSA energy research priorities.4 As shown in figure 4, the United States was the worlds largest producer of related articles, generating 2760 articles over this time period. The United Kingdom was a distant second, producing 981 articles followed by the Peoples Republic of China and Germany with 923 and 729 articles respectively. Saudi Arabia was tied for the 62nd largest producer of publications, producing 12 articles in ISI-indexed journals5.
Figure 4: Environmental publications

Australia Netherlands Italy Sweden
Spain
Denmark
Canada
India
Brazil Norway Turkey
USA
Germany
Japan
UK
Peoples R. China
Taiwan France Finland Belgium
Greece
Saudi Arabia
4 Throughout this report, environment refers only to the subset of environment-related fields defined by the KSA environment program. 5 A publication is assigned to a country if any of the publications authors affiliations are located in that country. Because publications often have multiple authors, a single publication may be assigned to multiple countries. Aggregate figures, such as total global publication output, count each publication only once, but adding up sub-totals may yield a result larger than the reported total due to multiple counting.
15
Strategic Context
As shown in table 2, air pollution monitoring and assessment technologies R&D accounts for the highest proportion of environment related publications followed by food contamination avoidance technologies, greenhouse gas avoidance, monitoring, and assessment technologies, technologies, municipal and solid waste remediation and desertification monitoring
assessment technologies.
Table 2: Environment Sub-Topics (2005 - 2007) Sub-Topic Air Pollution Monitoring and Assessment Technologies Food Contamination Avoidance Technologies Greenhouse Gases - Avoidance, Monitoring, and Assessment Technologies Municipal Solid Waste Remediation Technologies Desertification Monitoring and Assessment Technologies Publications 888 440 67 464 87
Benchmark Countries
Average publication impact is calculated as the number of citations of articles from a particular country divided by the total number of articles published by authors from that country. For instance, a country that published 50 articles that were cited 100 times would have an average publication impact of two. Between 2005
and 2007, the United States had the highest average publication impact of all countries at 3.17 followed by Germany and the United Kingdom. The average publication impact for Saudi Arabia was 0.67 with 8 citations of 12 articles. Table 3 presents publication and citation counts for benchmark countries.6
Table 3: Benchmark Countries Energy Publication (2005 -2007) Country USA Germany UK South Africa Australia Singapore New Zealand Publications 760 79 981 68 1 48 97 Total Citations 8760 6 09 18 845 118 9 Average Publication Impact 3.17 3.10 3.10 2.68 2.63 2.46 2.36
6 Benchmark countries include global leaders in terms of total environment publication output in addition to a list of specific countries provided by KACST.
16
Strategic Context
Country France Canada Japan Italy India Spain Peoples R. China Brazil South Korea Saudi Arabia Publications 597 707 610 578 44 59 9 50 17 1 Total Citations 106 1511 154 1185 880 100 1455 87 90 8 Average Publication Impact 2.19 2.14 2.06 2.05 1.99 1.72 1.58 1.55 1.34 0.67
Environment Research Organizations

Environment R&D publications are produced at several thousand research institutions in more than 130 countries. As shown in table 4, the three institutions producing the largest number of publications related to KSA environmental research priorities are the Chinese Academy of Sciences (287), the United States Department of Agriculture (223), and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientficas (131). The Chinese Academy of Sciences remains the number one producer of articles related to greenhouse gases avoidance, monitoring, and assessment technologies, air pollution monitoring and assessment technologies, and desertification monitoring and assessment technologies. However, the United States Department of Agriculture is the leading producer of food contamination avoidance technologies while Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientficas is the leading producer of municipal solid waste remediation technologies related articles.
17
18
Average Impact Food Contamination Avoidance Technologies 6 14 4 6 50 4 7 46 14 4 50 15 0 18 10 5 9 15 10 5 9 47 6 49 1 16 1 4 6 4 5 1 10 16 7 8 1 1 10 8 47 18 5 16 19 4 17 14 1 5 10 9 0 19 1 65 67 4 95 Greenhouse Gases Air Pollution - Avoidance, Monitoring and Monitoring, Assessment and Assessment Technologies Technologies Municipal Solid Waste Remediation Technologies Desertification Monitoring and Assessment Technologies
Table 4: Global Environment R&D Organizations (2005 - 2007)
Institution
Total Publications
Strategic Context
Chinese Acad Sci 2.56 1.86 3.27 2.76 4.11 2.62 5.94 2.70 2.55 2.71 7.72 4.58 2.47 4.59
87
1.76
USDA

CSIC
11
Univ Texas
106
INRA
91
Indian Inst Technol
85
Univ London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med
8
NASA
8
Univ Wageningen & Res Ctr
79
CNR
76
US EPA
76
Natl Ctr Atmospher Res
75
Harvard Univ
74
Tech Univ Denmark
74
Univ Utrecht
69
Strategic Context
International Collaboration and Publication Impact
For countries with a similar level of publication activity, those countries with a high level of international collaboration also tend to produce publications with a high level of impact. In this study, international collaboration is calculated as the average number of countries represented per publication, based on authors addresses. Figure 5 plots a countrys level of international collaboration (horizontal axis) against the average impact of its publications (vertical axis). Countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom that show significant international collaborative activity also tend to produce papers with a higher average impact. Saudi Arabia has both a low level of international collaboration and a low level of impact.
Figure 5: Environment Collaboration and Publication Impact (2005 - 2007)

4.5
4 USA Germany UK New Zealand Canada Australia Singapore Japan India Brazil 1.5 South Korea Peoples R. China Spain France Italy UK Peoples R. China Germany Canada South Africa France Japan Italy Spain India Australia Brazil South Korea 1 Saudi Arabia 0.5 New Zealand South Africa Singapore Saudi Arabia
3.5
USA
Average Impact
2.5
0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
19
Strategic Context
KSA International Collaboration Activity
The 2005-2007 environmental technologies dataset included only two articles in which authors affiliated with KSA institutions collaborated internationally. These papers had coauthors in the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Table 5: Environment Journals (2005-2007) Source Greenhouse Gases - Avoidance, Monitoring, and Assessment Technologies ENERGY POLICY GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS CLIMATIC CHANGE JOURNAL OF CLIMATE ENERGY ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE DYNAMICS JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY WASTE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS Municipal Solid Waste Remediation Technologies CHEMOSPHERE WASTE MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING COMPOST SCIENCE & UTILIZATION WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT Records 16 104 76 69 58 50 46 45 45 199 19 98 76 71 70 6 1 9 8
Environment Journals
Table 5 presents journals with a significant level of publication activity related to KSA environmental technology sub-fields from 2005-2007.
0
Strategic Context
Source JOURNAL OF FOOD PROTECTION INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD MICROBIOLOGY Food Contamination Avoidance Technologies FOOD CONTROL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY BRITISH FOOD JOURNAL JOURNAL OF FOOD ENGINEERING FOOD ADDITIVES AND CONTAMINANTS FOOD CHEMISTRY APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT Air Pollution Monitoring and Assessment Technologies JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION WATER AIR AND SOIL POLLUTION CHEMOSPHERE JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS Desertification Monitoring and Assessment Technologies ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT CATENA GEOMORPHOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT ARID LAND RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING Records 167 16 111 8 71 70 60 5 4 40 44 10 110 105 105 78 7 70 61 55 47 19 1 11 10 10 8 8 7 6
1
Strategic Context
Environment Patent Activity
As shown in table 6, between 2002 and 2006, there were 784 environment-related patent applications filed with the United States Patent Office (USPTO). The majority of these (486) listed at least one inventor from the United States. Other countries with a significant number of inventors include: Japan (85 applications), Canada (30 Table 6: Environment Patents (2002-2006) Municipal Solid Waste Remediation Technologies 57 8 1 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 Food Contamination Avoidance Technologies 91 69 19 5 17 16 18 8 8 9 5 0 0 0 Air Pollution Monitoring and Assessment Technologies 18 11 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Greenhouse Gasses Avoidance, Monitoring, and Assessment Technologies 5 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Desertification Monitoring and Assessment Technologies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 applications), and Germany (29 applications). There was one environment-related patent application that listed an inventor from Saudi Arabia over this time period. Plastic recycling system and process, listed Horne, David, from Saudi Arabia, as the sole inventor.
Country
Total
United States Japan Canada Germany South Korea United Kingdom France Australia India Italy Spain China New Zealand South Africa Saudi Arabia Brazil Singapore
486 85 0 9 6 19 10 9 9 6 4 1 0 0

Strategic Context
While the majority of environment related patent applications are defined as individually owned patent applications (584 applications) by the United States Patent Office, some institutions are designated as the patent assignee on a number of applications. These institutions that have records as inventors in environmental technology might be targets for collaboration. Kraft Table 7: Leading Environment Assignees (2002-2006) USTPO Assignee Individually Owned Patents Kraft Foods Holdings Inc. Procter & Gamble Company Conair, Inc. Unilever Bestfoods North America No. of Patents Apps. 584 1 6 4 4 Foods Holdings Inc. is listed as the patent assignee on 12 environment related applications followed by Procter & Gamble Company (6 applications), Conair, Inc. (4 applications), and Unilever Bestfoods North America (4 applications). The only patent application with an inventor from Saudi Arabia was designated as an individually owned patent.
SWOT Analysis for KSA Environmental Technology Program

This section presents a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Saudi Arabia environmental R&D activities relative to achieving its vision. In a SWOT analysis, terms are defined as follows: Strengths: internal attributes of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objective. Weaknesses: internal attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objective. Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective. Threats: external conditions that are harmful to achieving the objective.

Strategic Context
Strengths: Issuance of General Environmental Regulations (GER): Meeting these requirements should boost demand for environmental technologies at the local level. Increasing determination within Saudi Arabia to conserve and protect the environment. Promising investment opportunities in environmental technologies at the local level. Availability of appropriate technical and scientific infrastructure required for scientific research in different environmental fields. Interest by major national institutions; such as King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, King Abdullah University for Science and Technology, and other universities; in advanced technologies such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, and advanced materials: Integration of these technologies could contribute to the development of advanced environmental technologies. Support by the General Authority for Investments for investing in environmental technologies. Financial support within the terms of the National Science and Technology Policy for environmental technology R&D. Growing demand for environmental technologies and lack of market competition at the local level. Ability of national scientific, technical, and environmental agencies to enhance construction of necessary infrastructure for transfer, localization, and development of environmental technologies.
Weaknesses: Lag in implementing General Environmental Regulations, leading to a slower uptake of environmental technologies at the local level. Failure to stimulate growth in the scientific and technical infrastructure. Low priority of environmental sciences in the National Science and Technology Policy. Lack of national private-sector investment in environmental protection and preservation, despite great opportunities available in the field. Lack of international cooperation in technology transfer. Lack of interest by local corporations to pursue R&D activities in the environment and its applications (with the exception of ARAMCO and SABIC). Inadequate Inadequate scientific strategic infrastructure; planning by particularly relevant technical personnel, equipment, and instrumentation. environmental agencies. Inability of national universities to establish facilities specializing in environmental engineering. The merger between science and engineering is necessary to develop and advance environmental technologies.
4
Strategic Context
Opportunities: Growing international market for environmental technologies; equivalent to about 600 billion US dollars in 2006. Higher return on investment (ROI) from environmental technologies: An estimated ROI of 25:1 for each dollar invested compared to a 1:1 ROI for military technologies. Commitments by industrial nations to transfer proven environmental technologies to developing countries. Growing international demand for environmental technologies, products, and services. The idea of global environmental security, and its relationship to international security, integrity of natural systems, and economic and social welfare. Ratification by Saudi Arabia of regional and international environmental conventions.
Threats: Global competition to develop innovative environmental technologies. Reluctance of international experts and scientists to work in Saudi Arabia. Complex technology-transfer procedures. International commitments by Saudi Arabia to protect and preserve the environment. Global competition to acquire environmental technologies. Negative image of Saudi Arabia: In international environmental rankings Saudi Arabia is ranked 136 out of 146 countries.
5
Higher Strategy
This section provides the vision for the Kingdom in Environmental technology R&D, and the mission, values, and strategic goals for the program.
Vision
The vision for the KSA Environmental Technology Program is: Achieving environmentally sustainable development
Mission
The mission for the KSA Environmental Technology Program is: To transfer, localize, and develop high quality environmental technologies for environmental preservation and the development of natural resources through strategic alliances.
6
Higher Strategy
To achieve excellence, the program will develop an internal culture through both the sponsorship of its leadership and commitment of its operational teams, based on the following values: The precepts of the Holy Quran and the Prophet Sunnah. Excellence of work. Professional integrity and ethical behavior. Openness and transparency. Commitment to achieving objectives. Support of creativity and innovation. Teamwork and collaboration.

The ETP strategic goals were determined in line with the goals and objectives of the National Policy for Science and Technology and the key needs of the kingdom. These goals are: 1- Establishing a national infrastructure for environmental technologies. 2- Transferring, localizing, and developing high quality environmental technologies to tackle national environmental issues. 3- Promoting innovative research and development in environmental technologies. 4- Contributing to the conception of advanced environmental technology industries to enhance the national economy. 5- Developing national and international strategic partnerships. 6- Providing technologies. scientific consultation in the field of environmental
7
Technology Areas
Selection Process
An initial list of 18 pressing environmental issues in Saudi Arabia and a list of four general types of environmental technology were developed and discussed with the stakeholders. The initial list of 18 pressing environmental issues was classified into four main themes as follows:
Waste: 1. Municipal waste water*. 2. Municipal solid waste. 3. Industrial waste water*. 4. Hazardous medical waste. 5. Hazardous waste. 6. Industrial solid waste. 7. Agricultural waste. Pollution: 1. Food contamination. 2. Oil pollution. 3. Radioactive contamination. 4. Thermal pollution. 5. Noise Pollution. Air Quality: 1. Ambient air quality. 2. Greenhouse gases. Degradation of Natural Resources: 1. Desertification.
8
Technology Areas
2. Degradation of coastal areas. 3. Biodiversity. 4. Degradation of water resources*. * Issues handled by Water Technology Program.
The Four General Types of Environmental Technology Were:

Avoidance Technologies: Technologies (equipments and processes) used to prevent or minimize generation of pollutants. Monitoring and Assessment Technologies: Technologies used to establish, monitor and asses the Condition of the environment. Control Technologies: Technologies that render hazardous substance harmless before they enter the environment. Remediation and Restoration Technologies: Technologies used to render hazardous substances harmless. The combinations of environmental issues and types of environmental technologies were then analyzed using several sets of criteria. One set of criteria was applied to prioritized the most pressing environmental issues in Saudi Arabia on the following perspectives: Health: seriousness of health issues and degree of exposure. Economic: cost-benefit ratio. Strategic: direct and indirect relationships to national strategic objectives. Social: effect on quality of life and social welfare Geographical: geographical extent of the issue. Political: international obligations. Other technology-related criteria were also considered in prioritizing environmental technologies for the Kingdom. These included: Demand for Technology: Compatibility with existing technology and future industrial development. Applicability of technology to end users. Ability to solve technical problems related to other technologies.
9
Technology Areas
Environment Conducive to Transfer, Localization, and Development: Intellectual property rights. Presence of a national scientific infrastructure. Scientific and technological cooperation. Ability to exploit international conventions. Integration with other strategic technologies. Quality and Efficiency: Technology life cycle. Environmental impact of technology. Social impact of technology. Technology Economics: Magnitude of labor market and employability of national workforce. Cost-benefit ratio. Economic losses from a failure to adopt technologies.
Preliminary Priority Technology Needs

The application of the selection criteria to the list of pressing environmental issues and general types of technology resulted in five preliminary priority technology needs (PPTN): 1. Municipal solid waste remediation and restoration technologies. 2. Food contamination avoidance technologies. 3. Air pollution monitoring & assessment technologies. 4. Greenhouse gases avoidance, monitoring & assessment technologies. 5. Desertification monitoring & assessment technologies. The next step will be to identify specific technologies within these high priority categories, and to develop a roadmap with targets, milestones, and assigned responsibilities for each specific technology.
0
Implementation Plan
Within KACST, the ETP manager will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. Some portions of the plan may be managed by other parts of KACST. For example, the technology innovation centers and technology incubators may be managed by the Technology Development Center, which may specialize in the management of these kinds of programs. In this case, the program managers role will be to provide technical input to the design and evaluation of these programs rather than to manage.
Many aspects of the plan represent new functions, especially in developing and managing national technology programs that include industry and universities and may involve international collaborations. A major task for the first year of the program will be for KACST to develop the necessary governance infrastructure. That will require hiring a managerial staff that is capable of overseeing large scale technical initiatives that span several different institutions. Although it is critical to start new research programs, it is essential to build the skills necessary to lead and develop these programs, and to plan them carefully. As part of the initial activities under this plan, KACST staff members will visit programs of a similar nature elsewhere in the world to discuss their management practices and lessons learned. The ETP Advisory Committee will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will meet approximately four times a year and review progress in the program. Key performance indicators will be established for each subprogram. General performance indicators include: Growth or establishment of technology-based businesses due to the Environmental Technology Program. Amount of revenue and jobs created. Successful importation of technology resulting in new businesses or applications.
1
Implementation Plan
Movement of projects to incubators. Licenses and licensing revenue to universities and research institutes. Environmental technology-related patents. Private sector funding of university and KACST ETP (indicates the value private sector places on university or KACST environmental technology R&D). Number and level of presentations in international conferences. Number and impact of publications. Extent of domestic and international R&D collaborations. Numbers of environmental technology advanced degrees awarded. The advisory committee will also sponsor and oversee studies of emerging areas of environmental technology, to serve as the basis for developing new program areas. This plan is intended to be a dynamic document that will be updated at least annually and more frequently if required. In addition to the advisory committee input, it is expected that workshops with the research community, users, industry and other stakeholders will also contribute to both a continual evolution of the plan as well as a stronger environmental technology research in the Kingdom. Diagram (1) illustrates the proposed implementation plan for the ETP in a broad perspective. The adopted approach for the implementation plan captured the concept of the Retrospective Analysis8, which will insure: a) a dynamic-loop of planning , b) a coherent and smooth transition among various implementation stages, from the higher strategy stage to the marketing and financing stage, and c) attention to communicating visions, attracting resources from business and government, stimulating investigations, and monitoring progress.
8 Retrospective analyses cover time frames from typically decades past to the present, while prospective analyses cover time frames from the present to typically a decade or more into the future. Source: Ronald N. Kostoff, and Robert R. Schaller. Science and technology roadmaps. IEEE transactions on engineering management.

Implementation Plan
Diagram 1: Generic Roadmap Framework (top-down approach). Highter Strategy Vision Mission National Key Needs Strategic Objectives
National Issues Technology Key Needs
Identifying Criteria
Technologies
Preliminary Technology Needs Values / Current Position
Resources / Stakeholders
n Tre
ed
Strategic Alignments
Tools & Methods
Ne
Capabilities Specific Technologies Tech. 1 Roadmap Tech. 2 Roadmap Tech. 3 Roadmap Tech. 4 Roadmap
Partnership / Stakeholders
Marketing & Financing
Financing Technology Transfer / Localize / Development Incubators Prototypes Commercialization Marketing
ds
Copyrights reserved 2008 Environment Technology Working group - KACST

Appendix A
Environmental Technology Program Stakeholders:
The process of developing this plan included several workshops that and meet focused on on environmental programs to technology needs in the Kingdom defining and those needs. Workshop stakeholders
participants
members represented themselves as individuals and did not necessarily represent their organizations.
4
Appendix A
STAKEHOLDERS REPRESENTATIVES Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Al-Abdulkader Mr. Abdullah Sultan Al-Khalid Mr. Abdullah Hassan Al-Naser King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Dr. Yusuf Saleh Al-Hafiz Dr. Kamel Mohammed Sheikho Prof. Ahmed Hammadi Al-Harbi Prof. Mohammed Abdalrauf bin Hussein Eng. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Shamsi Dr. Samir Hamza Oyoni Presidency of Meteorology and Environment Protection Eng. Nabil Asaad Murshid Dr. Taha Mohammed Zaatari Dr. Abdullah Ahmed Al- Haddad National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development Commission for Development of Makkah and Medina Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry of Trade and Industry King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals King Abdulaziz University Saudi ARAMCO SABIC The Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce Mr. AbdulAziz M. Al-Muhanna Mr. Omar A. Khoshim Eng. Adnan J. Al-Saati Mr. Abdalaziz F. Aldogather Eng. Ziad Ahmed Al-Yahya Dr. Alaedeen A. Bukhari Dr. Mansour A. Al-Mazroui Dr. Khalid A. Al-Abdulkader Dr. Ahmed M. Alhazmi Eng. Ahmad AbdulAziz Alsmari
5
www.kacst.edu.sa
DAKKIN 01 478 8584
Petrochemicals
Biotechnology
Energy
Strategic Priorities for Information Technology Program
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Program Scope Plan Development Process Strategic Context KSA IT R&D Needs Stakeholders Roles Analysis of Comparable IT R&D Institutes Analysis of IT Publications and Patents SWOT Analysis for KSA IT Research and Innovation Program Higher Strategy Vision Mission Program Values and Culture Program Strategic Goals Technology Areas Selection Process Selected Technology Areas Program Structure Program Leadership Language and Speech Computer Systems High Performance Computing
4 8 8 10 10 1 1 13 14 14 4 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 30 31 31 3 3
Contents
Software Engineering and Innovated Systems Operational Plans Portfolio Management Technology Transfer Plan Quality Management Plan Human Resources Plan Communications Management Plan Risk Management Plan Implementation of the Plan Appendix A: Plan Development Process 33 34 34 34 35 35 36 36 38 40
Executive summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined 11 programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. This roadmap is the plan for one of these programs, the Information Technology Program. This plan is complementary to The National Information & Communication Technology Plan (NICTP): The Vision Towards the Information Society, prepared by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in 2004, which described the importance of information technology (IT) for the Kingdom, assessed the strengths and weaknesses for the Kingdom in IT, and set out a vision and goals in the IT area. While that plan focuses on the application and use of IT, this document focuses more narrowly on IT research and innovation.
Information technology is a particularly important technology for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). IT has been a key driver of productivity growth and economic growth in many countries around the world. IT development generates productivity growth throughout the economy by facilitating the rapid dissemination of information, by refocusing the workforce on higher value activities, by creating new services, and by aiding education and training. IT, especially computer modeling, data analysis, and databases, also enables advances in almost all fields of science and technology. The competitiveness of the Kingdom as it moves into knowledge-based industries, such as finance, telecommunications, health care, and education, relies heavily on IT. This plan is based on input from the users and stakeholders for information technology in the Kingdom, including government agencies, industry, and universities that use IT or IT R&D. The planning process: Identified the key needs of the Kingdom for IT research and innovation. Assessed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the program, including an analysis of KSA IT publications and patents and an assessment of international research institutes. Defined a mission and vision for the Kingdoms IT program. Defined the key technologies and other program areas needed to address
Executive summary
the Kingdoms needs in IT research and innovation. Among the key needs in the Kingdom identified in process are: Arabic language software, including needs for translation, Arabic search engines, speech recognition, text-to-speech and Arabic Internet domain names. Medical informatics. Oil & Gas software and applications, including but not limited to process automation, simulation, visualization, performance optimization, experts systems and intelligent oil fields. IT security, including Internet resiliency and the ability to respond to security threats and events. Authentication for e-government and e-commerce. Advanced networks. E-government applications. E-Learning applications and content. Hajj-related applications, including databases, simulation models, geographic information systems, and applications of radio frequency identification (RFID) to crowd control. Process automation and business process management (BPM). In addition to the technical needs, workshop participants identified a large number of areas where policies need to be changed or barriers removed to facilitate IT innovation. These needs include: Policies to facilitate R&D collaboration between KACST, universities, and industry. Policy and organizational changes in universities to improve the ability of faculty members to conduct research. Expanded human resources for IT R&D. Improved knowledge of international technology developments. Expanded international collaboration, including cooperation between Saudi universities and world universities. Saudi participation in international standardization bodies. Studies of the social aspects of ICT. Small business contracting preferences to support innovative small companies.
Executive summary
The priority technology areas that emerged from this process are as follows: Speech and Language - Speech (including speech recognition, synthesis, speaker verification/ identification and speech resources). - Text (including computational linguistics, machine translation, statistical language modeling, information retrieval and web search engines and text mining, language resources). - Special needs applications (including sign language, and the Braille system). - Arabic document processing and optical character recognition (OCR). High Performance Computing - Supercomputing architecture & software. - Supercomputing applications. - Computer simulation. - Computer modeling. Computer Systems and Networks - Computer Networks. - IT security and privacy. - Database Systems. - Operating Systems. Software Engineering and inovated Systems - Local applications/localization. - Open source software (OSS) engineering. - System analysis and design.
Executive summary
The IT Research and Innovation Program consists of a program leadership function, responsible for overall planning, management, and cross-cutting issues, and four priority technical areas corresponding to the fields above: Language and Speech; High Performance Computing; Computer Systems and Networks; and Software Engineering and Innovated Systems. Within each technical area, projects will include KACST-university-industry projects to develop innovative pilot applications, university-industry technology innovation centers, and university grants in strategic areas. The IT Program will be directed by a Program Manager, who will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. The Information Technology Research and Innovation Advisory Committee, with stakeholder membership, will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will establish and review performance metrics and provide advice on the portfolio of projects. The Committee will advise the Program Manager and will report to the National S&T Plan Supervisory Committee, which will oversee all of the Strategic Technology Programs.
Introduction
Background
KACST was directed by a 1986 Royal Decree to propose a national policy for the development of science and technology and to devise the strategy and plans necessary to implement them. In July 2002, the Council of Ministers approved the national plan for science and technology, which drew up the broad lines and future direction of science, technology, and innovation (STI) in the Kingdom, considering the role of KACST as well as that of universities, government, industry, and society.
The plan, depicted in Figure 1, encompasses: 1. Strategic and advanced technologies 2. Scientific research and technical development capabilities 3. Transfer, development and localizing technology 4. Science, technology and society 5. Scientific and technical human resources 6. Diversifying financial support resources 7. Science, technology and innovation system 8. Institutional structures for science, technology and innovation
Introduction
an Hum ces ur Reso

Society Private Sector Research & Educational Institutes Ministries and Governmental Institutes National Science, Technology, & Innovation Plan (NSTIP)
Ad
In the Strategic and Advanced Technologies area, KACST is responsible for 5-year strategic and implementation plans for 11 technologies: 1. Water 2. Oil & Gas 3. Petrochemicals 4. Nanotechnology 5. Biotechnology 6. Information Technology 7. Electronics, Communication, & Photonics 8. Space and Aeronautics 9. Energy 10.Environment 11.Advanced Materials
Re NST gu IP lat ion
Each plan establishes a mission and vision, identifies stakeholders and users, and determines the highest priority technical areas for the Kingdom. Information technology (IT) is an especially important technology for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). IT has been a key driver of productivity growth and economic growth in many countries around the world, including the United States, India, Ireland, and Finland. IT development generates productivity growth throughout the economy by facilitating the rapid dissemination of information, by refocusing the workforce on higher value activities, by creating new services, and by aiding education and training. IT, especially computer
Introduction
modeling, data analysis, and databases, also enables advances in almost all fields of science and technology. In 2004, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology produced The National Information Technology Plan: The Vision Towards the Information Society, which described the importance of IT for the Kingdom, assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the Kingdom in IT, and set out a vision and goals in the IT area. As noted in this plan, the competitiveness of the Kingdom in knowledge-based industries (KBIs), such as finance, telecommunications, health care, and education, relies heavily on IT.
Program Scope
The scope of this plan is national: it is an IT research and innovation plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The plan involves universities, industry, and government stakeholders. KACST has overall responsibility for the development and execution of the plan. This plan is complementary to The National Information Technology Plan. While that plan focuses primarily on the application and use of IT, this document focuses more narrowly on IT research and innovation. It focuses on the strategic priorities for advancing the Kingdoms position in IT. These include identifying the technology areas that are most critical for the Kingdom, and as well as the needs for human resources and policy changes to advance the position of the Kingdom in IT.

The development of this plan (outlined in Figure 2) began with identifying the stakeholders and users of IT research and innovation in the Kingdom, creating vision and mission statements, and conducting background research on the current position of the Kingdom in IT and on the role of other IT research institutes around the world. A two-day workshop was held with stakeholders and users of IT research and innovation. This workshop, with over 50 total participants, represented the first time the IT research community and user community had come together to discuss the future needs and opportunities for IT innovation in the Kingdom. The agenda and participants in this workshop are shown in Appendix A. The first day of the workshop focused on hearing from industry, government agencies, and research institutions about
10
Introduction
their needs for advances in information technology. The second day gathered input from these same groups on the IT research and innovation programs needed in the Kingdom. Following the workshop, KACST staff and consultants developed a draft plan, which was Figure 2: Approach to Prepare National IT R&D Program reviewed by the newly formed National IT Research and Innovation Advisory Committee. The advisory committees comments were then incorporated into this final plan.
Approach to Prepare National IT R&D Program
Identify Potential Stakeholders and Users

KSA IT industry KSA IT - using industry Government users of IT R & D Universities that perform IT R & D
IT R & D Planning Workshop

Identify the IT innovations most needed for the kingdom Human resource needs Infrastructure needs Outline programs to meet the highest priority needs Barriers to progress
Draft Vision and Mission
Draft IT Strategic Implementation Plan

Advisory committee Develop programs and strategies Employ capabilities of KACST, Universities and industry
11
Strategic Context
KSA IT R&D Needs
The National Workshop identified a wide number of IT research and innovation needs for the Kingdom. These included needs from the IT sector, telecommunications sector, petroleum industry, health sector, several government agencies, and universities. A sampling of the IT needs include:
Arabic language software, including needs for translation, Arabic search engines, speech recognition, text-to-speech and Arabic Internet domain names. Medical informatics. Oil & Gas software and applications, including but not limited to process automation, simulation, visualization, performance optimization, experts systems and intelligence oil fields. IT security, including Internet resiliency and the ability to respond to security threats and events. Authentication for e-government and e-commerce. Advanced networks. E-government applications. E-Learning applications and content. Hajj-related applications, including databases, simulation models, geographic information systems, and applications of radio frequency identification (RFID) to crowd control. Process automation and business process management (BPM).
In addition to the technical needs, workshop participants identified a large number of areas where policies need to be changed or barriers removed. These needs include: Policies to facilitate R&D collaboration between KACST, universities, and industry. Policy and organizational changes in universities to improve the ability of faculty members to conduct research. Expanded human resources for IT R&D. Improved knowledge of international technology developments. Expanded international collaboration, including cooperation between Saudi universities and world universities. Saudi participation in international standardization bodies. Studies of the social aspects of ICT. Small business contracting preferences to support innovative small companies.
1
Strategic Context
This plan focuses on technical needs but also includes steps to address non-technical needs, although some of these are primarily the responsibilities of other organizations.
Stakeholders Roles
The stakeholders for the IT Research and Innovation Program include KACST, KSA universities, various independent or specialized research institutes, other government agencies, and private companies. Table 1 shows the roles of these stakeholders in the program.
Table 1: Stakeholders Roles Stakeholders Role Plan, coordinate and manage the program Conduct applied research, technology transfer and prototype applications development Manage and participate in national projects KACST Provide support for university and industrial participation in national projects Provide and manage national research facilities such as high performance computing and networking Provide advice and services to government on science and technology. Create new basic and applied scientific knowledge Universities Train students in science and engineering Host and participate in Technology Innovation Centers Participate in collaborative projects Independent or Government Specialized Research Centers Create new applied scientific knowledge Participate in collaborative projects Operational and implementation IT projects Ministries and Government Agencies Provide input to program on government R&D needs Reduce regulatory and procedural barriers to R&D and innovation Support R&D in universities and industry Develop and commercialize products & processes resulting from the program. Private Sector Communicate company needs to program Support and participate in collaborative R&D projects. Support and participate in the Technology Innovation Centers
13
Strategic Context
Analysis of Comparable IT R&D Institutes
As part of the background work for this plan, the planning team reviewed several other information technology research laboratories around the world, selected to include a mix of government-supported laboratories with functions similar to that of KACSTs IT program. They included: Canadas National Research Council (NRC) Institute for Information Technology (NRC-IIT). The Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP), in Greece. Indias Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). The Meraka Institute (MI), in South Africa. The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These institutes are working in a range of technical areas similar to those considered for this plan, including: Artificial intelligence. Security and privacy. Language and speech technologies. Software engineering. High performance and scientific computing. Networking and internet software. Geoinformatics and remote sensing research. Digital library and digital information access. E-Government and e-commerce. Educational technologies. Medical informatics. There is general agreement that publications and patents strongly correlate with scientific research capacity, although publication and patent counts alone do not fully represent the quality or scope of research. Nonetheless, publication and patent activity have long been used as indicators for knowledge creation and research output.3 Several indicators are presented The institutes vary considerably in staff size, ranging from under 100 to several thousand. A full description of these laboratories programs can be found in a separate document.1
Analysis of IT Publications and Patents

Information technology is a broad field that encompasses many different research and application areas, such as computer science, electrical engineering, telecommunications, and optics. The overall field, information technology, as well as sub-topics, were defined in close consultation with KACST researchers and other KSA stakeholders, who provided detailed lists of keyword terms that were used to query publication and patent databases.2 The KSA information technology program identified four major application sub-topics: speech and language, scientific computing, computer systems and networks, and software engineering and innovated systems. Information technology is a fast moving field, so the scope of this study was restricted to only recent publication (2005-2007) and patent (20022006) activity in these fields.
1 Strategic Review: Information Technology. Report prepared by SRI International for KACST. 2 ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific publication and U.S. patent application data, respectively. The ISI Web of Science is a database of peerreviewed articles in major scientific journals from around the world. Delphion is a searchable database of global patent activity, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is one of the worlds major granters of patents. Because the U.S. market is so large, most important inventions from around the world are patented there. 3 Seminal research in the use of publications as a measure of scientific productivity includes A.J. Lotka, The frequency distribution of scientific productivity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 16 (1926); D. Price, Little Science, Big Science, (New York: Columbia university Press, 1963); J.R. Cole and S Cole, Social Stratification in Science, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973); J. Gaston, The reward system in British and American science, (New York: John Wiley (1978); and M.F. Fox, Publication productivity among scientists: a critical review, Social Studies of Science, vol 13, 1983.
14
Strategic Context
below. These include forward citations, which are the frequency at which publications and patents are cited by others and are an indicator of impact, and co-authoring relationships, which are an indicator of scientific collaboration. Together, these indicators provide measures of collaboration, globalization, and impact of science and technology research in fields related to the KSA information technology program. Global Information Technology Publication Activity Between 2005 and 2007, there were 22220 articles Figure 3: IT Publications (2005-2007) published worldwide in information technology fields related to KSA IT research priorities.4 The United States was the worlds largest producer of related articles, generating 7401 articles over this time period. The Peoples Republic of China was second, producing 2266 articles followed by the United Kingdom and Germany with 1754 and 1524 articles respectively. Saudi Arabia was tied for the 49th largest producer of publications, producing 24 articles, or one tenth of one percent of all publications. Figure 3 shows the number of publications produced by selected countries over this time period.
5
Saudi Australia Arabia India
Taiwan 78
Italy 1074
Spain 859
Japan 181 Brazil USA 7401 Germany 154
South Korea 1075
France 1143 Russia
Peoples Republic of China 66 Greece
United Kingdom 1754
Canada 147
Israel
4 Throughout this section, information technology refers only to the subset of information technology defined by the KSA IT program. 5 A publication is assigned to a country if any of the publications authors affiliations are located in that country. Because publications often have multiple authors, a single publication may be assigned to multiple countries. Aggregate figures, such as total global publication output, count each publication only once, but adding up sub-totals may yield a result larger than the reported total due to multiple counting.
15
Strategic Context
As shown in table 2, scientific computing accounts for the largest share of information technology related publications (9864) followed by computer systems and Table 2: Information Technology Sub-Topics (2005-2007) Sub-Topic Scientific Computing Computer Systems and Networks Software Engineering and Innovation Systems Speech and Language Publications 9864 6477 3456 2992 networks (6477), software engineering and innovated systems (3456), and speech and language (2992).
Benchmark Country Publication Impact Average publication impact is calculated as the number of citations of articles from a particular country divided by the total number of articles published by authors from that country. For instance, a country that published 50 articles that were cited 100 times would have an average publication impact of two. Between 2005 and 2007, Germany had the highest average publication impact of all countries at 1.45 followed by the United Kingdom (1.40), Australia (1.39), and Ireland (1.32). The average publication impact for Saudi Arabia was 0.13 with only three citations of its 24 articles. By this measure, the information technology articles that were published by authors affiliated with KSA institutions appear to have a lower impact when compared with those from leading countries. Table 3 presents publication and citation counts for benchmark countries.6
6 Benchmark countries include global leaders in terms of total information technology output in addition to a list of specific countries provided by KACST.
16
Strategic Context
Table 3: Benchmark Country Information Technology Publication Impact (2005-2007) Country Germany Australia UK Ireland USA Canada France Japan Italy Spain Peoples R China Egypt South Africa India South Korea Malaysia Saudi Arabia Publications 154 657 1754 1 7401 147 1143 181 1074 859 66 38 78 454 1075 56 4 Total Citations 15 913 401 161 8973 1379 113 1108 892 689 1456 4 48 61 318 15 3 Average Publication Impact 1.45 1.39 1.37 1.32 1.21 1.11 1.06 0.86 0.83 0.80 0.64 0.63 0.62 0.57 0.30 0.27 0.13
Information Technology Research Organizations Information technology publications are produced at thousands of research institutions in more than 120 countries. As shown in table 4, the three institutions producing the largest number of publications in the technical areas related to the KSA information technology program are the Chinese Academy of Sciences (336), the University of Texas (333), and Tsing Hua University (233). The Chinese Academy of Sciences is the number one producer of scientific computing publications, while Tsing Hua Univeristy is the leader in speech and language and the University of Texas is the leader
in both computer systems and networks and software engineering and innovated systems.
17
Strategic Context
Table 4: Global Information Technology Research Organizations (2005 - 2007) Computer Systems and Networks 76 85 76 58 46 56 53 51 33 66 Software Engineering and innovated Systems 39 45 13 29 5 0 17 5 16 Speech and Language 4 39 43 0 29 16 30 5 7 6
Institution
Total Publications 336 333 33 196 192 185 180 171 170 168
Average Impact 0.63 1.36 0.78 1.48 1.86 0.77 2.25 1.49 1.74 1.67
Scientific Computing 188 174 98 110 91 93 84 84 11 8
Chinese Acad Sci Univ Texas Tsing Hua University Univ Illinois Univ Washington Univ Florida MIT Univ Maryland Univ Calif Berkeley Univ Sci & Technol China
International Collaboration and Publication Impact For countries with a similar level of publication activity, those countries with a high level of international collaboration also tend to produce publications with a high level of impact. International collaboration is calculated as the average number of countries represented per publication, based on authors addresses. Figure 4 plots a countrys level of international collaboration (horizontal axis) against the average impact of its publications (vertical axis). Countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom, which show significant international collaborative activity, also tend to produce papers with a higher average impact.
18
Strategic Context
Figure 4: International Collaboration and Publication Impact in Information Technology (2005 - 2007)
1.80
1.60
Germany
1.40
Australia UK Ireland
1.20
USA Canada
Average Publication Impact
1.00
Japan
France
0.80
Peoples R. China India
Spain
Italy
Egypt South Africa
0.60
0.40
South Korea Malaysia Saudi Arabia
0.20
0.00 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50
Level of International Collaboration KSA Collaboration Activity As shown in table 5, KSA-affiliated authors collaborated on more than one article with authors from: the United States (7 publications), UK (2 publications) and Canada (2 publications). KSA authors collaborated on one article with authors from: Egypt, Germany, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Spain, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
19
Strategic Context
Table 5: KSA Publication Collaborators (2005 - 2007) Country United States United Kingdom Canada Egypt Germany Jordan Kuwait Oman Pakistan Spain Turkey UAE Number of Publications 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Information Technology Journals Table 6 presents journals with a significant level of Table 6: Information Technology Journals (2005 - 2007) Journal Physical Review A Journal Of Chemical Physics Physical Review Letters Scientific Computing Physical Review B Ecological Modelling
publication activity related to KSA information technology sub-fields from 2005-2007.
Publications 269 115 109 106 100 96 94 83 59 59
Concurrency And Computation-practice & Experience Atmospheric Environment Future Generation Computer Systems-the International Journal Of Grid Computing Theory Methods And Applications Journal Of Computational Physics Environmental Science & Technology
0
Strategic Context
Journal Computer Communications Computer Systems And Networks Physical Review A Ieee Transactions On Mobile Computing Computer Networks Ieee Transactions On Wireless Communications Ieice Transactions On Communications Journal Of Biological Chemistry Drug Metabolism And Disposition Ieee Transactions On Information Theory Ieee Transactions On Vehicular Technology Journal Of Systems And Software Software Engineering And Innovated Systems Information And Software Technology International Journal Of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Bmc Bioinformatics Science Of Computer Programming Ieee Transactions On Nuclear Science Ieee Transactions On Software Engineering Nuclear Instruments & Methods In Physics Research Section A-accelerators Ieee Software International Journal Of Software Engineering And Knowledge Engineering Ieee Transactions On Audio Speech And Language Processing Speech Communication Speech And Language Ieice Transactions On Information And Systems Journal Of The Acoustical Society Of America Accessing Multilingual Information Repositories Computer Speech And Language Information Processing & Management Text, Speech And Dialogue, Proceedings Advances In Natural Language Processing, Proceedings Bmc Bioinformatics Publications 18 11 105 90 76 75 73 67 67 57 56 33 33 6 4 3 3 1 16 18 111 87 68 53 49 48 44 41 41
1
Strategic Context
Information Technology Patent Activity Between 2002 and 2006, there were 13085 information technology related patent applications filed with the United States Patent Office (USPTO). As shown in table 7, the majority of these (9075) listed at least one inventor Table 7: Information Technology Patents (2002 - 2006) Speech and Language 2739 487 181 108 131 98 6 91 29 36 13 7 14 5 1 0 0 Scientific Computing 1696 130 8 11 85 3 58 4 1 10 3 1 0 1 1 Computer Systems and Networks 4119 519 11 4 07 5 111 66 5 50 34 14 11 1 3 3 Software Engineering and Innovated Systems 942 8 58 29 43 6 4 1 0 11 5 1 0 1 1 0
7
from the United States. Other countries with a significant number of inventors include: Japan (1166 applications), Germany (517 applications), and Canada (481 applications). Six information technology-related patent applications listed an inventor from Saudi Arabia.
Country United States Japan Germany Canada United Kingdom South Korea France China India Australia Italy Ireland Spain Egypt Saudi Arabia Malaysia South Africa
Total 9075 1166 517 481 458 384 47 185 11 110 59 6 6 6 6 5 4
7 In the information technology field, patent application-based statistics may be biased towards hardware-oriented inventions. Because software is often protected via other mechanisms, such as copyright, these types of inventions may be underrepresented.

Strategic Context
While the majority of the information technology-related patent applications are defined as individually owned patent applications (8225 applications) by the United States Patent Office, institutions are designated as the patent assignee on a significant number of applications. With established records of innovation-related activity in information technology fields related to KSA strategic priorities, these institutions could be future targets for collaborative outreach efforts. As shown in table 8, International Business Machines (IBM) Company is listed as the patent assignee on 835 information technologyrelated patent applications followed by Microsoft Corporation (343 applications), Samsung Electronics (146 applications), and Fujitsu Limited (73 applications).
Table 8: Leading Information Technology Patent Assignees (2002-2006) USTPO Assignee Individually Owned Patents International Business Machines Company Microsoft Corporation Samsung Electronics Fujitsu Limited Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Xerox Corporation NEC Corporation Sun Microsystems Konnklijke Phillips Electronics N.V. No. of Patents Apps. 85 835 343 146 73 71 71 63 6 57
3
Strategic Context
SWOT Analysis for KSA IT Research and Innovation Program
This section presents a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Saudi Arabia IT research and innovation program relative to achieving its vision. follows: Strengths: attributes of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objective. Weaknesses: attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objective. Table 9: SWOT Analysis In a SWOT analysis, terms are defined as Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization while opportunities and threats are external to the organization. For the purpose of this analysis, the organization is the Saudi IT research and innovation program, including KACST, universities, other government agencies, and companies. Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective. Threats: external conditions that are harmful to achieving the objective.
Helpful
Internal Strengths: ample financial resources some good people with good IT and business skills universities with some capabilities some growing IT companies some large industrial companies and government agencies with specialized IT needs
Harmful
Weaknesses: weak overall position in IT science and technology IT not recognized as an industry by lending institutions generally weak IT human resources base in IT and in R&D management underutilization of women in IT research and innovation weak international linkages weak research in industry weak industry-government- university linkages little track record of successful innovation the KSA IT industry is not focused on the global market and large local companies. weak IT hardware sector lack of trust in local products weak intellectual property protection (patent and copyright), especially for small innovators
4
Strategic Context
Helpful
External Opportunities:
Harmful
Threats:
large KSA market for IT services young KSA population with good market growth potential increased national priority on science and technology growing KSA and global importance of IT and knowledge-based industries growing domestic and international markets in the Gulf region and beyond demand for Arabic language products potential to collaborate internationally The overall strengths of the Kingdom in IT research and innovation are its financial resources, and the fact that there are some capabilities in the Kingdoms universities and laboratories. The programs stakeholders also have some unique needs, such as Arabic language software or Hajj applications that present an opportunity for Saudi companies to establish a competitive advantage. There are many weaknesses, however. Research institutes, including universities, government, and industry, do not rank among the top worldwide institutions. Human resources for IT research and innovation are generally weak. Saudi researchers have weak patterns of collaboration with others in the Kingdom, their counterparts in industry, or in other countries. There is little track record of successful innovation. There are opportunities due to the growing importance of IT to the KSA economy and knowledge-based industries, and in the growth potential of many Arabic speaking and
weak primary school education international competition other countries moving faster other countries, such as India, have lower costs constraints on needed reforms financial or policy changes could lead to instability in funding for IT S&T
Islamic markets, especially in the Gulf region. The main threat is that international competitors are not standing still, and, indeed, seem to be moving faster than Saudi Arabia.
5
Higher Strategy
This section provides the vision for the Kingdom in IT research and innovation, and the mission, values, and strategic goals for the program.
Vision
The vision for KSA IT research and innovation is: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be recognized as an innovator in IT, with innovative companies, universities that conduct leading edge research and produce world class graduates; a national laboratory system that serves government, universities and industry; and effective linkages between all elements of the system. The Kingdom will be a regional leader across a broad range of IT areas and will be a world leader in areas of special importance to the Kingdom. This vision focuses on the establishment of an effective innovation system in which research and invention need to lead to economic and social benefits for the Kingdom. To achieve this, it is essential to have strong and mutually beneficial linkages between universities, government, and industry.
Mission
The mission for the KSA IT research and innovation program is: To enhance the Kingdoms scientific and technological level in information technology and the application of information technology to the Kingdoms economic and social needs through a coordinated program of research, development, localization, and transfer of technology.
6
Higher Strategy
To achieve excellence, the program will develop an internal culture through both the sponsorship of its leadership and commitment of its operational teams, based on the following values: Excellence of work. Professional integrity and ethical behavior. Openness and transparency. Commitment to achieving objectives. Support of creativity and innovation. Teamwork and collaboration.

The strategic goals of the program are: To support an expanding and innovative KSA IT industry. To advance IT capabilities to meet critical needs in the Kingdom, in areas such as computer networking, and security. To develop innovative high quality IT applications to meet specialized needs in the Kingdom, such as for the oil and gas industry, and Islamic applications. To adapt and localize IT applications for e-services and e-business. To contribute to the global open source software movement. To develop world class capabilities in language technologies, especially applied to serve the Arabic Language. To improve scientific and supercomputing to expand the Kingdoms capabilities in science and engineering through modeling, simulation, and visualization.
7
Technology Areas
Selection Process
The process for selecting the technologies was as follows. A two-day workshop was held with stakeholders and users of IT research and innovation. The first day of the workshop focused on hearing from industry, government agencies, and research institutions about their needs for advances in information technology.
The second day gathered input from these same groups on the priority technology areas and steps required to meet the needs of the Kingdom. Based on this input, KACST staff and consultants refined the list of critical technology areas for the Kingdom. The technology areas were reviewed by the National IT Research and Innovation Advisory Committee, and revised in response to those comments.

Speech and Language Speech (including speech recognition, synthesis, speaker verification/ Text (including computational linguistics, machine translation, statistical identification and speech resources). language modeling, information retrieval and web search engines and text mining, language resources). Special needs applications (including sign language, and the Braille Arabic document processing and optical character recognition (OCR). High Performance Computing Supercomputing architecture & software. Supercomputing applications. Computer simulation. system).
8
Technology Areas
Computer modeling. Computer Systems and Networks Computer networks. IT security and privacy. Database systems. Operating systems. Software Engineering and Innovated Systems Local applications/localization. Open source software (OSS) engineering. System analysis and design.
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Program Structure
The IT Research and Innovation Program consists of a program leadership function, responsible for overall planning and management, and four priority subprograms addressing key technical areas. These are areas are:
Language and Speech Program. High Performance Computing. Computer Systems and Networks. Software Engineering and Innovated Systems. Within each technical area, three general types of projects predominate: projects to develop innovative pilot applications, university-industry technology innovation centers, and university grants in strategic areas. The national pilot application programs bring together KACST, university technologists, and technology companies to develop prototypes of advanced technology that serve a specific need. The output is expected to be a prototype new technology that can rapidly be commercialized. KACST will evaluate the programs annually, and modify or discontinue the programs as necessary depending on the achievement of milestones. The university-industry technology innovation centers focus on conducting applied research and innovation in areas of industry interest. The centers will typically be supported primarily by government funds, but will have funding from industry, as well as an industrial advisory board. The centers will involve both undergraduate and graduate students in the research. The output will be new knowledge and technology, but equally importantly, students who are
30
Program Structure
trained in conducting research on projects with direct relevance to industry and other users. The university grants in strategic areas will fund individual investigators or small teams on IT research projects of strategic importance. These will differ from the general KACST university grants in that they are aligned with the goals of the IT Research and Innovation program. They differ from the pilot applications in that they are focused on important research topics rather than directly on applications, and differ from the university-industry centers in that they are individual projects rather than centers. Improve KSA knowledge of international technology developments and KSA participation in international research and standardization activities.
Language and Speech

Charter and Scope The Language and Speech Program will be a national program to develop world-class capabilities in language technologies, especially focused on the Arabic Language. The scope of work will include: Speech (recognition, synthesis, speaker verification/ identification, speech resources). Text (computational linguistics, machine translation, statistical language modeling, information retrieval and web search engines and text mining). Special needs applications (sign language, Braille). Arabic document processing and Optical character recognition (OCR). Strategic Goals and Objectives The goals are to provide the following benefits to the Kingdom: Making speech-based technologies accessible to Arabic (especially Gulf Arabic) speakers, with applications such as phone-based e-commerce services. Making the retrieval of text-based information easier, such as through answers to questions posed in Arabic. Making knowledge in other languages more accessible to Arabic speakers. Making Arabic knowledge and culture more
Program Leadership
Charter and Scope The program leadership function is responsible for overall planning, management, and evaluation of the program, as well as for addressing key policy issues and barriers to success in IT research and innovation. Strategic Goals and Objectives The goals and objective for this subprogram are to: Periodically review and update overall plans for the program. Oversee implementation of the program. Encourage the adoption of policies and programs to expand human resources for IT research and innovation, including: removing barriers to hiring/retaining key staff. advocating changes to pre-college education,
accessible to the rest of the world via translation. Making government services more available to nonArabic speakers, both for guest workers and for Hajjis. Creating products and technology with export potential in world markets, especially Arabic-speaking countries.
advocating improvements to college IT training. expanding role of women in IT research and Expand R&D collaboration between KACST, universities, and industry, and make policy changes to improve the ability of university faculty members to conduct research. innovation, and
31
Program Structure
The program will driven by a focus on specific applications: Pilot applications for speech recognition and synthesis, including telephone banking and airline reservations. Speech and language technologies with potential for developing commercial applications and successful, internationally competitive companies. Applications of language technologies to government needs, such as managing Hajj and Umrah. The scope includes: Infrastructure (supercomputing and a research network among leading universities and scientific organizations that will serve as a test bed). Human resource development (people trained in scientific computing). Tools acquisition and development and code optimization. Development of easy procedures for shared use of computing resources (by universities, companies). Awareness/outreach program to let people know the availability and potential applications of scientific computing. Links to international centers, workshops and travel for international collaboration. Strategic Goals and Objectives The strategic goals of the computer systems area are to: Develop stronger IT security for the Kingdom through technological adaptation, innovation, and training of skilled personnel. IT security is essential for the Strategic Goals and Objectives The goal of the program is to improve the application of scientific computing in the Kingdom in order to enable advances in many areas of science and engineering and to solve critical KSA problems such as: Geologic and other environmental modeling. Hajj modeling. Modeling urban growth. Molecular modeling for biology and petrochemicals. Oil & gas simulation and visualization applications. Kingdom to benefit from IT in such areas as e-business, e-government, and health application. IT security is also important for national security. Improve the quality of networking in Kingdom and develop the capacity and expertise to be a leader in networking. Advanced networks are key to information society and underlie e-business, e-government, elearning, and scientific computing. Computer networks in the Kingdom are currently below international standards. A network of scientific computing users and researchers. A scientific computing research center of excellence at a university, involving industry partners.
High Performance Computing

Charter and Scope This is a national effort to improve scientific computing in the Kingdom. Scientific computing involves applications of computing to science and engineering in such as areas a modeling, simulation, and visualization.
Computer Systems
Charter and Scope This is a program to conduct research that addresses problems in computer systems-related areas that are needed by the kingdom. These include: Computer networking (both wired and wireless). IT security (including data security, applications and services security, security Infrastructure standards and policies). Database systems. Operating systems.
3
Strategic Initiatives Program Structure

Objectives include: Establishing an scientific computing user facility (available to university, KACST, and industry researchers) in the Kingdom. Developing the expertise to apply computing to science and engineering problems. To advance OSS to contribute to the worldwide research community and economic development of KSA. Open source software is low cost and is potentially more reliable and secure than proprietary software. Expanding Technologies developed for Hajj and Umrah may lead to other commercial applications that will provide economic benefits to the Kingdom.
Software Engineering and Innovated Systems

Charter and Scope This program is to develop innovative and high quality IT applications that serve the needs of the kingdom. Areas of special focus are: The development of IT applications to contribute to the efficiency, quality, and safety of Hajj & Umrah, and other Islamic applications. This includes the development or integration of technologies for monitoring, identifying, tracking, counting, simulating, crowd management, awareness/education, help/guidance, data collection/ processing, data banks. The development and localization of Open Source Software (OSS). This would include establishment of OSS software engineering methodology; localization of OSS to Saudi needs; establishing a Technology Innovation Center for OSS; certifying OSS, and establishing a repository for OSS. IT applications for the oil and gas industry, including business and management applications. E-government, E-commerce, E-learning, E-Health. Strategic Goals and Objectives Strategic goals are: To develop technologies to improve the efficiency, quality, and safety of Hajj & Umrah in order to reduce risks to pilgrims and to the Kingdom, reduce costs, and enhance the reputation of the Kingdom as well as enhancing the ability of Muslims to fulfill their goals.
open source software in areas of special importance to the Kingdom can provide widespread public benefits to the Kingdom. OSS is also important for training software developers because they can see and modify the source code to understand how the software works. learning, e-commerce, and e-government. Develop IT applications for the oil and gas industry, including business and management applications. Develop other unique applications for Saudi Arabia. Areas of focus for open source applications will include e-
33
Operational Plans
Operational plans include a portfolio management plan, a technology transfer plan, a quality management plan, a human resources plan, a communications plan, and a risk management plan.
The IT Research and Innovation Program will include a variety of projects with different goals and objectives. The program will aim to achieve a balance across multiple objectives. Some factors to be considered in program balance include: The balance between projects to achieve an immediate objective versus building long-term capacity (especially human resources) for the program. The balance between meeting the needs of existing companies versus establishing new technology-based industries in the Kingdom. The balance between low-risk incremental projects and high risk/high return projects. The balance among different national needs and major stakeholders (government agencies, IT companies, telecommunication companies, universities). The program manager and advisory committee will review the program to ensure that it maintains an appropriate balance among these factors.

The IT research and innovation program will follow internationally recognized best practices in technology transfer. Key elements of the program that are designed to facilitate technology transfer are: Involvement of users in the program design: this occurs through user
34
Strategic Initiatives Operational Plans

participation in planning workshops and user involvement in the IT advisory committee. It is well recognized that user involvement in the research design leads to research and outcomes that are more likely to meet the needs of users, and thus are more likely to lead to successful innovation. National programs focused on the development of advanced pilot application projects: the projects involve universities as well as companies, and knowledge is transferred to the companies in the course of the project. This is a proven method for developing technologies that serve a need and can be transferred readily to government or commercial users. The use of university/industry centers as a major research mechanism throughout the plan: industry involvement in these centers (providing advice and funding) will encourage university research to be focused on user needs, increasing the likelihood of technology transfer. These centers will also transfer knowledge to industry though the training and graduation of students (who have been trained on problems of interest to industry), who then take jobs in companies or form their own companies. The linkage between the IT program and technology business incubators and other programs to aid the startup of new IT companies. Annual reviews of technology development projects to ensure that milestones are being met. Periodic (every 5 years) subprogram evaluations conducted by a review committee supported by an experienced evaluator. Procedures will be developed for disclosing and managing potential conflicts of interest among reviewers. In many cases, some international experts will be used on review panels to reduce possible conflicts of interest and to provide an independent external assessment.

As noted in the SWOT analysis, human resources are a critical barrier for the success of the IT Research and Innovation program. The availability of skilled people, including both researchers and technical managers and leaders, is likely to limit the growth and success of KSA IT programs. The plan will require substantial numbers of IT professionals, including additional researchers, technical managers, and technical leaders at KACST, at universities and at companies. A central task of the program management function will be to address this issue. To achieve the goals of the program, KACST will need to hire or develop additional program managers with the skills to lead national programs. To do this KACST will need additional flexibility with respect to compensation packages, speed of hiring, and ability to hire international staff. Universities and companies will need additional researchers and software engineers with the skills to develop innovative technologies. This will require broader changes, some of which are outside of the scope of this plan. As part of the activities in this plan, the IT research and innovation program will: Analyze IT human resource issues and advocate

The IT research and innovation program will follow international best practice quality management processes for science and technology programs. Elements of the quality management plan include: Advisory committee review of the overall program design and budget. Competitive, peer-reviewed selection processes for university-based research centers and projects.
35
Operational Plans
changes to improve the quality of math and science education in primary and secondary education. Work with the other agencies to improve the quality of undergraduate IT education, especially at regional universities. Work with new universities to develop research and education programs that especially match the Kingdoms IT research and innovation needs. Work to expand the contribution of women to IT research and innovation. There are specific goals to increase the numbers of women IT faculty members and researchers in the Kingdom. Work to change policies to allow more international hiring, to bring specialized expertise to the Kingdom. Support training for researchers to become R&D managers and leaders. At the undergraduate and especially graduate level, this plan is designed to help increase the numbers of IT researchers through its emphasis on university-industry centers. These centers are designed to train new students with research and innovation skills needed by research organizations and industry. Another element of the plan is to define appropriate communications within the management structure of the plan. It is especially important that information about risks or difficulties in the program, such as delays, lack of resources, or non-attainment of goals be rapidly communicated to higher levels of management. A general principle is that management should never be surprised by bad news. Requests for proposals (for university centers, grants, and pilot application development programs) will be announced to the public. The program advisory board will review and comment on the program, and advisory board reports will be made public on the website. The program will sponsor workshops, conferences, and professional society activities to expand communication and networking throughout the community. Presentations on the program will be made at national and international conferences.

The program presented here is an ambitious program that will challenge the capabilities of the Kingdom. There are several types of risks that could prevent attainment of program goals, including technical risks, market risks, and financial risk. One source of technical risk - risk to attainment of technical goals is, as described above, the lack of adequate human resources to implement the program. Approaches to managing this risk are:

The purpose of the communications management plan is to provide appropriate information to the program participants and stakeholders. One element of the communications plan is to improve communication throughout the KSA IT research and innovation community and to expand collaboration among members of the community. Aspects of this include: There will be a public website with information on program goals, accomplishments, funding opportunities, and other news. Periodic workshops will be held with users and stakeholders to define future program needs.
Changing policies to attract people with the needed skills. This may involve raising salaries and recruiting internationally. Delaying or phasing in some program elements if
36
Operational Plans
people are cannot be hired. Expanding the pool of people with needed skills through education and training programs, such as university IT research centers (see human resources plan). Another cause of technical risk is overly ambitious goals. The way to address this risk is to have an independent review of technical goals to ensure they are feasible, and to adjust technical goals if milestones are not being met. Market risk is the risk that projects, while technically successful, do not lead to successful products because of poorly understood or changing market conditions, such as the development of other technical approaches. A way to address this risk is through: Designing programs based on carefully considered market needs. Monitoring international technology and market developments. Continual readjustment of plans in responses to changes in the environment. Financial risk is the risk of funding shortfalls or cost overruns. The way to address risks in this area is through careful program planning and monitoring, and early identification of possible cost overruns. Another financial risk is due to changes in the plan or funding due to political or policy changes. It will be important for the plan management to maintain communication with policy leaders to ensure they are aware of the accomplishments of the program and to get early warning of any policy changes that may affect the program.
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Implementation of the Plans

Within KACST, the IT program will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. Some portions of the plan may be managed by other parts of KACST. For example, the technology innovation centers and technology incubators may be managed by the Technology Development Center, which may specialize in the management of these kinds of programs. In this case, the IT programs role will be to provide technical input to the design and evaluation of these programs rather than to manage.
Many aspects of the plan represent new functions for the IT program, especially in developing and managing national technology programs that include industry and universities and may involve international collaborations. A major task for the first year of the program will be, in addition to detailed program planning, for the IT program to acquire or develop the necessary skills through hiring or training. Although it is critical to rapidly start new research programs, it is essential to build the skills necessary to lead and develop these programs, and to plan them carefully. As part of the initial activities under this plan, CERI staff members will visit programs of a similar nature elsewhere in the world to discuss their management practices and lessons learned. The Information Technology Research and Innovation Advisory Committee will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will meet approximately four times a year and review progress in the program and approve updates to the plan as necessary. Key performance indicators will be established for each subprogram. General performance indicators include: Growth or establishment of technology-based businesses due to the IT program. Amount of revenue and jobs created. Successful importation of technology resulting in new businesses or applications.
38
Implementation of the Plans

Movement of projects to incubators. Contribution to OSS applied in Kingdom. Licenses and licensing revenue to universities and research institutes. IT-related patents and copyrights. Private sector funding of university and KACST IT research (indicates the value private sector places on university or KACST IT R&D). Number and level of presentations in international conferences. Changes in policies (described previously) to improve IT innovation. Number and impact of publications. Extent of domestic and international R&D collaborations. Numbers of IT advanced degrees awarded. In the near term, the committee will monitor the establishment of the program and projects, and the progress of the projects towards their milestones. The advisory committee will also sponsor and oversee studies of emerging areas of IT to serve as the basis for developing new program areas. This plan is intended to be a dynamic document that will be updated at least annually and more frequently if required. In addition to the advisory committee input, it is expected that workshops with the research community, users, industry and other stakeholders will also contribute to both a continual evolution of the plan as well as a stronger IT research and innovation network in the Kingdom.
39

The process of developing this plan included a two-day stakeholder workshop and on that focused on IT to a innovation needs in the Kingdom defining KACST programs prepared meet those needs. workshop, Following the and comment on the draft plan. The advisory committee members are listed below. Workshop participants and advisory committee members represented themselves as individuals, and did not necessarily represent their organizations.
draft plan with the assistance of SRI International. As part of the planning process, the Information Technology Research and Innovation Advisory Committee was formed, and the committee met to review
Table A-1: IT Research and Innovation Advisory Committee Members Name Ibraheem Alqadi Hamad Alyousefi Khaled Albiyari Khaled Alghoneim Khaled Faqeeh Sami Alwakeel Tareq Alabbadi Ali Almazzah Omar Alturki Mohammed Alsheibai Mohammed Alqassem Organization Communications and Information Technology Commission Ministry of Defense and Aviation Advanced Electronics Company Alelm Company King Abdulaziz University King Saud University Microsoft Innovation Center Saudi Telecom Company King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Ministry of Interior Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
40

Table A-2: Workshop Participants Name Abdulrahman Aljadhai Mohammed Alsuhaibani Jamal AlDabal Faisal Alshuraidah Ahmaed Morsy Abduallah Almulaise Mohammed Rasheed Sulaiman Mirdad Ibraheem Alfuraih Ayman Foyowmi Anis Koubaa Mohamed Alarbi Imad A. AlSghaiyer Miled Tezeghdanti Laith Alsulaiman Areej Alhogail Manar Almusallam Khalid Alshalfan AbdulMohsen AlThubaity Hesham Bin Abbas Mishaal AlKadhi Abdulaziz Alsuqair Romaih AlRomaih Mohssen Alabbadi Saeed Alhaznawi Walid Molla Mohammed Alhaddad Arwa Alaama Khalid Hosain Affiliation Al-Elm Alrasheed Consultants Aramco Aramco Cairo Microsoft Innovation Center CBA CEO Ezah Tops Tech. CITC CITC CTECB Imam Univ. Imam Univ. Imam Univ. Imam Univ. Imam Univ. Imam Univ. Imam Univ. Imam Univ. Information Center KACST KACST KACST KACST KACST KACST KACST KAU KAU KAU
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Name Kamal Jambi Fatmah Baothman Uthman Baroudi Jarallah Alghamdi Husni Almuhtaseb Abdulwahab Alabdulwahab Mansour Alsulaiman Yousef Alohali Sami Alhomod Abdulrahman Albarrak AbdulMalik AlSalman Nadia Alghreimil Ammar Abuthuraya Majid M. Altuwaijri Naser Alodan Zahair Radwan Nicolo Sorbsina Saad Alkasabi Ali AlGarni Esam Ali Khan Affiliation KAU KAU KFUPM KFUPM KFUPM King Faisal Special Hospital KSU KSU KSU KSU KSU KSU Microsoft NGHA Public Pension Agency Royal Saudi Navy SAGIA Saudi Food and Drug Authority STC Umm Alqura Univ.
4

The management team for the planning project from KACST are: Table A-3: Planning Project Core Team Name
Mohamed Alkanhal Mansour Alghamdi Ashraf Alkhairy Ibraheem Alkharashi Mohsen Alabadi Rumaih Alrumaih Mohammed Almanie Mohammed Khorsheed Abdulrahman Almuhareb Abdulaziz Alhargan Waleed Alsanie Khaled Alfaifi
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www.kacst.edu.sa
DAKKIN 01 478 8584
Petrochemicals
Biotechnology
Energy
Strategic Priorities for Mathematics and Physics Program
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Importance of Mathematics and Physics Plan Development Process Strategic Context Stakeholders Roles Analysis of Comparable Mathematics and Physics Centers Analysis of Mathematics and Physics Publications and Patents Global Mathematics and Physics Publication Activity Benchmark Countries Mathematics and Physics Research Organizations KSA Collaboration Activity Mission and Vision Mathematics and Physics Research and Education Priorities for Saudi Arabia Condensed Matter Physics Applied Mathematics Medical Physics Accelerator Physics High Energy, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics Quantum Information
4 6 6 7 7 8 9 10 11 1 13 14 17 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5
Contents
SWOT Analysis for KSA Mathematics and Physics The Proposed Mathematics and Physics Programs Overview NCMP Math & Physics Research Math & Physics Research Support Math & Physics Education and Outreach Major Research Facilities Operational Plans Knowledge Transfer Plan Quality Management Plan Human Resources Plan Communications Management Plan Risk Management Plan Implementation of the Plan Appendix 1: Advisory Committee Members 6 9 9 30 30 31 3 34 34 35 35 35 36 37 39
Executive Summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology (NPST), approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002G), defined 11 programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. Although mathematics and physics is not one of these 11 strategic technologies, KACST leadership recognized the importance of math and physics as the foundation of other physical Unlike other strategic technologies identified in the NPST, the National Mathematics and Physics Program is not geared towards the swift commercialization of technology or short term economic growth. Instead, the program emphasizes basic and applied research as a platform to support physical science and engineering within the Kingdom. Success in the strategic technologies requires a technically trained workforce well grounded in mathematics and physics. In addition, many of the sciences that underlie the strategic technologies, such as computer modeling, geophysics, materials science, fluid dynamics, nanotechnology, and nuclear medicine rely heavily on math and physics. The NMPP will enhance the Kingdoms competency in the foundational disciplines of mathematics and physics and will strengthen the Kingdoms technical workforce. Basic and applied research in mathematics and physics are also useful to enable the Kingdom to participate in international collaborations in some of the most advanced areas of science and technology, such as high energy physics. Competency in math and physics also improves the international prestige of the Kingdom in science and technology. This plan for the NMPP was developed by KACSTs NCMP in collaboration with an array of national stakeholders within government, industry and universities. Their vision for mathematics and physics in the Kingdom is: science and engineering fields and asked the National Center for Mathematics and Physics (NCMP) at KACST to put together a national plan for the field. This document defines and sets forth the strategic priorities for the National Math and Physics Program (NMPP).
Executive summary
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will have strong capabilities in mathematics and physics research that will: provide a strong foundation for other fields of physical science and engineering; support the Kingdoms mathematics and physics education needs; enable active international collaboration on equal footing; and attract top talents to mathematics and physics fields. The mission for the National Math and Physics Program is: To promote excellence of research and education in physics and mathematics through: Conducting basic and applied research and providing research services. Leading the development and implementation of the national mathematics and physics plan. Supporting communication. Building research infrastructure, including major facilities. Supporting education and training in mathematics and physics. Promoting public understanding of mathematics and physics role in technology. The plans advisory committee determined two priority areas to be pursued by the Mathematics and Physics Program: Condensed Matter Physics and Applied The National Math and Physics Program will be overseen by the National Math and Physics Advisory Program, which will review progress towards the programs objectives, and periodically recommend changes to the program in response to developments in the field. Mathematics. These two areas were selected because of their relevance to the special needs of the Kingdom. Medical physics is another area where there are clear needs in the Kingdom. Nuclear and Accelerator physics, high energy physics, and quantum information are other areas of interest. The areas in Mathematics and Physics that have been identified, which are expected to enhance the strategy technologies for the Kingdom are: research collaboration and The National Math and Physics Program has four central elements: NCMP Math & Physics Research, which includes research in key areas of math and physics, as well as program planning and fellowship support. Math & Physics Research Support, which provides math and physics research grants to universities. Math & Physics Education and Outreach Program, which includes a variety or activities to strengthen math and physics in research and education through workshops, math and physics Olympiad, teacher training, research, and curriculum development. Major Research Facilities, which will develop, build, and operate major shared-used physics research facilities for the Kingdom, enabling university, industry, and KACST research as well as international collaboration. Nuclear and High Energy Physics. Quantum Information. Condensed Matter. Medical Physics. Accelerator Physics. Numerical Analysis. Optimization. Applied Mathematics.
Introduction
Background
The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was directed by a 1986 Royal Decree to propose a national policy for the development of science and technology and to devise the strategy and plans necessary to implement them. In cooperation with the Ministry of Planning, KACST was charged with preparing and implementing the National Comprehensive Long-Term Plan for Science and Technology. The Plan spans the period 2001-2020. As KACST is responsible for developing 5-year strategic and implementation plans for 11 strategic technologies identified in the national science and technology plan. These are: Water Oil & Gas Petrochemicals Nanotechnology Biotechnology Information Technology Electronics, Communication, & Photonics Aerospace and Aeronautics Energy Environment Advanced Materials Each plan is expected to establish a mission and vision, identify stakeholders and users, and determine the highest priority technical areas for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Each plan should also address technology transfer, human resources, and budgets for the next 5 years. Although mathematics and physics is not one of the 11 strategic technologies identified in the national science and technology plan, KACST leadership, recognizing the importance of math and physics and their role as the foundation of other physical science the specific elements of the Eighth Five-Year Development Plan (20062010) have been formulated in detail, KACST is developing strategic and implementation plans for key science and technology areas.
Introduction
and engineering fields, asked the National Center for Mathematics and Physics (NCMP) at KACST to put together a national plan for the field. This plan defines a vision for mathematics and physics research and education for the Kingdom; identifies key needs; assesses strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and defines a set of programs that can meet these needs. It represents, for the first time, a plan for mathematics and physics based on input from the stakeholders for mathematics and physics research in the Kingdom. These include other centers and institutes at KACST, companies, government agencies, and medical centers that may need research services in the fields of mathematics and physics, as well as the universities and other research organizations that conduct mathematics and physics research. work is supported because of its ultimate contribution to serving industry through better measurement and standards. NIST also provides calibration services for standard unit measurement tools. The National Basic Science Institute in Korea also focuses on providing research services for users and stakeholders. Although there is increased public pressure around the world for investment in basic and applied research to be justified in terms of its social impact, such justifications can be made by tracing the contributions of basic and applied research to social and stakeholder benefits.

The plan received input from stakeholders at a one-day stakeholder workshop on June 27, 2007. The purposes of the workshop were to identify the key mathematics and physics R&D needs in the Kingdom, to determine the priorities and timeframes for the R&D, and to determine the appropriate role of KACST and other stakeholders in conducting the R&D. According to the workshop participants, this is the first attempt in the Kingdom to obtain input from the stakeholders for national planning in mathematics and physics. The workshop focused primarily on identifying the key mathematics and physics R&D and education needs in the Kingdom. Following the workshop, NCMP organized an advisory committee to provide input on the direction of the NCMP and to advise NCMP on details such as the timeframe and the shape of specific programs. The advisory committee members and workshop participants are listed in Appendix 1.
Importance of Math and Physics

There are many reasons why government supports basic and applied research in math and physics. One is prestige and national pride, as can be seen by the prestige countries gain from having Nobel Prize winners. Another is that mathematics and physics are the foundation of the other physical sciences and engineering. Even though mathematics and physics may not lead directly to economic development through the commercialization of technology, they contribute indirectly through education and through the importance to other areas of technology. There are many examples of research institutes that conduct fundamental research in math and physics but do so with a focus on areas that provide economic benefits. For example the Physics Laboratory at the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) in the United States is the home of three Nobel Laureates, yet their
Strategic Context
The following are the international trends that are incorporated into this strategic plan:
Increased public pressure for basic and applied research to contribute to economic and social benefits. Increased S&T collaboration at all levels, which is essential in the development of solutions to large scale problems. Intense competition for the leading scientists and engineers -- countries compete to attract their expatriates and foreign scientists and engineers to their research institutions. Increased concentration of capacity in a few facilities in high energy and nuclear physics, due to the scale of facilities needed to pursue the frontiers of knowledge. Continued importance of physics as the foundation for other hot technology areas (e.g., nanoscale technology, optoelectronics, etc.) Increased importance of mathematics research for IT security and other IT applications.
Strategic Context
Stakeholders Roles
The stakeholders for the National Math and Physics Program include KACST, KSA universities, various independent or specialized research institutes, other government agencies, primary and secondary schools, and private companies. Table 1 shows the roles of these stakeholders in the program. Table 1: Stakeholders roles
Stakeholders
Roles
Plan, coordinate and manage the program Conduct research and knowledge transfer Manage and participate in national projects Support international collaboration
KACST
Provide training and fellowships for researchers Provide support for university and industrial participation in national projects Provide and manage national research facilities Provide advice and services to government on science and technology Advocate policy changes to improve research and education Provide research opportunities for teachers and Students Create new basic and applied scientific knowledge Train students in science and engineering
Universities
Participate in collaborative projects Train math and physics teachers and conduct research on educational improvements Provide research opportunities for teachers and students
Independent or Government Specialized Research Centers Primary and Secondary Schools
Create new applied scientific knowledge Participate in collaborative projects Work to improve math and science education Support teachers who excel at math and science teaching Provide input to program on government R&D needs
Ministries and Government Agencies
Reduce regulatory and procedural barriers to R&D and innovation Work to improve K-12 math and science education Support R&D in universities and industry Develop and commercialize products & processes resulting from the program.
Private Sector
Communicate company needs to program Support and participate in collaborative R&D projects
Strategic Context
Analysis of Comparable Mathematics and Physics Centers
As part of the background work for this plan, the planning team reviewed several mathematics and physics research centers from around the world. The specific centers were selected to demonstrate a variety of significant characteristics such as research foci, organizational structure, capacity building strategies and mechanisms for linking research to industry. institutes examined: Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy. National Centre for Physics (NCP), Pakistan. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Physics Laboratory (PL), United States. Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), Academy of Sciences, China. Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Korea. Table 2: Areas of Focus Applied Physics Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics Geo Physics High Energy Physics/Particle Physics Multidisciplinary Laboratory Time and Frequency Fluid Mechanics and Plasma Physics Atomic Physics Advanced Computing, Modeling, and Simulations Nanoscale Science and Engineering Electron and Optical Physics Ionizing Radiation Bio Physics Mathematics ICTP NCP NIST IHEP KBSI The following five The research foci of the five institutes vary substantially, reflecting the variation of their missions, as well as the national circumstances that shaped their establishment and continue to influence their operations. focuses its efforts. Table 2 highlights the fields of research on which each institute The institutes research agendas demonstrate a few overlapping subjects as well as many individual specialties that reflect the breadth of their collective research foci. advanced computing. Among the research areas shared by all five institutes are high energy physics and Research priorities at all five institutes emphasize the importance of high energy physics because the most fundamental quest of physics is to understand the constituents of matter and the laws governing their interactions. Furthermore, modeling and simulation, which are becoming a bigger part of research in physics, require advanced computing. Computing is also critical for research collaboration, dissemination of results, and day-to-day research activities.
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Strategic Context
The five institutes demonstrate the variation of research foci as well as the variation of national needs in the countries in which they operate. As indicated by this table, the establishment of the National Center for Mathematics and Physics will position the Kingdom to collaborate with an international network of institutions focused on a variety of fields related to mathematics and physics. A complete assessment of these research centers is available in a separate document. 1
Analysis of Mathematics and Physics Publications and Patents

Mathematics and physics R&D is a multidisciplinary field that spans several distinct research and application areas such as: applied physics, applied mathematics, optics, and instrumentation. The overall field, mathematics and physics, as well as sub-topics, were defined in close consultation with KACST researchers and other KSA stakeholders who provided detailed lists of keyword terms that were used to query publication and patent databases.2 The KSA mathematics and physics program identifies seven sub-topics: high energy physics, quantum information, condensed matter, medical physics, numerical analysis, optimization, and applied mathematics. The scope of this study was restricted to only recent publication (2007) and patent (2002-2006) activity in these fields. There is general agreement that publications and patents strongly correlate with scientific research output, although publication and patent based indicators do not fully measure the quality or scope of research. Nonetheless, publication and patent activity have long been used as indicators for knowledge creation and research output.3 Several indicators are presented below, including number of publications and patents, forward citations (the frequency at which
1 SRI International. Strategic Review: Math and Physics. September 2007. ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific publication and U.S. patent application data,
respectively. The ISI Web of Science is a database of peer-reviewed articles in major scientific journals from around the world. Delphion is a searchable database of global patent activity, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is one of the worlds major granters of patents and it has been argued that the U.S. market is so large that most important inventions from around the world are patented there.
3 Seminal research in the use of publications as a measure of scientific productivity includes A.J. Lotka,
The frequency distribution of scientific productivity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 16 (1926); D. Price, Little Science, Big Science, (New York: Columbia university Press, 1963); J.R. Cole and S Cole, Social Stratification in Science, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973); J. Gaston, The reward system in British and American science, (New York: John Wiley (1978); and M.F. Fox, Publication productivity among scientists: a critical review, Social Studies of Science, vol 13, 1983.
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Strategic Context
publications and patents are cited by others), and coauthoring relationships. Together, these indicators provide measures of output, impact, and collaboration in fields related to the KSA mathematics and physics program. The United States was the worlds largest producer of related articles, generating 12301 articles over this time period. The Peoples Republic of China was a distant second, producing 6042 articles, followed by Germany and Japan, with 4662 and 4139 articles respectively. Saudi Arabia was tied for the 46th largest producer of publications, producing 104 articles in ISI-indexed journals. Figure 1 shows the number of publications produced by select countries over this time period.5
Global Mathematics and Physics Publication Activity

In 2007, there were 45,938 articles published worldwide related to the KSA mathematics and physics priorities. Figure 1: International Math and Physics Publications
4
Spain 1713 Taiwan
Israel
France 3071 India USA 1301 Japan 4139
Brazil
Russia 05 Germany 466 UK 3170
Belgium Turkey
Peoples R China 604
Australia Iran Poland Canada 017 Italy 799
Saudi Arabia
4 Throughout this report, mathematics and physics refers only to the subset of mathematics and physics defined by the KSA mathematics and physics program. 5 A publication is assigned to a country if any of the publications authors affiliations are located in that country. Because publications often have multiple authors, a
single publication may be assigned to multiple countries. Aggregate figures, such as total global publication output, count each publication only once, but adding up sub-totals may yield a result larger than the reported total due to multiple counting.
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Strategic Context
As shown in table 3, condensed matter accounts for the largest proportion of mathematics and physics related publications (12262) followed by high energy physics Table 3: Mathematics and Physics Sub-Topics (2007) Sub-Topic Condensed Matter High Energy Physics Numerical Analysis Applied Mathematics Medical Physics Quantum Information Optimization Publications 16 11731 8381 6686 4370 3460 863 highest average publication impact of all countries at 1.00 followed by Yemen (0.75), Germany (0.74), and the United States (0.72). The average publication impact for Saudi Arabia was 0.55 with 57 citations of 104 articles. Table 4 presents publication and citation counts for benchmark countries. 6 (11731), numerical analysis (8381), applied mathematics (6686), medical physics (4370), quantum information (3460), and optimization (2863).
Benchmark Countries
Average publication impact is calculated as the number of citations of articles from a particular country divided by the total number of articles published by authors from that country. For instance, a country that published 50 articles that were cited 100 times would have an average publication impact of two. In 2007, Lebanon had the
6 Benchmark countries include global leaders in terms of total mathematics and physics output in addition to a list of specific countries provided by KACST.
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Strategic Context
Table 4: Benchmark Country Mathematics and Physics Publication Impact (2007) Country Lebanon Yemen Germany USA France Qatar Saudi Arabia Japan Turkey Peoples R China Syria UAE Iran Bahrain Jordan Oman Kuwait Publications 1 4 466 1301 3071 1 104 4139 59 604 9 3 478 9 34 14 13 Total Citations 1 3 349 8801 1930 7 57 108 10 091 3 9 19 5 1 1 Average Publication Impact 1.00 0.75 0.74 0.72 0.63 0.58 0.55 0.51 0.35 0.35 0.33 0.28 0.27 0.22 0.15 0.07 0.04
Mathematics and Physics Research Organizations

Nearly 4000 institutions in 128 countries produced mathematics and physics publications in 2007. As shown in table 5, the three institutions producing the largest number of publications related to mathematics and physics are the Chinese Academy of Sciences (977), the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (669), and the University of Paris (648). The Chinese Academy of Sciences is the number one producer of articles in
condensed matter, numerical analysis, and applied mathematics. The Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare was the leading producer of high energy physics related publications. The University of Texas was the largest producer of medical physics-related publications. MIT produced the greatest number of optimizationrelated publications while the University of Science and Technology of China was the leading producer of quantum information-related publications.
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Strategic Context
Table 5: Global Mathematics and Physics R&D Organizations (2007)
Institution 0.42 0.82 0.77 0.69 0.82 0.29 0.75 0.67 0.57 0.70 0.85 0.67 0.99 0.88 0.56 138 76 83 176 116 15 16 16 71 158 145 134 50 58 35 6 41 7 134 98 75 103 114 64 46 53 6 37 18 36 5 19 160 185 45 40 46 171 46 88 35 58 46 37 15 19 10 13 7 1 1 10 13 17 90 186 104 49 18 115 339 88 71 30 95 538 3 0 3 35 4 36 35 34 3 110 34 14 15 19 43 3 0 397 66 106 99 37 105
Total Publications
Average Impact
Condensed High Energy Numerical Applied Matter Physics Analysis Mathematics
Medical Physics
Quantum Optimization Information 34 1 15 31 7 9 14 17 1 9 18 8 35 1 1
Chinese Acad Sci
977
Ist Nazl Fis Nucl
669
Univ Paris
648
Univ Texas
596
Univ Tokyo
588
Russian Acad Sci
574
CNRS
46
Univ Sci & Technol China
410
Tsing Hua University
400
Kyoto Univ
371
Univ Illinois
354
Tohoku Univ
351
MIT
351
Univ Calif Berkeley
338
Osaka Univ
37
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Strategic Context
International Collaboration and Publication Impact For countries with a similar level of publication activity, those countries with a high level of international collaboration also tend to produce publications with a high level of impact. In this study, international collaboration is calculated as the average number of countries represented per publication, based on authors addresses. Figure 2 plots a countrys level of international collaboration (horizontal Figure 2: Mathematics and Physics Collaboration and Publication Impact
1.2 USA 1 Lebanon Peoples R. China Germany Japan France 0.8 Germany USA 0.6 Saudi Arabia Japan Japan 0.4 Peoples R China Turkey Iran 0.2 Syria United Arab Emirates Bahrain Jordan Oman Kuwait 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Yemen Turkey Iran Saudi Arabia Qatar Jordan United Arab Emirates Kuwait Lebanon Oman Qatar Bahrain Syria Yemen
axis) against the average impact of its publications (vertical axis). Countries such as Germany and France, with relatively high levels of international collaborative activity also produce papers with a higher average impact. Saudi Arabia has a level of international collaboration close to 1.5, and has an average impact close to that of Japan and the United States.
Average Impact
France France
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Strategic Context
KSA Collaboration Activity
As shown in table 6, authors affiliated with KSA institutions collaborated on a significant number of articles with authors from: Egypt (14 publications), the United States Table 6: KSA Publication Collaborators (2007) Country Egypt USA Algeria Canada India Italy Pakistan Peoples R China United Kingdom UAE Number of Publications 14 5 4 4 (5), Algeria (4) and Canada (4). KSA-affiliated authors collaborated on two publications with authors from: India, Italy, Pakistan, the Peoples Republic of China, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.
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Strategic Context
Mathematics and Physics Journals
Table 7 presents journals with a significant level of publication activity related to KSA mathematics and physics sub-fields in 2007. Table 7: Mathematics and Physics Journals (2007) Journal JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS AND APPLICATIONS APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION NONLINEAR ANALYSIS-THEORY METHODS & APPLICATIONS Applied Mathematics JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS PHYSICAL REVIEW A PHYSICS LETTERS A CHAOS SOLITONS & FRACTALS INVERSE PROBLEMS IEICE TRANSACTIONS ON FUNDAMENTALS OF ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATIONS AND COMPUTER SCIENCES COMPUTERS & MATHEMATICS WITH APPLICATIONS PHYSICAL REVIEW B IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON APPLIED SUPERCONDUCTIVITY PHYSICA C-SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND ITS APPLICATIONS Condensed Matter APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS JOURNAL OF MAGNETISM AND MAGNETIC MATERIALS SUPERCONDUCTOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICAL REVIEW A Publications 39 0 136 100 85 85 75 73 63 6 818 618 549 459 57 47 184 175 15 151
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Journal COMPUTER METHODS IN APPLIED MECHANICS AND ENGINEERING LINEAR ALGEBRA AND ITS APPLICATIONS Numerical Analysis INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION JOURNAL OF PHYSICS A-MATHEMATICAL AND THEORETICAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS JOURNAL OF SOUND AND VIBRATION JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS AND APPLICATIONS PHYSICAL REVIEW E INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RADIATION ONCOLOGY BIOLOGY PHYSICS NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION A-ACCELERATORS SPECTROMETERS DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT MEDICAL PHYSICS Math and Physics PHYSICS IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY RADIOTHERAPY AND ONCOLOGY RADIATION RESEARCH HEALTH PHYSICS NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION B-BEAM INTERACTIONS WITH MATERIALS AND ATOMS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RADIATION BIOLOGY CANCER RESEARCH PHYSICAL REVIEW A PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS Quantum Information PHYSICAL REVIEW B JOURNAL OF PHYSICS A-MATHEMATICAL AND THEORETICAL PHYSICS LETTERS A COMMUNICATIONS IN THEORETICAL PHYSICS CHINESE PHYSICS APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS OPTICS EXPRESS NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS Publications 133 118 11 111 97 88 84 74 71 69 0 159 158 116 89 73 59 57 43 4 633 35 03 119 9 81 78 78 75 74
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Journal EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF OPERATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL OF OPTIMIZATION THEORY AND APPLICATIONS JOURNAL OF GLOBAL OPTIMIZATION Optimization APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS SIAM JOURNAL ON OPTIMIZATION INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH COMPUTATIONAL OPTIMIZATION AND APPLICATIONS MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING OPTIMIZATION METHODS & SOFTWARE PHYSICAL REVIEW D JOURNAL OF HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS High Energy Physics PHYSICAL REVIEW C PHYSICS LETTERS B NUCLEAR PHYSICS A PHYSICAL REVIEW B PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL C EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL A PHYSICAL REVIEW A Mathematics and Physics Patent Activity Between 2002 and 2006, there were 6,966 mathematicsand physics-related patent applications filed with the United States Patent Office (USPTO). As shown in table 8, the majority of these listed at least one inventor from the United States. Other countries with a significant number of inventors include: Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. There were three mathematics- and physics-related patent applications that listed an inventor
7 Shaik, Cheman. U.S. Patent Application # 20020186848, 2002. 8 Bawendi, Moungi, Jensen, Klaus F., Dabbousi, Bashir O., Rodriguez-Viejo, Javier, Mikulec, Frederic Victor. U.S. Patent Application # 20040033359, 2004.
Publications 96 47 43 4 3 30 9 5 3 3 1014 54 47 445 375 339 336 5 190 170 from Saudi Arabia over this time period. Two of these Absolute public key cryptographic system and method surviving private-key compromise with other advantages7 and Highly luminescent color-selective nanocrystalline materials8 were cited once by other patent applications. The first of these lists Shaik, Cheman of Saudi Arabia, as the sole inventor while the second involved collaboration between five inventors from Saudi Arabia, Spain, and the United States.
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Table 8: Mathematics and Physics Patents (2002-2006) High Quantum Condensed Medical Numerical Applied Energy Optimization Information Matter Physics Analysis Mathematics Physics 83 1 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 139 39 17 3 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 653 39 94 50 11 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1410 443 180 40 101 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 81 10 15 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 58 19 15 1 4 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 334 87 110 79 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Country United States Japan Germany United Kingdom France China Turkey Saudi Arabia Bahrain Iran Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Qatar Syria UAE Yemen
Total 487 1160 389 30 14 4 6 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
While the majority of the mathematics- and physics-related patent applications are defined as individually owned patent applications (4577 applications) by the United States Patent Office, some institutions are designated as the patent assignee on a number of applications. As organizations with established track-records as inventors in math and physics fields of interest to the Kingdom,
these institutions could be future targets for collaboration. As shown in table 9, International Business Machines Corporation is listed as the patent assignee on 134 mathematics and physics applications followed by GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC, Microsoft Corporation, and Toshiba Corporation.
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Strategic Context
Table 9: Leading Mathematics and Physics Assignees (2002-2006) USTPO Assignee Individually Owned Patents International Business Machines Corporation GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC Microsoft Corporation Toshiba Corporation No. of Patents Apps. 4577 134 94 67 58
One of the patent applications that lists a KSA-based inventor, Highly luminescent color-selective nanocrystalline materials, lists Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the patent assignee while another, Method for XZ-
elliptic curve cryptography,9 lists King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals as the patent assignee. The third KSA mathematics and physics related patent application is designated as an individually owned patent.
9 Ibrahim; Mohammad K. U.S. Patent Application # 20050195973, 2005.

Mission and Vision

This plan defines a national mathematics and physics program for Saudi Arabia. The following presents a vision of the desired state of mathematics and physics in the Kingdom five to ten years in the future.
The vision for mathematics and physics in the Kingdom is: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will have strong capabilities in mathematics and physics research that will: provide a strong foundation for other fields of physical science and engineering; support the Kingdoms mathematics and physics education needs; enable active international collaboration on equal footing; and attract top talents to mathematics and physics fields. A key aspect of this vision is that it is focused on mathematics and physics research capabilities, conducted by both KACST and universities. Strong research capabilities will provide a strong foundation for other fields of physical science and engineering, as well as computer science. The near-term vision for the Kingdom is not to be strong in all areas of mathematics and physics but to start building capabilities for research and education.
The following is the mission for the Math and Physics Program: The mission of the National Mathematics and Physics Program is to promote excellence of research and education in physics and mathematics through: Conducting basic and applied research and providing research services. Leading the development and implementation of the national mathematics and physics plan. Supporting research collaboration and communication. Building research infrastructure, including major facilities. Supporting education and training in mathematics and physics. Promoting public understanding of mathematics and physics role in technology.
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Mathematics and Physics Research and Education Priorities for Saudi Arabia
The mathematics and physics physics, and quantum information, the needs are less clear and the NCMP should take small steps in building capabilities in these areas. The following are descriptions of these areas. research and education priorities for the Kingdom focus on areas where there are special needs in the Kingdom or where there are existing human resources. The Mathematics and Physics Advisory Committee identified condensed matter physics and applied mathematics as two priority areas where the Mathematics and Physic Program should focus first. Medical physics is another area where there are clear needs in the Kingdom. In other areas, such as accelerator physics, and high energy
Condensed Matter Physics The field of condensed matter deals with the synthesis and characterization of any atomic or molecular clustering systems. These systems can vary in size from nano or even sub-nano-structures to the level of the bulk materials with the variation of the ordering from completely disordered (amorphous) to highly ordered clusters, such as single crystals. Physical characterization of condensed matter involves the determination of its structural, electronic and electrical, mechanical, magnetic, thermal, and optical properties. This field spans the spectrum from basic scientific research to applications. It provides a deep understanding of the properties of matter and explores the use of novel phenomena in various applications. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would benefit from the field of condensed matter physics in different ways. The areas of important needs for the Kingdom include: Optical, magnetic physics. Codes to predict property of nanomaterials.
Physics of solids at the nanoscale. Electronic state and transport at quantum size limit. Material properties, fluids, and magnetism. Physics of free radical systems. Spintronics. Synthesis of materials. Applied Mathematics Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics concerned with the application of mathematics in a wide range of disciplines in various areas such as science, technology, business, and commerce. It solves problems that arise in a wide variety of fields including physics, biology, economics, finance, Earth science, and computer science. A central activity in applied mathematics is developing mathematical tools and models to understand natural and human systems. Applied mathematics translates the physical world into algorithms mathematical procedures
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Mathematics and Physics Research and Education Priorities for Saudi Arabia
that allow computers to attack bigger and more complex problems and to solve these problems faster than humans can alone. The algorithms developed in applied mathematics power high-fidelity simulation and analysis of physical, chemical and biological processes, describing them in discrete terms that computers can calculate. Demonstrating its awareness of the increasing importance of applied mathematics, Saudi Arabia should participate in the development of applied mathematics through applications in industry, science, and engineering. In the years ahead, Applied Mathematics research will focus on algorithms that take advantage of computers, which will allow scientists to consider research never thought possible, such as predictive simulation of the physical properties of novel materials. Some of the areas in which applied mathematics can help include: Cryptography. Epidemiology. Statistics. Econometrics/financial mathematics. Risk analysis for insurance. Medical Physics Medical physics is the science of applying physics principles in medicine. It is an interdisciplinary field that mainly deals with medical imaging for diagnostic purposes and radiotherapy. It uses physics tools to help better diagnose diseases at the early stages, and to offer patients proper treatment. In addition to clinical practice, research in medical physics is focused on solving real clinical problems and developing existing and novel techniques in therapy and imaging. Therefore, medical physics has a very important role to play in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With the high number of hospitals and Quantum Information This is a new field based on the fundamentals of quantum mechanics that has potential applications at a small scale level, including computer compartments and communication. KSA should be involved in this field to gain experience and participate in the applications and the development from the early stages. This may allow KSA to participate on manufacturing devices based on the trends in this field. High Energy, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics High energy physics is primarily concerned with the fundamental processes at the elementary particle level. These processes and their properties are revealed at energy scales of about 1 GeV and higher. The fundamental processes of elementary particles play an important role in the creation and in the evolution of the universe according to the big bang theory. Two years ago, KACST, on behalf of Saudi Arabia, signed an agreement with CERN concerning participation in research in high energy physics. Accelerator Physics Much attention has been focused on small accelerators since the development of high frequency alternating voltage. In an accelerator, an ion (or electron or proton) is injected into an accelerating tube. KACST has recently been able to design and construct accelerator tubes for electrostatic accelerators. Accelerators have many research applications, ranging from generating x-rays to the level of revealing properties of trace elements. medical centers throughout the Kingdom, the demand for trained clinical practitioners as well as researchers and developers in the field of Medical Physics is increasing substantially.
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SWOT Analysis for KSA Mathematics and Physics

This section presents a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Saudi Arabia Mathematics and Physics Program relative to achieving its vision. In a SWOT analysis, terms are defined as follows:
Strengths: attributes of an organization that are helpful to achieving the objective. Weaknesses: attributes of an organization that are harmful to achieving the objective. Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective. Threats: external conditions that are harmful to achieving the objective. Strengths and weaknesses are defined internal to the organization while opportunities and threats are as external to the organization. For the purpose of this analysis, the organization is the Saudi Mathematics and Physics Program, including KACST, universities, other government agencies, and companies.
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Helpful Internal Strengths: ample financial resources some good researchers universities with some capabilities beginning of some international linkages opportunity for NCMP to design and lead national plan Weaknesses: weak physics and math education difficulties attracting best students low enrollment in graduate studies weak research infrastructure lack of culture of research underutilization of women low quality of education for women lack of flexibility/bureaucracy weak R&D in industry External Opportunities: full participation in world science by Saudi researchers through information technology recognition of importance of research in government demand by some financial institutions for mathematicians Threats: lack of public understanding lack of job prospects constraints in needed reforms difficulties attracting leading researchers to the Kingdom international competition Harmful
The overall strengths of the Kingdom in mathematics and physics are its financial resources, some good researchers and universities with capabilities (although limited), and established international linkages. There are several weaknesses. Research institutes, including universities, government, and industry, do not rank among the top worldwide institutions. Human resources for mathematics and physics research are generally weak. Human resource regulations are inflexible, making it difficult to hire and retain good people in government. Education in mathematics and physics at the K-12 level is not strong and the Kingdom lacks qualified mathematics and physics teachers. The public image of a career in mathematics or physics is
not attractive in the Kingdom and therefore it is difficult to attract good students to these fields. For example, the low enrollment rate of graduate students in mathematics and physics poses a great challenge for the research capabilities of universities. A culture of research through competitive research grant programs in universities is not yet firmly established. Due to various cultural and legal barriers, women are underutilized in mathematics and physics as well as in general science enterprises. The quality of education women receive is weak compared to the education men receive.
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Statistics collected by the U.S. government show that between 1980 and 2004 1551 Saudi nationals received doctorates in science and engineering fields from U.S. universities; 44 of these doctorates were in mathematics and 34 were in physics. In addition, there are additional doctoral recipients from the universities in the European countries and other parts of the world. Saudi researchers have insufficient collaboration with others in the Kingdom, their counterparts in industry, or in other countries. R&D in industry is generally weak and there is little track record of successful innovation or of successful implementation of industry-government-university initiatives. The Saudi national strategy to invest more heavily in S&T provides opportunities. There is the potential to collaborate with international mathematicians and physicists through both existing and newly established linkages. The advance of information technology can help Saudi researchers to participate in the international community of scientists through the Internet, E-learning, shared use of data and facilities, advanced computing, and other means.
The main threat is that international competitors are not standing still, and, indeed, seem to be moving faster than Saudi Arabia. There is a lack of public understanding, including by the mass media, of the importance of mathematics and physics as a foundation of research and education in physical science, engineering, and computer science. It is difficult to attract Saudi expatriate as well as foreign scientists and mathematicians to the Kingdom. The initiatives in this plan have been designed to take advantage of the KSA strengths and to address the weaknesses, while keeping aware of the opportunities and threats. To take advantage of the KSA strengths, programs have been designed to focus on areas of special KSA needs, and to build on existing capabilities. To counteract the weaknesses, programs have been designed to build capabilities step by step, to train students and researchers in mathematics and physics, and to expand industry-government-university collaboration as well as international collaboration.
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The Proposed Mathematics and Physics Programs

Overview
Figure 3 provides a schematic diagram of the proposed mathematics and physics programs. It shows four programs through which NCMP and the mathematics and physics community can achieve the national vision and mission. The four programs are: NCMP Math & Physics Research. Math & Physics Research Support. Math & Physics Education and Outreach. Major Research Facilities.
Figure 3: National Mathematics and Physics Programs

Mathematics Physics
Centralized Facility
NCMP Research
Education & Outreach Program
National Research Program
Example Accelerator
Applied Math
High School Competition
Research Grant
Particle Physics
Teacher Training
Infrastructure Building
Condensed Matter Program
Information Center
Education Training
Quantum Information
Workshops Conference
Applied Physics Program
Detector Physics
Medical Physics
Accelerator Physics
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NCMP Math & Physics Research
Charter and Scope Having a strong research capacity at NCMP will serve the Kingdoms interest by providing research services, managing research facilities, providing leadership for the mathematics and physics community, and improving the quality of mathematics and physics education in the Kingdom. The program will provide postdoctoral positions, undergraduate student internships, and graduate student research assistantships at NCMP, and will support a visiting scholars program. NCMP will also support the National Mathematics and Physics Advisory Committee, which includes members from the international mathematics and physics community. Strategic Goals and Objectives The strategic goals is to strengthen in-house research capacity in order to allow NCMP to become a leading regional research center in a broad range of mathematics and physics areas and to be recognized for its world class expertise in areas of special importance to the Kingdom. To build research capacity at NCMP, it is necessary to create a critical mass of researchers, including students, postdocs, and visiting researchers in each of the following areas: Condensed matter and statistical physics (solid state physics group). Applied mathematics (cryptography group, number theory group). Nuclear and high energy physics. Quantum information. Applied physics (accelerators physics group, medical physics group). A goal is for NCMP to become a lively place where bright students and promising young researchers (postdoctoral fellows and young faculty) compete to visit for either Strategic Goals and Objectives This program has several goals and objectives. Determine existing capabilities KSA math and physics research capabilities. The C.V.s of current mathematics and physics researchers will be collected, coded, and studied. Saudi researchers will be surveyed to gain their assessment of the current capabilities of the Kingdom. Establish a competitive research grants program to help university faculty members invest more time in research. We propose that the research grants be used to enable faculty to reduce their teaching load, hire Roles of Key Partners NCMP, which is a part of KACST, will play the lead role in building its own research capacity; the role of universities and industry will be minimal in this effort. Other institutes and centers of KACST will be the stakeholders and consumers of NCMP research services, and therefore should participate in planning the strategic direction of NCMP. A short-term objective is to conduct a study to determine the needs for research services for the Kingdom. This study will assess the existing capacity of NCMP and address how the research groups at NCMP should grow and in what order, based on clear needs and interests expressed by stakeholders and taking into account limited resources. short term (e.g. summer internships) or long term periods (e.g. one or two year visiting scholarships).
Math & Physics Research Support

Charter and Scope This program aims to promote a culture of research in universities around the Kingdom by providing the basic infrastructure for research in mathematics and physics.
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graduate students or postdoctoral fellows, and provide supplemental income in the summer. Advocate policy changes in universities to allow faculty to spend more time on research. Activities under this objective include a study of barriers to research at universities and recommend changes. Establish a postdoctoral fellowship program to support university research. Postdoctoral positions are integral to the creation of a research community at universities. Many countries consider postdoctoral fellowships a cost effective way of improving research capabilities. Develop a research intensive doctoral program (jointly with a foreign university with an international reputation) in math and physics. Mathematics and physics are not currently included among the technical focus areas at KAUST, and so an exemplary researchfocused mathematics and physics PhD program in the Kingdom should be established at another university. Establish an undergraduate research experience program. Research experiences can provide undergraduate students with an experience of the excitement of research and may attract bright students in mathematics and physics to graduate school and on to careers as researchers. The research experience program should involve undergraduate students in actual research, from design and execution to presentation of the results in meaningful ways. The research experience program can be designed as a summer institute or during the academic year. Support research collaboration and communication in math and physics. Programs such as scientific visits, scientific symposia and workshops are an expansion of existing NCMP programs. In addition to current NCMP programs, the program will support university researchers to organize their own scientific meetings on a case by case basis. Improved mathematics and physics education will benefit the Kingdom by: Roles of Key Partners University faculties will submit proposals for competitive research grants and for the undergraduate research experience programs and will perform such projects. KACST will write request for proposals (RFPs) for those programs, select awardees through a peer review process, guide university faculties, and generally manage those programs. Industry can participate in undergraduate research experience programs by becoming a hosting institution for students. Industry can also host postdoctoral fellows or support universities in the creation of postdoctoral positions.
Math & Physics Education and Outreach

Charter and Scope This will be a coordinated national program to improve mathematics and physics research and education that includes scientific workshops, special seminars, training courses, K-12 teacher training program, research experiences for K-12 teachers, mathematics and physics competitions for high school students, and research grants that support curriculum reform, improvement of text books, and creation of content of e-learning Scientific workshops. Special Seminars. Training courses. K-12 teacher training program. Research experiences for K-12 teachers. Mathematics and physics Olympiad. Research grants that support curriculum reform, improvement of text books, and creation of content of e-learning.
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Providing a good foundation for students to study science and engineering. Providing a model for improving K-12 education for other fields of science and engineering through teacher training, certification, and research participation programs. Strengthening overall science and mathematics education in the Kingdom if these programs are expanded into all areas of science, mathematics, and engineering education at K-12 levels. Strategic Goals and Objectives The strategic objectives for the program are to: Improve mathematics and physics education at all levels so that students are better prepared to study science and engineering in college and beyond. Involve university faculties in improving K-12 mathematics and physics education through various programs, including research on effective curriculum, improved text books, and e-learning materials. The program will involve: K-12 teacher training courses. This program will support universities to provide math and science training courses for K-12 teachers, typically held over school holidays. Teachers who successfully complete the training program should be provided incentives in the form of promotions or salary increases. Research experiences for K-12 teachers. This program will enable teachers to participate in mathematics and physics research at the university laboratories or at NCMP. This will increase the expertise of teachers and allow them to convey the excitement of research into their own classrooms. National Mathematics and physics Olympiad. This program is currently managed by NCMP. NCMP may consider expanding this program to include elements of experiments and scientific research (e.g. science fair), in addition to traditional paper and pencil tests in a classroom setting. Research grants that support curriculum reform, improvement of text books, and creation of content of e-learning. In this program, the focus is to encourage university professors to engage in research to improve mathematics and physics education in the Kingdom by producing high quality materials and curriculum reform. Roles of Key Partners KACST will fund and manage the national program, including program planning, funding allocation, and establishing and evaluating performance targets. Universities will provide training and research experience programs where teachers can not only renew their existing knowledge of mathematics and physics, but also participate in on-going cutting edge research to enable them to convey the excitement of research in the classroom. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education will collaborate with KACST as partners and will provide co-funding for part of these programs.
Major Research Facilities

Charter and Scope This is a national program to develop, build, and manage major research facilities and equipment in Saudi Arabia. The facility or facilities (it is not yet determined if there will be a single facility or several) will support researchers in universities, industry, and other government agencies who are engaged in physics research, as well as other science and engineering research and development efforts that require the research equipment. This in turn will strengthen the national system of innovation in the Kingdom.
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Strategic Goals and Objectives The purpose of this program is to establish a major research instrumentation facility or facilities for physics research that can also serve researchers in physics and other fields, and can put Saudi Arabia on the map within the international physics community. Program components include the design, development, construction, management, and training of customers who want to use the facilities. Industry NCMP will develop a plan for the Major Research Facilities that includes: Creating an inventory of current facilities. Studying the Kingdoms future needs and gaps. Developing procedures for sharing the facility. Developing a plan to acquire/build facilities. Acquiring/building the facilities. Considering building cyber infrastructure for remote use of the facilities. Several examples of the needed instruments that were suggested during the NCMP workshop included: A tandem electrostatic accelerator. A supercomputer (advanced computing). A research reactor. A high power magnet. Roles of Key Partners NCMP will lead the efforts for a feasibility study of the needs, management, construction, and administration of the research facilities. Universities, through the competitive peer review process, can co-manage research facilities with NCMP. It may be desirable to view the management of the major research facilities project as a challenge for the and other government agencies can participate if their needs are met through the construction of the facilities. This program will be coordinated with other KACST institutes and national S&T plans, including those in mathematics and physics (accelerators and research reactor) and information technology (supercomputing). entire physics community in the Kingdom, mobilizing community support and strengthening the community in the process. The Physics Society can play a strong role in the feasibility study as well.
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Operational Plans
Operational management plans plan, include a a knowledge transfer plan, a quality human resources plan, a communications plan, and a risk management plan.
Knowledge Transfer Plan

The mathematics and physics program should have an effective knowledge transfer plan so that the results of research in mathematics and physics contribute to the strengthening of the Kingdoms scientific capabilities. Key elements of the program that are designed to facilitate knowledge transfer are the following. Involvement of stakeholders in the program design. This occurs through stakeholder participation in the planning workshop, and in the mathematics and physics advisory committee. It is well recognized that stakeholder involvement in the research design leads to research and outcomes that are more likely to meet the needs of stakeholders, and thus are more likely to lead to successful knowledge transfer. Knowledge transfer through workshops, education, training, exchange, publications, research services, and consulting to the technology programs. Knowledge transfer can occur in various ways. The most significant method of knowledge transfer is through the movement of people. Various exchange programs such as internships, postdoctoral fellowships, and visiting scholarships are effective means of knowledge transfer. Scholarly meetings, publications, and the use of Internet
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Operational Plans
are also effective transfer means. The movement of people and information should cross geographical and institutional boundaries to be truly effective. and postdocs. These programs are designed to train new students with research skills needed by research organizations and industry. In the short-run, other strategies to expand the human resources for the mathematics and physics program are: Changes in policies to allow more international hiring to bring specialized expertise to the Kingdom. Training for researchers to become R&D managers and leaders. Training of lab technicians.
Quality management Plan

The mathematics and physics program will follow international best practice quality management processes for science and technology programs. Elements of this plan include: Advisory committee review of the overall program design and budget. Competitive, peer-reviewed selection processes for projects. Annual reviews of research projects to ensure that milestones are being met. Periodic (every 5 years) evaluation of the mathematics and physics program conducted by a review committee supported by an experienced evaluator. Procedures will be developed for disclosing and managing potential conflicts of interest among reviewers. In many cases, some international experts will be used on review panels to reduce possible conflicts of interest and to provide an independent external assessment.

The purpose of the communications management plan is to provide appropriate information to the program participants and stakeholders. One element of the communications plan is to improve communication throughout the KSA mathematics and physics community and to expand collaboration among members of the community. Aspects of this include: There will be a public website with information on program goals, accomplishments, funding opportunities, and other news. Periodic workshops will be held with users and stakeholders to define future program needs. Requests for proposals (for university centers, grants, and pilot application development programs) will be announced to the public. The program advisory board will review and comment on the program, and advisory board reports will be made public on the website. The program will sponsor workshops, conferences, and professional society activities to expand communication and networking throughout the community. Presentations on the program will be made at national and international conferences. Another element of the plan is to define appropriate

The availability of skilled people, including both researchers and technical managers and leaders, is likely to be a limiting factor in the growth and success of the KSA mathematics and physics program. The program will require substantial numbers of additional researchers at KACST, at universities and at companies. This plan is designed to help increase the numbers of mathematics and physics researchers over the long term through its emphasis on education and training of mathematicians and physicists at every point along the pipeline K-12 schools, undergraduate, graduate,
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Operational Plans
communications within the management structure of the plan. It is especially important that information about risks or difficulties in the program, such as delays, lack of resources, or non-attainment of goals be rapidly communicated to higher levels of management. A general principle is that management should never be surprised by bad news. The market risk is that projects, while scientifically successful, do not contribute to strengthening the national innovation system and do not result in knowledge transfer if researchers are not in communication with people who will use their research results. Also there is a risk that the results of research will not be disseminated widely and will not reach people who may use them. Here, the market refers to the market of ideas, not products. A way to address this risk is through: Designing programs based on carefully considered needs of the Kingdom. Monitoring international developments in mathematics and physics fields. Continual readjustment of plans in response to changes in the environment. Financial risk is the risk of unavailability of funds or of cost overruns. The way to address risks in this area is through careful program planning and monitoring, and early identification of possible cost overruns. competition. To address this risk, a competitive research grant program should be implemented and adequate rewards should be given to those who perform well.

The program presented here is an ambitious program that will challenge the capabilities of the Kingdom. There are several types of risks that could prevent attainment of program goals, including technical risks, market risks, and financial risk. One source of technical risk risk to attainment of technical goals is the lack of adequate human resources to implement the program. Approaches to managing this risk are: Changing policies to attract people with the needed skills. This may involve raising salaries and recruiting internationally. Delaying or phasing in some program elements if people cannot be hired. Expanding the pool of people with needed skills through education and training programs. Another cause of technical risk is overly ambitious goals. The approaches to addressing this risk are to have an independent review of technical goals to ensure they are feasible and to adjust technical goals if milestones are not being met. Another risk is that regulatory barriers may prevent efficient execution of the projects. For example, delays in being able to import or obtain scientific supplies may hold up projects. There also are risks due to lack of flexibility in project execution it is important to be able to modify research projects as new knowledge is gained or better approaches become available. Another risk is that quality of performance will be poor due to lack of
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Within KACST, the NCMP will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. Many aspects of the plan represent new functions for NCMP, especially in developing and managing national research and education programs that include universities collaborations. and international A major task for programs, it is essential to build the skills necessary to lead and develop these programs, and to plan them carefully. As part of the initial activities under this plan, NCMP staff members will visit programs of a similar nature elsewhere in the world to discuss their management practices and lessons learned.
the first year of the program will be, in addition to detailed program planning, for NCMP to acquire or develop the necessary skills through hiring or training. Although it is critical to rapidly start new research
The National Mathematics and Physics Advisory Committee (MPAC) will oversee the implementation of the plan. NCMP will charter MPAC, which will consist of 6 to 8 members to be appointed by the director of NCMP, who will also appoint the committees chair. Members will serve three-year terms, renewable once, with the terms staggered so that approximately one-third of the terms come up for renewal each year. MPAC will include members from the international scientific community outside of the Kingdom. NCMP may eventually establish a separate international mathematics and physics advisory committee if there is a distinct and clear need for two separate advisory committees. At the beginning, however, a single committee with a few members from the international scientific community will be established. MPAC will meet approximately four times a year and review progress in the program and approve updates to the plan as necessary. Key performance indicators will be established for each subprogram. General performance indicators include: Number and impact of math and physics publications in the Kingdom. Number and level of presentations in international conferences. Number of cases of NCMP and universities providing math and physics-
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based technical assistance to industry or other KACST institutes. Changes in policies (described previously) to improve research in universities. Extent of domestic and international math and physics research collaborations. University and industry use of major research facilities. Numbers of math and physics advanced degrees awarded. Number of teachers who complete math and physics training. Number of teachers who obtain research experiences. In the near term, the committee will monitor the establishment of the program and projects, and progress of the projects towards their milestones. The advisory committee will also sponsor and oversee studies of emerging areas of math and physics, to serve as the basis for developing new program areas. This plan is intended to be a dynamic document that will be updated at least annually and more frequently if required. In addition to the advisory committee input, it is expected that workshops with the research community, users, industry and other stakeholders will also contribute to both a continual evolution of the plan as well as a stronger math and physics research and education network in the Kingdom.
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Appendix 1: Advisory Committee Members

Prof. Riazuddin Director General of the National Centre for Physics, Pakistan email: riazuddin@ncp.edu.pk Dr. Nouar Tabet Prof. Katepalli R. Sreenivasan ICTP director, Italy email: director@ictp.it Dr. Hamad Alhendi, Dr. Fahad Jalawi Mathematics Department, King Faisal University, email: fjalawi@hotmail.com Dr. Abdulaziz D. Alhaidari Saudi Shoura Council, Saudi Arabia, email: haidari@mailaps.org Department of Physics and Astronomy, King Saud University email: alhendi@ksu.edu.sa Dr. Ali Mohamad President of the Saudi Physical society, King Khalid University, email: ahajry@kku.edu.sa KACST Planning Team Members Name Hamoud H. Alharbi Okla S. Al-Horayess Mohammad A. Bahmaid Hassan Al-Ahaidib Physics Department, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia email: natabet@kfupm.edu.sa Prof. Fawzi A. Al-Thukair Mathematics Department, King Saud University email: thukair@ksu.edu.sa
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www.kacst.edu.sa
DAKKIN 01 478 8584
Environment
Petrochemicals
Biotechnology
Energy
Agricultural
Strategic Priorities for Advanced Medical and Health Research
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Scope Plan Development Process Strategic Context KSA Demographics Major National Health Issues Overall Economic Burden of Diseases on Saudi Arabia Coordination, Monitoring and Funding for Healthcare National Expenditure on Public Health Stakeholders Roles Analysis of National Models in Medical and Health Research The American Model The French Model The Canadian Model The British Model The Japanese Model The Singaporean Model
4 7 7 9 9 11 11 1 15 15 16 17 19 19 0 0 1 1
Contents
Analysis of Medical and Health Research through Publications and Patents Global Publication Activity in Medical and Clinical Sciences KSA Publication Activity in Medical and Clinical Sciences 4
SWOT Analysis for KSA Medical and Health Research and Innovation Program 5 Higher Strategy Vision Mission Program Values and Culture Program Strategic Goals Technology Areas Selection Process Selected Priority for Research Areas Program Structure Performance Indicators for Proposed Program Workshop Attendees 7 7 7 7 8 1 1 1 4 40
Executive summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was given responsibility for developing 5-year strategic and implementation plans for each of these 14 technologies programs. In addition, KACST facilitated strategic planning in key applied technology areas that draw upon fundamental and applied research and thier impact on human lives.
Health is an important factor in the social and economic development of any nation. Ill-health leads to impoverishment, regressive cost burdens and slower economic growth. These concerns have placed health at the center of economic development discourse. While Saudi Arabia has a young population, there are many non-communicable and communicable diseases that threaten the future well-being of the nations population. Realizing the impending challenges and the urgency in addressing those challenges, medical and healthcare sciences are given utmost priority in the countrys science policy agenda. In keeping with its national policy making and technology planning responsibility, KACST collaborated with the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) and other relevant stakeholders to develop a National Medical and Health Research Strategy (NMHRS) for the Kingdom. This document embodies the product of that stakeholder-driven strategic planning endeavor. This plan is based on input from the users and stakeholders of medical and
Executive summary
healthcare science and technology in the Kingdom, including research organizations, government agencies, universities and industry. The plan received extensive input, review, and comment from stakeholders as well as experts from reputed global institutions. The planning process Identified the key national health issues and associated priorities for research and innovation in the Kingdom Assessed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the program, including an analysis of KSA publications and an assessment of international models of national research agencies and institutes Defined a mission and vision for the Kingdoms medical and health research program Defined key strategic goals and related tactical objectives to achieve the vision
Executive summary
In addition to the technical needs, participants of the planning committee and strategic planning workshop identified a large number of areas where policies need to be changed or barriers removed to facilitate technology innovation. The following strategic goals were identified and agreed Vision of the National Medical and Health Research (NMHR) Program, as collectively developed all relevant stakeholders, is: The NMHR Program will advance the health and wellbeing of people in Saudi Arabia by developing the requisite national manpower, expertise, and infrastructure for sustainable, high quality, cutting-edge and competitive research; by fostering and facilitating the performance of novel, interdisciplinary and collaborative research; and by effectively communicating to both policy-makers and the public, findings of research and significance of promotion of health, prevention of disease and delivery of healthcare. The National Medical and Health Research Program The NMHR Programs mission is: To promote research in the medical and health sciences to further health and wellbeing in Saudi Arabia. Based on the detailed assessment of current prevalence and projected incidence of diseases, the following initial list of medical and health priority areas have been selected for strategic intervention: Non-Communicable Diseases Cardiovascular Diseases Diabetes consists of a program leadership function, responsible for overall planning, management, and cross-cutting issues, and priority technical areas corresponding to major health issues outlined above. Development and retention of national manpower and expertise in medical and health sciences research Development of infrastructure for sustainable, cuttingedge and competitive research in the medical and health sciences Facilitate the performance of novel, competitivelyfunded and high quality research in the medical and health sciences Effective communication of research findings and significance of those findings to policy-makers and the public upon by the stakeholders: Cancer Allergy and Asthma Neurodegenerative Diseases Communicable Diseases
Introduction
Background
The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was directed by its charter of 1986 to propose a national policy for the development of science and technology and to devise the strategy and plans necessary to implement them. In accordance with this charter, KACST launched a comprehensive effort in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MoEP), to develop a long-term national policy on science and technology. In July 2002, the Council of Ministers approved the national policy for science and technology, entitled The Comprehensive, Long-Term, National Science and Technology Policy.
KACST and MoEP embarked on a national effort in collaboration with stakeholders to develop the national plan for science, technology and innovation (STI), which drew up the future direction of science, technology and innovation in the Kingdom, considering the role of KACST as well as that of universities, government, industry, and society at large. The plan encompasses eight major programs, depicted in figure 1, as follows: 1. Strategic and advanced technologies 2. Scientific research and technical development capabilities 3. Transfer, development, and localization of technology 4. Science, technology, and society 5. Scientific and technical human resources 6. Diversifying financial support resources 7. Science, technology, and innovation system 8. Institutional structures for science, technology, and innovation
Introduction
Tran Devel sfer, Strategic and opme nt, and Advanced nd Local c a an izat Sc Technologies ntifi Techn ion of Res ientifi Scie al Hum ology ea ic c n s Tec rch a Tech esource nd De hnic R v a Society Cap elopm l abi ent litie ng rt s fyi ppo rsi Su Sc Private Sector s ve an Tech ien Di cial urce c d an so In nol e, Fin Re Sy nov ogy Research & ste at , m ion Educational Institutes
Ins t Str itutio for uctu nal Te ch Scie res n Inn olog nce, ov y, a ati on nd
Ministries and Governmental Institutes National Science, Technology, & Innovation Plan (NSTIP)
, ce , ien gy Sc nolo ety ch ci Te d So an
In the Strategic Technologies area, KACST is responsible for 5-year strategic and implementation plans for 14 technologies. In addition, KACST facilitates strategic planning in key applied technology areas that draw upon fundamental technologies and impact human lives. In keeping with this responsibility, KACST collaborated with the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) and other relevant stakeholders to
develop a National Medical and Health Research Strategic Priorities (NMHRS) for the Kingdom. This document embodies the product of that stakeholderdriven strategic endeavor. It establishes a mission and vision, identifies stakeholders and users, determines the highest priority areas for the Kingdom, and sets ambitious, yet realizable goals for the program.
Introduction
Scope
The scope of this plan is national. It is a research and innovation plan for the medical and health sciences field in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The plan involves universities, industry, and government stakeholders. KACST supported the development of this plan financially, technically and logistically, while KFSHRC provided project management, subject matter expertise and planning leadership with overall responsibility for coordination with stakeholders.

The development of this plan began with mobilization of resources. This included identification of the stakeholders and users of medical and health research and innovation in the Kingdom, domain experts and key members of the planning team. Extensive literature review and assessment of current status of the medical and health field in the Kingdom was followed by creating vision and mission statements, and conducting background research on the experiences of leading countries around the world. The plan development methodology is summarized in figure 2.
Introduction
Figure 2: Plan Development Methodology Preparatory Stage Resource mobilization Team selection Training orientation Communication strategy As part of the communication strategy a secured website was designed with an embedded blog and capability for documents upload and download. As a part of the research strategy a questionnaire was designed and made available from the website for completion by researchers and medical professionals. This questionnaire was also distributed among the attendees of the planning Writing First draft workshop that was conducted at KACST. The workshop was used to brainstorm research priorities and other strategy elements including the SWOT analysis and vision and mission statements. The website also offered various research related links to relevant information on medical and health research Full Draft Draft for external review throughout the world. The plan received extensive input, review, and comment from the stakeholders through conducting workshops as well through a digital platform.
Final Document
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Strategic Context
KSA Demographics
As of July 2008, Saudi Arabias population exceeded 28 million. The Saudi population is young, with around 50% under the age of 20. Approximately 55.3 % of Saudi nationals are males and 44.6% are females. Nearly 88% of the total population is urban. Population growth rate is estimated to be around 2.06% with a birth rate of 2.91 births per 1,000 population, and a death rate of 2.55 deaths per 1,000 population.
Infant mortality rate is around 12.4 deaths per 1,000 live births1. For males it is 14.2 deaths per 1,000 live births and for females it is 10.4 deaths per 1,000 live births. The life expectancy at birth is estimated to be 75.8 years for males and 73.8 years for females. As per a 2007 estimate, total fertility rate is around 3.94 children born per woman. The Global Human Development report ranked Saudi Arabia 71st out of the 177 nationals (GHD 2002). An improvement was recorded to 61st rank (overall Human Development Index) in the 2007 2008 report. This puts Saudi Arabia at a disadvantage against competing nations with regard to health of population, accomplishment in healthcare services delivery and availability of local talent capable of spearheading medical/health research. The healthy life expectancy for Saudis is 60 years for males and 63 years for females. The average healthy life expectancy for other Arab nations (61 1.10 and 63 0.80 years for males and females respectively) is not much different from that of Saudi Arabia. This contrasts significantly with the averages of nations like UK and USA where the average healthy life expectancy is 66.67 1.45 and 69 2.52 years for males and females respectively.
1 Healthcare in Saudi Arabia, Wikipedia
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Strategic Context
The same source indicates that the ratio of health care providers per 1000 populations falls short of the average in the UK and USA. Similarly, the agestandardized mortality rate per 100,000 of population is higher in Saudi Arabia for non-communicable diseases than that of the indicated nations above. Cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of death amongst Saudis. The Kingdom spends around 4% of its GDP on health services. The expenditure for all research activities stayed around 0.2% of GDP, but is expected to change dramatically in the coming years due to the commitment generated through the National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy.
Major National Health Issues

The following key needs of the Kingdom were identified through workshops with the stakeholders. Assessment of the severity of these issues, their current prevalence and future projections are based on limited existing statistics and assumptions made collectively by subject matter experts. Ill-health can contribute to impoverishment, broadly defined as processes of household asset depletion and income loss that cause consumption levels to fall below minimum needs. Concern about the links between ill-health and impoverishment has placed health at the center of poverty reduction discourse and strategies, and strengthened arguments for a substantial increase in health sector investment to improve access for the people to combat poverty as well as reduce disease burdens. The costs people incur due to illness, are central to the design and performance of health care interventions, particularly their coverage and equity implications. Health services can also impose regressive cost burdens, with poor households spending a higher portion of their income on health care than better-off households. Understanding the key health issues faced by the Saudi population and assessing the economic burden generated by those issues on the country is a critical step in the development of nation health research strategy. For the purpose of this strategic plan, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases,
World Bank, 2000. World Development Report: Attacking Poverty. Washington DC: World Bank.
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Strategic Context
asthma, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, and some infectious diseases were selected for detailed study because these are major sources of morbidity and mortality in Saudi Arabia. Their severity and duration of impact are likely to have large economic implications. Non-Communicable Diseases Cardiovascular Diseases The NMHRS planning team estimates that in 2006 there was 26% prevalence of all cardiovascular diseases. The total estimated cases of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) was 4.8%. The following table estimates the number of patients by category of disease: Category CHD Stroke High Blood Pressure Heart Failure Number of Patients 1,200,000 404,000 5,000,000 400,000 It is believed that around 6 Million Saudis are Pre-diabetic/ diabetics with an estimated cost per year of around 36 Billion Riyals. Figures suggest that up to 30% of over 40 year old Saudi population may suffer from diabetes, costing the government $800 a month/patient in treatment. This together with the assessment that 50% of the population is considered over weigth or obese indicates the vulnerable number of future diabetics is set to rise. It is estimated that the burden of Diabetes may exceed SR 120 billion by Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD): The prevalence of PAD was 11.7%. Patients with PAD were slightly older than patients without PAD, suffered more often diabetes, hypertension, lipid disorders, smoking, cerebrovascular event, and coronary artery disease. Coronary Artery Disease (CAD): The overall prevalence of CAD in KSA is 5.5%, a figure midway to those reported from other countries. Classical risk factors for CAD are older age, male gender, overweight, hypertension, smoking, diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypercholesterolemia are important risk factors in Saudi population. Moreover, metabolic syndrome is playing an active role in the development of CAD in Saudi population. It is estimated that by the year 2032, the economic burden arising from Cardiovascular Diseases will be close to SR 80 billion. Cancer The National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the United States highlights that cancer is now becoming more of a global burden than it was before. Greater attention should be given to the disease because of the increase in the incidence in the developing countries. This increase can be attributed to increased life expectancy in highly populated countries like China and India, a rise in the number of smokers in developing nations and an increase in lung cancer-inducing pollution. In the U.S. and other developed countries, cancer is presently responsible for about 25% of all deaths. On a yearly basis, 0.5% of the population is diagnosed with cancer. 2035. Diabetes Since the turn of the new millennium, the number of people with diabetes has more than doubled. Diabetes is now a global epidemic with devastating humanitarian, social and economic consequences. More than 230 million people worldwide are living with the disease. This number is expected to rise to a staggering 350 million within 20 years. In the entire Middle Eastern countries it is expected that if unchecked the percentage change in the number of people with diabetes will be 163% by the year 2030.
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Strategic Context
The cumulative incidence of all cancer types adjusted over all ages in Saudi Arabia in the years 1998 to 2004 as reported in the GCC cancer report indicated an increase in the number of cases. In addition, the age-standardized mortality rate from carcer is estimated to be around 100 per a 100,000 of the population and this is set to increase. It is estimated that the cost per patient is about SR82,500 ($22,000) per year per patient. Based on a series of assumptions, it is estimated that the total burden of cancer on Saudi Arabia will exceed SR 2 billion per year by the year 2030. Allergy and Asthma It is estimated that as many as 300 million people of all ages and all ethnic backgrounds suffer from asthma and the burden of this disease to governments, healthcare systems, families and patients is increasing worldwide. Asthma has become more common in both children and adults around the world in recent decades. The rate of asthma increases as communities adopt Western life styles and become urbanized. It is estimated that the annual rate of increase in the prevalence of asthma in Saudi Arabia is 1.175% . The

(AD) is the fourth leading cause of death in adults worldwide. The incidence of the disease rises steeply with age. Generally it is diagnosed in people over 65 years of age, although the less-prevalent early-onset Alzheimers can occur much earlier. An estimated 26.6 million people worldwide had Alzheimers in 2006; this number may quadruple by 2050. AD is twice as common in women as it is in men. Using baseline data from published sources in the United States, the planning team estimates that the total burden of AD on Saudi Arabia accruing from patient care and lost productivity may exceed SR 22 billion by 2030 as number of patients may exceed 22,000. Communicable Diseases Communicable disease such as TB, Malaria, and Hepatitis place an extraordinary burden on those afflicted by the disease, their families, communities, and on government budgets. For example, the greatest burden of TB falls on productive adults who, once infected, are weakened and often unable to work. The burden of taking care of sick individuals usually falls to other family members and, in addition to putting them at greater risk of infection, can lower their productivity. Estimation was made for some infectious diseases on Saudi population for the year 2006. Different rates of incidence are observed for different communicable diseases and across different regions of the country. For example, amoebic dysentery is a major communicable disease in the region of Makkah (Al-Taif). On the other hand, Salmonellosis is apparent as a major communicable disease is the entire Kingdom. Dengue fever is more apparent in the regions of Makkah and Jizan. This
data regarding the cost per patient is obtained from the US and is estimated to be SR 7,500 per year per patient. Assuming an annual inflation rate at 4%, it is estimated that the total burden on Saudi Arabia will exceed SR 20 billion by the year 2032. In the year 2015 alone the estimated number of people affected will be 4.25 million while the total cost of treatment will near SR 10 billion. Neurodegenerative Diseases (Alzheimer as a case in point) Under Neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer disease
Al Frayh AR. Asthma patterns in Saudi Arabian children. J Royal Soc Health 1990; 110: 98-100
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Strategic Context
requires focus on initiating measures for the treatment and prevention of this deadly disease in these specific parts of the Kingdom. The aforementioned health issues were identified and discussed in detail by the strategic planning committee and stakeholders. The National Medical and Health Research Strategy draws upon the above assessment. This plan is focused on the technical needs but also includes steps to address the nontechnical needs, although some of these are primarily the responsibilities of other organizations.
Overall Economic Burden of Diseases on Saudi Arabia

Coordination, Monitoring and Funding for Healthcare The Ministry of Health (MOH) is the major government agency entrusted with the provision of preventive, curative and rehabilitative healthcare for the Kingdoms population. The Ministry provides primary health care (PHC) services through a network of over 1,900 centers throughout the kingdom. The MOH is considered the lead government agency responsible for the management, planning, financing and regulating the health care sector. The MOH also undertakes the overall supervision and follow-up of health care activities carried out by the private sector. It is therefore reasonable to view the MOH as a national health service agency (NHS) for the entire population. There are also three other mini-NHS agencies which finance and deliver primary, secondary and tertiary care to specific enrolled security and armed forces populations: the Ministry of Defense and Aviation (MODA), the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG). In addition to these agencies, there are several government ministries that are responsible for the delivery of health care services in the KSA. For example, The Ministry of Education provides immediate primary health care to students. The Government also finances and provides care on a referral basis in its major specialized national tertiary care referral hospitals - King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) and King Khalid Eye Specialist Hospital. The KFSHRC uses highly advanced technologies and acts as a referral hospital for cases that require advanced and specialist treatment, while it also conducts research on health issues in general and those related to the Kingdom in particular.
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Strategic Context
National Expenditure on Public Health The 2006 MOH report estimated that 11% of the Government budget is devoted to healthcare4. This accounts for 80 percent of all health spending. The basic mechanism for paying public providers is through budget transfers from the Ministry of Finance based on line item allocations for specific expense categories such as salaries, maintenance, new projects, etc. Managers are generally prohibited from switching funds across line items. While private spending on health accounts for an estimated 20 percent of all health spending, such spending also includes that by the Saudi population and expatriate working in the public sector. Moreover, private sector expatriates often seek free care in public facilities through special permissions. Private sector providers are generally paid on a fee-for-services rendered. Such payments are often based on contracts between the provider and the insurer or employer. Preliminary estimates by the Ministry of Health indicate that some 68 percent of private spending is paid for by employers (who insure either through purchase of private health insurance, direct provision through company owned facilities, or pay providers directly) and 32 percent is paid out- of-pocket by the patient himself. The following table provides a breakdown of spending on health by both the public sector and the private sector in 1421/1422H (in thousands SR)
4 Health Indicators, 2006. Ministry of Health, Department of Statistics http://www.gov.sa/statistics/S1427/Chapter%201.pdf
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Ministry of Health 13,046,528 44% Other Public Sector 10,970,053 37% Private Sector 5,633,320 19% Total 29,649,901 100%
The total health expenditure amounts to approximately 4% of Saudi Arabias gross domestic product (GDP). Saudi Arabias public share of total health spending is well above the regional average and at a level comparable to the high public share seen in other Gulf countries. Its public share of total health spending is well above the average for the countries worldwide that have comparable income levels. Saudi Arabias per capita total health spending is above the regional average but below the average per capita spending found in other GCC. The countrys per capita total health spending is slightly below the level found in other countries worldwide that have similar income
levels. Saudi Arabias total health expenditure-to-GDP ratio is slightly below that found in other countries worldwide that have comparable income levels, while the public health expenditure-to-GDP ratio is above the global average.
Stakeholders Roles
The stakeholders for the Medical and Health Research Strategic Program include KACST, KFSHRC, KSA universities, various independent or specialized health research institutes, health service providers, other government agencies, and private companies. The following table shows the roles of each of the stakeholders in the program.
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Strategic Context
Stakeholder Roles Stakeholders Roles Plan, coordinate and manage the program Conduct applied research, technology transfer and prototype development Manage and participate in national projects KACST Provide support for university and industrial participation in national projects Provide and manage national research facilities Provide advice and services to government on science and technology. Establish Technology Innovation Centers in cooperation with Universities and Industries. Create new basic and applied scientific knowledge Universities Train students in science and engineering Host and participate in Technology Innovation Centers Participate in collaborative projects Create new applied scientific knowledge Participate in collaborative projects KFSHRC and other Independent or Government Specialized Research Centers Collect, compile, analyze and disseminate key data and information on human health Acquire, improve, and deliver medical solutions and health care technologies to health service providers Conduct researches and studies leading to solving operational and implementation challenges of projects Ministry and Government Agencies Provide input to program on government R&D needs Reduce regulatory and procedural barriers to R&D and innovation Support R&D in universities and industry Develop and commercialize products & processes resulting from the program. Private Sector Support and participate in collaborative R&D projects. Support and participate in the Technology Innovation Centers
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Strategic Context
Analysis of National Models in Medical and Health Research
Biomedical and health sciences research, in all its variant forms from basic, clinical to translational and public health, contributes significantly toward improving peoples health, minimizing burden of disease, containing healthcare cost, and, more importantly, improving quality of life. Most developed countries such as the USA, Canada and Japan as well as Western Europe have national health research institutes that are dedicated to improve human health. The mission of such institutes is to conduct basic, clinical and public health research in all human diseases, recommend important national medical and health sciences research priorities, help address public health problems, and respond rapidly to emergent risk or health crisis through research. Different models of organizational structure for The NIH institutes include the National Cancer Institute, National Eye Institute, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, medical and health sciences research institutes exist internationally. The best known model is the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Five other models are worth describing as possible alternate models namely the French, Canadian, British, Japanese and Singaporean models. The American Model The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States traces its origins back to 1798 with the inauguration of the Marine Hospital Service under an Act signed by President John Adams. Currently, twenty seven different Institutes and Centers each having its own specific research agenda comprise the NIH. The overall administrative body of the NIH is Office of the Director, which serves as the central office responsible for NIH policy, planning, managing, and coordinating its programs and activities. The office of the NIH Director houses several specific interest units that include AIDS Research, Behavioral and Social The NIH receives about $29 billion USD annually. It spends 80% of its budget on medical research in fulfillment of its mission. Annually, the NIH awards about 50,000 grants based on a nationally administered competitive funding mechanisms. About 325,000 researchers representing 3,000 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions in the US and around the world benefit from the NIHs research funding National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Nursing Research, and the National Library of Medicine. Centers housed within the NIH include the Center for Information Technology, Center for Scientific Review, John E. Fogarty International Center, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Center for Research Resources, and the NIH Clinical Center. Sciences Research, Disease Prevention, and Research on Womens Health, among others.
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Strategic Context
programs. About 10% of the NIHs budget is used to support intramural projects conducted by nearly 6,000 scientists employed by the NIH and conduct research at its laboratories. The French Model The French National Health Research Institute, better known by its French acronym as the INSERM, reports to both the ministers of research and health. It is chaired by a general director and supported by three committees that jointly form its governance structure. The three supporting committees are: The INSERM cooperates with universities, hospitals 1. The Steering Committee composed of top notch internationally recognized scientists and clinical researchers in their field. The members are charged with identifying priority areas for medical and health research. They present their recommendations to a strategic committee. 2. The Strategic Orientation Committee constituted public and private partners, including members of the steering committee, representatives of other research bodies, medical societies, patients association and industry. The Committee promulgates the research and training policy. It also ensures follow-up of approved projects and evaluates the results of each program. 3. The Scientific Council - a consultative body composed of international experts who have full autonomy to evaluate and select scientific projects based on recommendations of the two committees mentioned above. The budget for 2007 was 660 million Euros, 80% of which was devoted to research. The institute employed 13,000 staff and scientists. The INSERM comprises research units that are organized around thematic initiatives based on research priorities. It also includes a clinical research 1. 13 scientific directors each leading a research institute 2. Each research institute has scientific directors assisted by an advisory board of 15-18 members The Canadian Model The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) report to the Parliament though the Minister of Health. The CIHRs governance structure calls for a president, who is a recognized health researcher. The president is assisted by four deputies. In the 2005/2006 fiscal year, CIHRs operating budget was $700 million Canadian Dollars. It employed a total of about 10,000 staff. The CIHR discharges its responsibilities through a governing council of 20 members representing a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines, including: and cancer centers, industry, charitable associations and foundations, patients advocacy associations, disabled persons and their families. It also maintains partnerships with health agencies, medical societies, insurance agencies, local and regional authorities, international scientific communities, and other research organizations. and epidemiological centers. The INSERM research units are composed of one or more research teams coordinated by a unit director. The unit is housed either in a hospital or university site. Clinical research centers serve as the interface structures between the national health institute and ministry of health. Their role is to conduct clinical protocols in patients and healthy volunteers under technical, ethical and legal conditions. An epidemiology clinical center offers research support for large clinical trials and public health studies.
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3. Each institute is charge with a specific theme that are: Peoples Health, Cancer Research, Circulatory and Respiratory Health, Gender and Health, Genetics, Health Services and Policy Research, Aging, Human Development and Child and Youth Health, Infection and Immunity, Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis, Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes, and Population and Public Health. The British Model In the UK, research is promoted and governed by the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC Council directs scientific strategy and policy. The council decides all issues of corporate strategy, goals and objectives, and makes all major decisions in relation to the allocation of financial and other resources. The council consists of a Chairman, Deputy Chairman and 10-18 members, at least half of whom have been appointed based upon their scientific qualifications. Council members are appointed by a Minister for Science and Innovation. MRC policies are implemented through strategy boards, overview groups and expert advisory bodies. Day to day management is overseen by a management board. The MRC Management Board is a decision-making body and discussion forum chaired by the Chief Executive. The terms of reference for this Board are to manage operations where policy and decisions have major importance for the delivery of the MRCs objectives and/or for key stakeholder relationships. The main areas of responsibility are to: 1. Monitor performance delivery and establish strategies to mitigate risks 2. Take policy/operational decisions or make recommendations to the MRC Council as appropriate. 3. Exchange, generate, develop ideas and provide advice Research at the NMIR is structured around four primary research topics. These four areas of foci are divided into 15 specialized and interactive divisions. The four topics are: genetics and development which focus on the fundamental molecular and cell biology underlying embryo development; infections and immunity focusing on the molecular basis of pathogenesis and cellular immunological responses; neurosciences that researches neural functions; and structural biology to test the biomolecular architecture and their function. The Institute employs about 240 scientists who are tenured (n = 60), on tenure track (n = 20), or are post-doctoral fellows. The NIMR employs 250 support staff. In addition, NIMR houses about 70 externally funded postdoctoral fellows and 100 graduate students. Other entities such as the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) conduct research in the life sciences that are salient to health and supported by the MRC. The NIMR is a part of the British Medical Research Council, which is a national entity funded by the British government. It is charged with promoting research in medical and health sciences to improve the health of the British public. Researchers at the NIMR hold joint faculty appointments at the University College London (UCL) and supervise students and trainees who register through the UCL. to the Council. The MRC uses the Medical Research Foundation as its independently managed fund raising arm. The MRC spent 579 M in 2007/2008 with 4000 staff members. The MRC supports around 3000 researchers in Hospitals, Universities and its own research centers.
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The Japanese Model The Japanese National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS) conducts research with the specific aim of improving Japanese citizens health and their environment. The NIHS traces its origin to 1987 when it operated as the Tokyo Drug Control Laboratory. It conducts its operations under the auspices of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. It is comprised of 21 divisions, including those under the Biological Safety Research Center. The NIHS is the principal research enterprise in Japan. It houses several disciplinary divisions that espouse an international perspective and promotes international cooperation. The divisions include: drugs, biological chemistry, pharmacognosy, phytochemistry and narcotics, cellular and gene therapy products, medical devices, environmental chemistry, foods, food additives, biomedical food research, microbiology, organic chemistry, biochemistry and immunochemistry, biosignaling, safety information on drug, food and chemicals, medicinal safety science, cellular and molecular toxicology, pharmacology, pathology, genetics and mutagenesis, and risk assessment. The Singaporean Model Under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) administers and manages the medical research strategy in Singapore. It was funded in 1994 to fund research conducted at healthcare institutions. It funds research through competitive awards granted to individual projects. Among the various responsibilities and priorities of the Council is the development of a national pool of clinician-scientists with skills in medical research. The Council also carries out the Singapore Ministry of Healths directive in sustaining translational and clinical research in areas where they have credible prospects.
5 Seminal research in the use of publications as a measure of scientific productivity includes A.J. Lotka, The frequency distribution of scientific productivity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 16 (1926); D. Price, Little Science, Big Science, (New York: Columbia university Press, 1963); J.R. Cole and S Cole, Social Stratification in Science, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973); J. Gaston, The reward system in British and American science, (New York: John Wiley (1978); and M.F. Fox, Publication productivity among scientists: a critical review, Social Studies of Science, vol 13, 1983.
As summarized on its Website, the NMRCs role is in the leading, promotion, coordinating and funding of medical research in Singapore. The NMRC has a successful track record in achieving its targeted goals and objectives. It has orchestrated interdisciplinary partnerships and international collaborations that facilitate research for its constituency. Through a robust outcomes assessment program, the NMRC sponsored research programs have been steered to commercialization. The Council is lead by a chair and a board that includes representatives from national stakeholders such as universities and leading medical and research institutions in Singapore. The NMRC lists among its task an admirable list of well developed priorities excerpted here directly from www.nmrc.gov.sg. The list calls for providing guidance and advice to the NMRC in the implementation of strategies and priorities developed by various national institutions. Specifically, the NMRC administers and assesses its key performance indicators by providing oversight to its funded research programs and manages salient funds and budgets to optimally achieve its goals.
Analysis of Medical and Health Research through Publications and Patents

There is general agreement that publications and patents strongly correlate with scientific research capacity, although publication and patent counts alone do not fully represent the quality or scope of research5. Several

Strategic Context
indicators are presented and discussed below. These include forward citations, which are the frequency at which publications and patents are cited by others and are an indicator of impact, and co-authoring relationships, which are an indicator of scientific collaboration. Together, these indicators provide It is noteworthy that 31 countries are responsible for 98% of the world highly cited papers with the remaining 162 nations contributing less than 2%6. Saudi Arabia commands a leading position among its Global Publication Activity in Medical and Clinical Sciences The institute of Scientific Information (ISI) using essential science index for the years 1995 -2005 ranked Saudi Arabia 33rd amongst 100 nations in terms of number of publications over the indicated ten years. The USA ranked first with around 650,000 publications in clinical and medical sciences, with England, Japan and Germany regional peers with regard to total number of publications. However, publications normalized over GDP (articles per USD 1 billion in GDP) provides a different picture. Research performance of the Arab region does not match up to the global performance when performance is measured in terms of publication productivity. measures of collaboration, globalization and impact of science and technology research in fields related to the KSA medical and health research program. occupying distant 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions respectively. Among emerging countries, Turkey and India occupy 15th and 22nd positions with publications amounting to 30,000 and 16,000 respectively.
Number of Articles per USD 1 billion in GDP

200 180 160 140 Number 120 100 80 60 40 20 0
Comoros Morocco Mauritania West Bank.. Lebanon Djibouti Saudi Arabia Bahrain Algeria Oman Jordan Tunisia Kuwait Yemen Eritrea Egypt Sudan UAE Syria
6 Basic Sciences, Clinical Development and National Survillance Peter S. Ringrose, President Bristol- Myer Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute

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Comparing Productivity: Arab Region versus the World 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 4.6% 0% 1.4% 0.5% Biomedical Reasearch 0.1% Articles in top 50 clinical journals
Global Population Global GDP
World
Arab World
KSA Publication Activity in Medical and Clinical Sciences Saudi Arabias total publication in the same time period was around 6,000 for the years 1995 -2005, counted using ISI essential science index. That level of performance puts Saudi Arabia as the leader among its Arab peers with considerable lead over its nearest peer Egypt (below 3,000) publications. The top national institution publishing in the top 10 percentiles of high impact journal is the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center. Howevel, a majority of publications attributed to Saudi institutions are published in Saudi or regional publications. Top 20 (of 1287) Journals publishing Saudi Medical and Health Research 1. Saudi medical journal 2. Annals of Saudi medicine 3. Saudi journal of kidney diseases and transplantation: an official publication of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation, Saudi Arabia 4. Eastern Mediterranean health journal = La revue de sante de la Mediterranean oriental = al-Majallah al-sihhiyah li-sharq al-mutawassit 5. Journal of the Egyptian Society of Parasitology 6. Transplantation proceedings 7. The journal of contemporary dental practice
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8. Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and bimolecular spectroscopy 9. West African journal of medicine 10. Middle East journal of anesthesiology 11. Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis 12. International journal of dermatology 13. Journal of hand surgery (Ednburgh, Scotland) 14. Journal of AAPOS: the official publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus / American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus 15. Ophthalmology 16. Pediatric Surgery International 17. Pharmacological research: the official journal of the Italian Pharmacological Society 18. International journal of gynecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics 19. Journal of tropical pediatrics 20. Journal of obstetrics and gynecology: the journal of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology Interestingly however, the top journal for the Saudi national medical scientific output is the Saudi Medical Journal. This is followed by Annals of Saudi Medicine, Saudi Journal of Kidney Disease and Transplantation and the journal of the Egyptian Society of Parasitology. A quick glance at the most publishing cities in Saudi Arabia indicates that the nations capital has the lion share with more than 4,000 publications over the past ten years. Jeddah comes 2nd with approximately 800 publications whereas Dammam and Abha come 3rd and 4th, each with approximately 300 publications. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization while opportunities and threats are defined as external to the organization. For the purpose of this analysis, the organization is the NMHRS program, including KACST, KFSHRC, other public and private health service providers, universities and government agencies. The following table shows the main identified SWOT attributes. Strengths: attributes of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objectives Weaknesses: attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objectives Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objectives Threats: external conditions that are harmful to achieving the objectives
SWOT Analysis for KSA Medical and Health Research and Innovation Program
This section presents a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of Saudi Arabias Medical and Health Research Program relative to achieving its vision. In a SWOT analysis, terms are defined as follows:
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Strategic Context
SWOT Analysis Helpful Internal Strengths: Existence of research funds from the government Opening of many universities and research centers in Saudi Arabia with Medical collages Existence of governmental graduate scholarship programs Availability of clinical samples and demographics of the country. Weaknesses: Paucity of qualified local talent Lack of effective collaborative research efforts Lack of proper policies and procedures for acquisition and use of new technology Delay in international recruitments in the Kingdom due to government policies and procedures Difficulty in attracting international experts Paucity of private sector grants for research Limited incentives Lack of a fair evaluation system for scholars/ researchers Harmful
External
Opportunities: Development of new diagnostic modalities Development of health/medical research industry Possibility of attracting foreign investors to upcoming biomedical research parks at major universities and specialist hospitals Opportunity to lead Arab and Muslim world in medical research
Threats: Lack of biomedical research and development due to security, economic and political restrictions Lack of sufficient educational programs to produce qualified workers in technical fields to work in health and medical research centers Immobilization of initial funding Insufficient commitment by private sector and health care providers
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Higher Strategy
This section provides the vision for the Kingdoms NMHR Program (Priorities), and defines the vision mission, values, and strategic goals for the program.
Vision
The NMHR Program will advance the health and wellbeing of people in Saudi Arabia by developing the requisite national manpower, expertise, and infrastructure for sustainable, high quality, cutting-edge and competitive research; by fostering and facilitating the performance of novel, interdisciplinary and collaborative research; and by effectively communicating to both policymakers and the public, findings of research and significance of promotion of health, prevention of disease and delivery of healthcare.
Mission
The NMHR Program promotes research in the medical and health sciences to further health and wellbeing in Saudi Arabia.

The NMHR Program values multidisciplinary and collaborative research that builds sustaining relationships among researchers who take advantage of cutting-edge technologies and creative thinking to meet the ever-changing needs of our nations health and well-being. The NMHR Program also values scientific excellence and integrity. It promotes research endeavors that are mutually supportive and conducted in collegial environments that welcome diversity, creativity, and teamwork with the highest ethical standards of practice.
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Higher Strategy
The strategic goals and tactical objectives developed by stakeholders and outlined here are aimed at meeting the aforementioned vision. It is expected that attainment of these strategic goals will require long-term commitment and collaborative effort from all stakeholders. Strategic Goal #1: Development and retention of national manpower and expertise in medical and health sciences research A possible mechanism to attain this goal may be the use of grants and contract funding to support career development for researchers engaged in individualdriven, institutional or multicenter-based basic, translational or clinical research. Such funding may also be used to provide grant support for senior, well-established researcher to allow for protected time devoted to research and mentoring, and for young investigators to receive appropriate mentoring and training. These proposed methods mirror the longstanding practice of the NIH in the US with its R, K, T and P type grant funding mechanisms. The following tactical objectives identify actions that need to be taken to successfully accomplish strategic goal #1. These tactical objectives are selected based on present needs. They will be periodically assessed and updated depending on future needs, funding priorities, and outcomes of previously accomplished objectives. Tactical Objectives: 1. Develop postgraduate training programs to create a locally competent talent capable of conducting novel medical and health sciences research. 2. Develop undergraduate and vocational training programs and on-the-job training opportunities to create a pool of technically skilled support staff and technicians who are committed to good laboratory practices. 3. Develop training programs and rules/regulation mandating compliance with professional research ethics. 4. Prepare competitive recruitment packages in order to attract, retain and nurture first-class researchers. Tactical objectives 1 through 3 can be implemented through grants competitively awarded to universities and medical research centers based on
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Higher Strategy
preannounced request for proposals (RFP). This approach is meritorious because it starts seeding a culture of applying for and operating under competitively awarded grants with clearly defined deliverables and benchmarks for assessment as outlined in the RFP. Instilling such culture among researchers early on will enable national universities, medical and health research centers to adapt to the notion of competition and peer review. Strategic Goal #2: Development of infrastructure for sustainable, cutting-edge and competitive research in the medical and health sciences This goal can be achieved by the creation of National Centers of Health Statistics. This national centre will collect, analyze and disseminate data pertaining to health statistics and burden of disease. Tactical Objectives: 1. Establish a National Centre for Health Statistics. 2. Establish and manage financial systems capable of achieving the stated objectives. 3. Promote e-health programs to identify disease profile and future trends. 4. Establish infrastructure to facilitate and expedite acquisition of and access to resources. 5. Create infrastructure that supports and enables research including e-libraries, clinical research centers, integrated research IT capabilities and core facilities. 6. Develop mechanisms for private fund-raising for research through industry partnerships Strategic Goal #3: Facilitate the performance of novel, competitively-funded and high quality research in the medical and health sciences Tactical Objectives: 1. Provide leadership in medical research by identifying and developing national priorities, securing the requisite financial support, and developing requests for proposals (RFP) for competitive grants and contracts. 2. Develop fair proposal review and scoring protocols for merit-based decisions and awards. 3. Promote performance of basic and translational interdisciplinary research for better understanding and treatment of diseases pertinent to the KSA. 4. Increase national scientific discovery and productivity through dissemination of findings via publications in peer-reviewed and reputed journals. 5. Invest in high quality research through competitive awards. 6. Establish national mechanisms for capturing intellectual properties and accelerating their commercialization. 7. Develop mechanisms to encourage research partnerships and create new industries. 8. Establish and manage financial and administrative systems capable of achieving the stated tactical objectives. This goal can be realized by the establishment of centers of excellence dealing with the defined burden of disease highlighted previously. Priority centers may include National Centre for Diabetes, National Centre for Cardiovascular Diseases, National Centre for Asthma, National Centre for Cancer, National Centre for Communicable Diseases and National Centre for neurodegenerative diseases. These centers will perform intramural research in specified disciplines and will extramurally fund research at nationally recognized universities, research centers, medical centers and teaching hospitals, and other qualified organizations engaged in biomedical research or health sciences.
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Higher Strategy
Strategic Goal #4: Effective communication of research findings and significance of those findings to policy-makers and the public This goal can be achieved through a designated corporate affairs unit within the proposed National Council for Medical and Health Sciences Research. In addition to addressing the tactical objectives outlined below, the unit may provide administrative support services that include human resource, financial, and facilities management, security and procurement, transportation and liaison with various governmental and private external entities. Tactical Objectives: 1. Serve as a source of bio-data for informed decision-making in collaboration with the National Center for Health Statistics . 2. Expand the stakeholder pool on a national level. 3. Increase public awareness of medical and health sciences research and its value to the society. 4. Run public awareness campaigns to raise private funds from industry and philanthropists to support endowed chairmanships and named centers of excellence.
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Technology Areas
Selection Process
An initial list of technology areas in the related fields was developed by stakeholders, taking into account the programs strategic goals and the higher strategy. The program technology areas were selected based on selection criteria developed through stakeholders workshops in alignment with the programs strategic goals, while also considering the programs mission.
Selected Priority Research Areas

Based on the detailed assessment of current prevalence and projected incidence of diseases, the following initial list of medical and health priority areas have been selected for strategic intervention: Non-Communicable Diseases Cardiovascular Diseases Diabetes Cancer Allergy and Asthma Neurodegenerative Diseases Communicable Diseases Genetics Cell Therapy Disability Environmental Health
1
Program Structure
Most national medical and health research programs are based on models from Europe or North America. Key distinctions among these models derive from country specific structure, organization, population, political finance, in scientific research, and existing capacity.
level of development, and health priorities etc. For Saudi Arabia, stakeholders propose a program structure that takes into account the unique Saudi culture, Islamic and historic heritage, past track record
Stakeholders recommend the creation of a new administrative entity charged with supporting the implementation of the proposed strategic priorities. The new entity may be called the National Council for Medical and Health Research (NCMHR). Its primary role will be to provide administrative oversight and logistical support to the affiliated divisions and research performing institutions. It should be headed by a director whose performance is supervised by an advisory council. Members of the advisory council will be nationally and internationally recognized biomedical and clinical scientists as well as health professionals such as physicians, dentists, and public health specialists with keen interest and documented track record in research. Recommended Organizational Structure for NCMHR
NCMHR Leadership and Management
Manpower Development
Infrastructure Development
Research and Grant Administration
Corporate Affairs

Program Structure
It is essential that the NCMHR, in coordination with the key stakeholders, will facilitate the establishment, management and continuous improvement of modern, cutting-edge research institutes in priority strategic areas mentioned previously. The following diagram presents the current priorities as candidates for such research institutes. The institutes highlighted are of the highest poriority.
National Research Institute for Cell Therapy
National Research Institute for Cancer
National Research Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases
National Research Institute for Infection & Immunity NCMHR National Research Institute for Genetics
National Research Institute for Diabetes
National Research Institute for Disability
National Research Institute for Neurosciences
National Research Institute for Health Statistics
National Research Institute for Environmental Health
Legislative Registries
Epidemiology
The identification of disease imposing burden in terms of cost, care and patient education and development and application of technologies addressing those diseases are the major points of consideration for any National
Research Strategy. In order to take on these challenges, a clear model needs to be devised and adopted for each strategic priority.

Program Structure
Performance Indicators for Proposed Program
Performance indicators (measures) were defined by stakeholders for each of the tactical objectives outlined under program strategic goals. Major performance indicators included in the following strategic planning matrix: Strategic Goal # 1 Tactical Objective 1. To develop training programs to create a locally competent talent capable of conducting novel medical and health sciences research 2. To develop training programs and onthe- job training opportunities to create a pool of technically skilled support staff and technicians who are committed to good laboratory practices 3. To develop training programs and rules/ regulation mandating compliance with professional research ethics 4. To prepare competitive recruitment packages in order to attract, retain and nurture firstclass researchers Action Plans 1. Create a culture of grant funded operations at national universities, medical and research centers 2. Prepare RFP for training program contract awards 3. Define competitive review/ award criteria 1. Create a culture of grant funded operations at national universities, medical and research centers 2. Prepare needed skilled technical research support staff Measurable Indicators 1. Solicitation of 25 proposals from national universities, medical and research centers (at a modest rate of 1 per institution in the KSA as a starting measure) Assessments/ Outcomes 1. Preparation of skilled basic, translational and clinical science researchers as outlined in the RFP and contract deliverables for both PhD and postdoctoral level training 1. Preparation of skilled basic, translational and clinical science researchers as outlined in the RFP and contract deliverables for research technicians, research laboratory managers, and research assistants 1. Approval and adoption of #2 2. Implementation as a mandate through funding mechanisms
1. Solicitation of 50 proposals from national universities, medical and research centers (at a modest rate of 2 per institution in the KSA as a starting measure)
1. National research code of conduct and practice
1. Formation of a task force of senior experts 2. Promulgate codes, rules and standards salient to research practice in KSA and congruent with international norms 1. Operational database for #1 and #2 2. Recruitment and retention packages
1. Prepare a national profile of medical and health researchers credentials, capacity, and employment packages (including salaries and percent effort allocations) 2. Prepare comparative COLI adjusted benchmarks from international competitors 3. Based on results of #1&2 above, construct competitive differential packages based on rank and caliber
1. Approval and adoption of #1 and #2 2. Securing the health of the national research enterprise 3. Ensuring a healthy pipeline of senior researchers
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Program Structure
Strategic Goal # 2 Tactical Objective 1. To establish a National Center of Health Statistics for tracking, surveillance, and monitoring of diseases Action Plans 1. Collect, compile and make available current national portfolio and database of diseases and public health profiles of the KSA population for further basic, translational and/or clinical research practices Measurable Indicators 1. Delivery of an operational and fully populated bio-bank database 2. Presentation of findings at national meetings and conferences Assessments/ Outcomes 1. Complete profile data accessible and available to researchers and policymakers 2. Profile data becomes a powerful mechanism to promote medical and health sciences research and promulgate effective health and well-being regulations in 1. Service profile feedback from end users (researchers and grantees) 2. Corrective measure as needed to improve negative findings of #1 above
2. To establish and manage financial systems capable of achieving the stated tactical objectives
1. Set up requisite administrative and operational infrastructure to deliver a seamless and efficient financial services that facilitate and NOT inhibit or impede research practices
1. Operation of an efficient financial support system
3. To promote e-Health programs in order to identify disease profile and future trends 4. To establish infrastructure to facilitate and expedite acquisition/ access to resources 1. Set up requisite administrative and operational infrastructure to deliver a seamless and efficient support services that facilitate and NOT inhibit or impede research practices 1. Operation of an efficient support services systems 1. Service profile feedback from end users (researchers and grantees) 2. Corrective measure as needed to improve negative findings of #1 above
5
Program Structure
Strategic Goal # 2 Tactical Objective 5. To create infrastructure that supports and enables research Action Plans 1. Identify primary stakeholders and prominent researchers and hold orientation and national research promotion retreats to create venues for institutionalization, adaptation and promotion of research oriented cultures and practices within the eligible institutions 1. Develop mechanisms for systemic implementation of private fund-raising and endowment-based development programs in support of the national medical and health sciences research 2. Identify potential individual and organizational donors 3. Develop an awareness mechanism to promote the NCMHSR among the potential donors 4. Set fund raising campaign targets Measurable Indicators 1. Establish a research and institutional outcomes/ assessment programs 2. Track grant fund recipients performance through #1 above Assessments/ Outcomes 1.Best practices, valueadded and evidencebased research support practices as measured by the outputs of funded initiatives of SG#1 and SG#3
6. To develop mechanisms for private fund-raising for research through industry partnerships
1. Lists of donors, their capabilities and past history in philanthropic funding
1. Amounts of funds raised per set targets
6
Program Structure
Strategic Goal # 3 Tactical Objective 1. To provide leadership in medical research by identifying and developing national priorities; securing the requisite financial support; and developing requests for proposals (RFP) for competitive grant and contract funding schemes. 2. To develop research funding review and scoring protocols for meritbased decisions and awards. Action Plans 1. Provide opportunities and venues for researchers, national universities, medical and research centers to secure competitive extramural funding for their research 2. Develop research priorities in novel and specific domains and disciplines and disseminate them through nationally announced RFPs Measurable Indicators 1. No of Infosem and Prosem sessions conducted to inform, educate and train researchers 2. Track number of RFP 3. Track number of applications in response to RFPs 4. Quantify numbers of presentations, papers, and workshops submitted and accepted through peer- reviewed processes 1. No. of panels, study groups, review sessions conducted 2. No. of training workshops Assessments/ Outcomes 1. No of accepted abstracts, posters, presentations, papers, and workshops 2. Amount of extramural fund awarded through nationally competitive review process
1. Assemble expert review panels and research review study groups from a pool of nationally funded senior researchers 2. Conduct training and orientation workshops 3. Develop research priorities 4. Develop RFP development processed and standards 5. Develop review and funding criteria and procedures 1. Make bio-data from I.A above readily available and accessible to researchers 2. Publicize the availability of #1 above in cooperation with IV.D below 3. Solicit grant proposals based on clearly communicated research priorities in area salient to medical and health issues identified in KSA
1. Complete lists of review panels and study groups for each research priority area or focus topic 2. Protocols and procedure for RFP development, grant application reviews and funding awards 3. A systemic merit-based scoring system for #2 above
3. To promote performance of basic and translational interdisciplinary research for better understanding and treatment of diseases pertinent to the KSA
1. No of bio-data bank users 2. No of issued RFPs 3. No of applications received 4. No of application reviewed and scored
1. No of accepted abstracts, posters, presentations, papers, and workshops
7
Program Structure
Strategic Goal # 3 Tactical Objective 4. To increase national scientific discovery and productivity through promotion of and dissemination of findings by publication in peer- reviewed and reputable journals 5. To invest in high quality research through competitive awards 6. To establish national mechanisms for capturing intellectual properties and their development 7. To develop mechanisms to encourage research partnerships and creating new industries 8. To develop and communicate in collaboration with SG#4 a high profile public awareness campaign Action Plans 1. Provide guidelines and training workshops to researchers on types of publications deemed appropriate and acceptable to the NCMHSR 2. Develop publications and references on what the NCMHSR deems as reputable journals 1. Develop RFP development processed and standards 2. Develop review and funding criteria and procedures 1. Establish a IP/Technology Transfer Office in concert with I.A above 2. Develop procedures and salient policies for IP and TT initiatives Measurable Indicators 1. Track No of manuscripts submitted for publication 2. Track No of published papers Assessments/ Outcomes 1. No of published papers, abstracts and accepted presentations 2. No of meritorious acknowledgements of #1 above
1. No of RFPs 2. Review, award, and follow up procedures 3. Applications review and scoring system 1. Publication and dissemination of procedures and operating manuals. 2. Publication of salient rules and regulations 3. No of submitted applications 1. No of secured agreements 2. No of joint events
1. No of competitively reviewed and funded proposals
1. No of captured IPs 2. No of TT agreements
1. Develop and set up cooperative agreements and collaboration opportunities with international research centers and institutes 2. Conduct joint symposia and conferences 1. Organize scientific and laymen-type meetings and publicize productivity through both scientific and public mass media
1. Quantification of nos 1 and 2 in previous Column
1. No and type of venues planned and executed. 2. Develop assessment tools and conduct assessment surveys to measure success rates
1. Independent assessment of outcomes for scientific media outlets by expert peer review processes 2. Independent assessment of outcomes for mass media publications and awareness campaigns by an outcomes
8
Program Structure
Strategic Goal # 4 Tactical Objective 1. Serving as source of bio- data for legislative informed decision- making in collaboration with the National Center for Health Statistics Action Plans 1. Develop a mechanism to serve as a clearinghouse for bio-data in collaboration with I.A above 2. Develop mechanism for systemic reporting of bio- data to policy and decision makers 3. Add links and publish premiers on bio-data 1. Conduct awareness campaigns in concert with local media and at national events such as Al- Janadriyyah and other similar venues Measurable Indicators 1. Reports of requests of info and feedback on biodata from legislatures and researchers Assessments/ Outcomes 1. Provide evidence-based and informed-decision making capacity to legislatures 2. Provide seminal data for researchers
2. Increasing public awareness of medical and health sciences research and its tangible value to society
1. No of events and assessment of efficacy
1. Direct contribution to the mission of the NCMHSR initiative in addressing health and wellbeing through awareness and prevention 2. Public awareness and appreciation of the importance and relevance of research and its impact on their lives 1. Enhanced public awareness of the NCMHSR and its activities 2. Improved collaborations and access to research support and subjects 3. Improved outcomes of RFPs 4. Efficient operation of the NCMHSR activities
3. Expanding the stakeholder pool on a national level
1. Identify new stakeholders based on an agreed upon definition and criteria 2. Invite new stakeholders
1. No of new representatives from various national constituents
4. Developing public awareness campaigns for private fund raising from industry and/or philanthropy through endowed chairmanships and named centers of excellence
9
Workshop Attendees
#
1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 1 14 15 16 17 18 19 0 1 4 5 6 7 8
Name
Dr. Futwan Al-Mohanna Dr. Brian Meyer Dr. Khalid Abu Khabar Dr. Mohammed Shoukri Dr. Essam Al-Yamani Eng. Abdullah Alakel Eng. Khalid Al-Odily Dr. Mohamed Khalil Dr. Sree Harahsa Nagaraja Mr. Hajed Bin Hashan Dr. Abdelmohsin Al-Rohaimi Dr. Abdelaziz Al-Rashed Mr. Hussam Fallatah Dr. Osama Adnan Dr. Faisal Abu Dahir Dr. Mohamed Al-Qahtani Mr. Bandar Dendi Dr. Shaker Adra Mr. Saleh Al-Olayan Mr. Mohamed Al-Omary Dr. Jamal Al-Hashemi Dr. Ali Al-Zahrani Dr. Kamel Metwally Dr. Sherif Mansour Dr. Ali Al-Hazmi Eng. Mohamed Al-Mohanna Dr. Bikr Sadeq Dr. Sami Alabd Al-Wahhab
Institution
KFSHRC KFSHRC KFSHRC KFSHRC KACST KACST KACST MOH KFU FDA FDA KSU KACST Um AlQura University MOH KAU KACST KFSHRC Al-Olayan Company KACST KAU Medical Services-Armed Forces KFU KFU Health Sciences College Consultant Office KFSHRC-Jeddah Saudi Commission for Health Specialties
40
Workshop Attendees
#
9 0 1 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 41 4 4 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 5 5 54 55 56
Name
Eng. Fraij Al-Aredhi Dr. Adil Abu Zenadah Dr. Atef Shibl Dr. Mohamed Kebbah Dr. Maher Shehata Mr. Othman Al-Hazzaa Mr. Azzam Al-Quait Mr. Sami Al-Yahya Mr. Hadi Al-Asmari Dr. Nasim Al-Quraishi Dr. Afdal Assef Dr. Mohamed Bahamad Dr. Ahmed Al-Qahtani Dr. Abdelaziz Al-Maazim Dr. Husain Al-Hazmy Dr. Mohamed Al- Jomaa Mr. Mohamed Al-Turki Dr. Yassir Al-Ghamdi Mr. Yassin Al-Saedi Dr. Mohsin Al-Hazmi Dr. Mamdooh Gari Dr. Hasan Al Ayed Dr. Sultan T. Al-Sedairy Dr. Sultan Al-Mubarak Dr. Muhanna Al-Muhanna Dr. Mohamed Tantawi Dr. Asem Al-Fadda Dr. Abdallah Al-Ahdal
Institution
Information Technology Consultant KAU KSU Barakat Clinic KACST KACST KACST KACST KACST MOH KFU KACST KFSHRC KSU KFU National Guard Hospital KFSHRC MOH KACST Shura Coucil KAU KACST KFSHRC KFSHRC KACST MOH KSU KACST
41
Workshop Attendees
#
57 58 59 60 61 6 6 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71
Name
Dr. Meshref AL-Rowaili Dr. Omar Al-Yahiya Dr. Osama Al-Khamis Dr. Mathieus Goosen Mr. Osama Mesbeh Mr. Saber Abdelrahman Mr. Wesam Al-Dlehi Mr. Izaj Askary Mr. Faeq Khan Dr. Abdellatif Faden Ms. Afaf Al-Twaijri Ms. Dalal Al-Jebrin Ms. Noura Al-Fares Ms. Maha Al-Twaijri Ms. Mona Al-Hefdhi
Institution
Al-Juf University MOH Al-Imam University Al-Faisal University Insecticide House Al-Jafel International Hospital
KACST KACST MOH King Saud Medical Complex Al-Riyadh University Al-Riyadh University King Saud Medical Complex Al-Faisal University
4
www.kacst.edu.sa
www.mep.gov.sa
www.dakkin.com
Petrochemicals
Biotechnology
Energy
Strategic Priorities for Oil and Gas Technology Program
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Stakeholders Strategy Development Strategy Timeframe Analysis of Oil and Gas Publications and Patents Strategic Components Vision Mission Values Strategic Objectives Challenges Technology Areas Technology Target Areas Technology Initiatives and Priorities Key Technologies Strategic Initiatives Infrastructure Finance Human Resources Coordination and Cooperation
4 6 6 8 9 10 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 6 3 3 3 33 34
Contents
Laws and Regulations Localization Strategy Oversight and Management Exploration and Production Technologies 2025 Mandate Organization and Implementation of the Strategy Strategy Review Funding Project Evaluation Final Remarks Appendix A: SWOT Analysis Appendix B: Proposed Organizational Structure Appendix C: Strategic Initiatives Process Primary Initiatives Appendix D: Stakeholders and Participants Stakeholders Workshop Participants Participants in SWOT Analysis Forum
34 35 36 36 36 37 38 38 40 4 43 48 49 5 54 54 55 55
Executive summary
This document outlines a strategy that will guide oil and gas research and development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the next twenty years. Its development required the cooperation of many stakeholders in the exploration and production industry. These stakeholders helped to establish a vision, a mission, values, and strategic objectives that will focus oil and gas research and development in the Kingdom. Each of the strategic objectives has a set of performance measures that will help gauge the success of the Kingdom in implementing this strategy.
Technology target areas were defined using a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. This analysis took inputs from many professionals representing nearly all of the oil and gas companies and universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These individuals helped define the technology target areas by outlining the challenges that the Kingdom faces and expects to face in the future. Figure 1 shows the vision, mission, challenges, and resulting technology target areas. For each technology target area, groups of professionals were selected to carry out more detailed planning.
Executive summary
Figure 1: Vision, Mission, Challenges, and Technology Target Areas Achieving the technical competence to find and produce every drop of oil and natural gas resources in the Kingdoms territories
VISION
Creating an effective research and development environment for Oil and Natural Gas E & P technologies through: Building an R & D infrastructure with qualified professionals. Drafting technology policies and procedures and activating the cooperation and collaboration Localization and development of oil and Natural Gas E & P technologies.
MISSION
Higher sulfur content Slow information gathering including survey and seismic acquisition in land Acquisition seismic Sand near surface and multiples Reservoir characterization and monitoring Data sharing and availability Drilling cost and efficiency Environmental technology and Zero emission in Red Sea production Identification, mapping and understanding of source rocks and petroleum system in the region including the red sea Basement depth and mapping
CHALLENGES
TECHNOLOGY TARGETS
An advanced and integrated database with high end visualization and communication tools for Oil and Gas information Completion of the petroleum geological information Enhanced oil recovery and oil reserves Improved reservoir monitoring and management Improved Oil and Gas exploration and success rates Enhanced Natural Gas Production Enhanced Gas Production Improved drilling quality and effeciency Protecting the environment
In order to ensure the successful implementation of this strategy, a system was designed to monitor its implementation and to allow for periodic updates. All components of this strategy are aimed at creating
value within the Kingdom and the vision is to excel in technologies that will help discover and produce every drop of oil and gas within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in an environmentally friendly manner.
Introduction
The development of this strategic plan began following the approval of a national plan for science and technology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology (KACST) was directed to manage this national plan and it covered many different technology areas. Specifically, the plan focused on 11 strategic and advanced technologies ranked in the order of their importance. Oil and gas was ranked second, emphasizing its importance to the future of the Saudi economy.
Stakeholders
Many stakeholders were involved in the development of this strategic plan. Key stakeholders include Saudi Aramco, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPM), gas ventures, and service companies Figure 2: Relationships among Oil and Gas Stakeholders
for upstream oil and gas sectors. The planning process provided all stakeholders with an opportunity to share their ideas. Figure 2 is a schematic showing the relationships among the stakeholders.
The Steering Chain Stakeholders & Drivers

Gas Ventures + Companies
Service Companies
MOPM
Saudi Aramco
FUNDING
KACST
FUNDS
PLAN & ORGANIZATION
COORDINATION
BENEFITS & LOCAL TECHNICAL SERVICES
STRATEGY
R&D
International Universities & Research Agencies
Local Research
Local Universities
MOPM
KACST
BENEFITS
ARAMCOS R&D
STRATEGY
Introduction
To encourage stakeholder participation, a website for the plan was constructed. The website address is: http://www.ept2025.com The oil and gas program formed a strategy team with representatives from Saudi Aramco, KACST, MoPM, and several universities. The team was responsible for Table 1: Strategy Team Name
Tariq AlKhalifah Abdulrahman AlQuraishi Abdulaziz AlKaabi Saleh Almulhim Iessa Mahfis Majed Badah Abdulaziz AlMajed Abdulaziz ibn Laboun Emad AlHomadhi Hassan Naji Mahmoud AlOsaimi Abdullah AlSabti Emad AlMushaqigh
directing the development of the oil and gas strategic plan. The team met six times for a full day meetings and discussed a wide range of issues. The team also communicated with each other by e-mail and the chat room available at the plan web page. The strategy team is listed in table 1.
Institution
KACST KACST Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco MOPM, Eastern Branch MOPM, Eastern Branch King Fahad University for Petroleum and Minerals King Saud University King Saud University King Abdulaziz University MOPM, headquarter KACST KACST
Position
Director Assistant Director Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Project Manager Team Secretary
Introduction
Strategy Development
The strategy development process began with a review of the oil and gas R&D experiences of technologically Figure 3: Oil and Gas Strategy References mature countries such as Norway and Canada. Some of the references analyzed in this review are shown in Figure 3.
Following a review of other countries initiatives, the status of oil and gas R&D in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was analyzed. SRI international was contracted to benchmark worldwide institutions in upstream oil and gas and to provide an analysis of the relative standing of the KSA in oil and gas R&D as measured by publications and patents status. The oil and gas program next carried out a strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. The program distributed a questionnaire requesting information on strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats to a large number of professionals in the Kingdom. A workshop was then held dedicated to the
SWOT analysis. The head of the Norwegian Oil and Gas technology strategy (OG21) attended this workshop to provide additional insights based on their experience. This workshop included more than 40 people representing nearly all companies, research institutes, and universities working in upstream oil and gas R&D in Saudi Arabia. Later, an additional questionnaire was distributed to specify the latest technologies and projects needed for the kingdom. This was followed by another workshop that defined the technology target areas of importance and discussed the attendees willingness to participate in technology target
Introduction
groups responsible for preparing the detailed technology target areas plans. This process led to the development of this document, which outlines the strategy for upstream oil and natural gas technology development and localization. This strategic plan describes the initiatives needed to achieve the strategic goals and discusses the implementation process of the plan. this plan develops a vision for the next 100 years. It is important to look out this far because, as shown in Figure 4, value from oil and gas production will diminish without the added value from enhanced recovery, new discoveries of oil and natural gas, and the supporting industry. New technologies supporting these potential added values include focusing efforts on the refining and petrochemical industries as we expect that Saudi Arabia will dominate the oil business for a significant period of time to come. However, refining and petrochemicals R&D is covered by another strategy that was developed by the petrochemical institute at KACST.
Strategy Timeframe
Although this strategy concentrates on the next 20 years,
Figure 4: Future Challenges as Value from the Oil and Gas Sector Increases
Petroleum industry Added value from gas Discoveries
Enhanced Recovery
Producing
Fields
2008
2025
Introduction
Analysis of Oil and Gas Publications and Patents
Oil and gas exploration and production is a multidisciplinary field that relies on devices, instruments, and materials developed in fields such as information technology, electronics, mechanics, and advanced materials. The overall field, oil and gas, as well as sub-topics, were defined in close consultation with KACST researchers and other KSA stakeholders. The KSA oil and gas program identifies three sub-topics-petroleum geology, petroleum engineering, and geophysics-relevant to KSA strategic priorities. KACST researchers provided detailed lists of keyword terms that were used to develop search queries for publication and patent databases.1 The scope of this study was restricted to only recent publication (2002-2006) and patent (2002-2006) activity in these fields. There is general agreement that publications and patents strongly correlate with scientific research capacity, although publication and patent counts alone do not fully represent the quality or scope of research. Nonetheless, publication and patent activity have long been used as indicators for knowledge creation and research output. Several indicators are presented below, including forward citations (the frequency at which publications and patents are cited by others), which is as a measure of impact, and co-authoring relationships, which are an indicator of scientific collaboration. Together, these indicators provide measures of collaboration, globalization, and the impact of science and technology research in fields related to the KSA oil and gas program.
1 ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific publication and U.S. patent application data, respectively. The ISI Web of Science is a database of peer-reviewed articles in major scientific journals from around the world. Delphion is a searchable database of global patent activity, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is one of the worlds major granters of patents and it has been argued that the U.S. market is so large that most important inventions from around the world are patented there. 2 Seminal research in the use of publications as a measure of scientific productivity includes A.J. Lotka, The frequency distribution of scientific productivity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 16 (1926); D. Price, Little Science, Big Science, (New York: Columbia university Press, 1963); J.R. Cole and S Cole, Social Stratification in Science, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973); J. Gaston, The reward system in British and American science, (New York: John Wiley (1978); and M.F. Fox, Publication productivity among scientists: a critical review, Social Studies of Science, vol 13, 1983.
10
Introduction
Global Oil and Gas Publication Activity Between 2002 and 2006, there were 3523 articles published worldwide in oil and gas fields related to KSA oil and gas research priorities. As shown in Figure 6, the
3
articles, generating 1137 articles over this time period. The United Kingdom was second, producing 428 articles followed by Canada and Italy with 307 and 258 articles respectively. Saudi Arabia was the 21st largest producer of publications, producing 33 articles.4
United States was the worlds largest producer of related Figure 5: Oil and Gas Publication (2002-2006)
Poland Spain Norway Japan India
Russia
Germany Brazil United States
Australia
France Italy
United Kingdom
Canada China
Saudi Arabia
3 Throughout this section, oil and gas refers only to the subset of oil and gas-related research defined by the KSA oil and gas program. 4 A publication is assigned to a country if any of the publications authors affiliations are located in that country. Because publications often have multiple authors, a single publication may be assigned to multiple countries. Aggregate figures, such as total global publication output, count each publication only once, but adding up sub-totals may yield a result larger than the reported total due to multiple counting.
11
Introduction
As shown in table 2, Petroleum Geology accounts for more than half of oil and gas publications from 2002 to 2006, with Petroleum Engineering (889) and Geophysics (803) splitting the remainder. Table 2: Oil and Gas Sub-Topics (2002-2006) Sub - Topic Petroleum Geology Petroleum Engineering Geophysics Publications 1867 889 803
Benchmark Country Publication Impact Average publication impact is calculated as the number of citations of articles from a particular country divided by the total number of articles published by authors from that country. For instance, a country that published 50 articles that were cited 100 times would have an average publication impact of two. Table 3 presents publication
and citation counts for benchmark countries.5 Between 2002 and 2006, Australia had the highest average publication impact of all countries at 5.10 followed by Germany (4.71), and the United States (4.44). The average publication impact for Saudi Arabia was 0.61 with 20 citations of 33 articles.
5 Benchmark countries include global leaders in terms of total petrochemical technologies publication output in addition to a list of specific countries provided by KACST.ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific.
1
Introduction
Table 3: Oil and Gas Publication Impact (2002-2006) Country Australia Germany USA Netherlands New Zealand Spain Japan UK Norway Canada France Italy Peoples R China Russia Saudi Arabia Publications 150 53 1137 90 100 97 131 48 13 307 35 58 39 18 33 Total Citations 765 1191 5049 365 39 380 51 1607 43 1043 757 730 67 60 0 Average Impact 5.10 4.71 4.44 4.06 3.92 3.92 3.91 3.75 3.51 3.40 3.22 2.83 2.62 1.43 0.61
Oil and Gas Research Organizations Oil and gas R&D publications are produced at more than a thousand research institutions in nearly 100 countries. As shown in table 4, the three institutions producing the largest number of publications related to oil and gas R&D are the Russian Academy of Sciences (131), Stanford University (94), and the University of Texas (79). In petroleum engineering, the top three organizations
are Stanford University, Institut Franais du Ptrole (IFP) and University of Calgary. In geophysics, the top three organizations are the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the University of Texas, and the Russian Academy of Science. Finally, in geology, the top three organizations are the Russian Academy of Science, the Chinese Academy of Science and the USGS.
13
Introduction
Table 4: Global Oil & Gas R&D Organizations (2002-2006) Organization Russian Acad Sci Stanford Univ Univ Texas US Geol Survey Chinese Acad Sci CNR Univ Alberta Inst Francais Petr Univ Calgary Univ London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med Texas A&M Univ Inst Geol & Nucl Sci Univ Tokyo China Univ Geosci Heriot Watt Univ Publications 131 94 79 79 74 53 50 45 44 43 38 37 33 33 3 Total Citations 186 340 73 571 45 109 109 59 88 19 8 158 189 119 5 Average Impact 1.42 3.62 3.46 7.23 3.31 2.06 2.18 1.31 2.00 3.00 2.16 4.27 5.73 3.61 1.63 Geology 103 31 8 43 55 4 0 9 4 11 14 31 10 8 Petroleum Engineering 5 54 8 4 0 0 30 36 33 5 9 0 1 0 Geophysics 3 10 5 3 19 11 1 1 7 7 6 1 4 0
14
Introduction
International Collaboration and Publication Impact For countries with a similar level of publication activity, those with a high level of international collaboration also tend to produce publications with a high level of impact. In this study, international collaboration is calculated as the average number of countries represented per publication, based on authors addresses. Figure 6 plots a countrys level of international collaboration (horizontal axis) against the average impact of its publications (vertical axis). Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, which KSA Collaboration Activity As shown in table 5, authors affiliated with KSA institutions collaborated on more than one article with authors from: the United States (5 publications) and France (2). KSAaffiliated authors collaborated on individual publications with authors from: Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Norway, UAE, and the United Kingdom. show significant international collaborative activity, also tend to produce papers with a higher average impact.
Figure 6: Oil and Gas Collaboration and Publication Impact (2002-2006)
Australia
Average Publication Impact
Germany United States

New UK Zealand Norway France Japan Nether lands Spain
United States United Kingdom Canada Italy
Canada Italy China
Germany China France Russia Australia Japan Norway
Russia
New Zealand Spain
Saudi Arabia
Netherlands Saudi Arabia
15
Introduction
Table 5: KSA Publication Collaborators (2002-2006) Country United States France Australia Canada Malaysia Norway United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Name of Publications 5 1 1 1 1 1 1
Oil and Gas Journals Table 6 presents journals with a significant level of publication activity related to KSA oil and gas sub-fields from 20022006. Table 6: Oil and Gas Journals (2002-2006) Journal Geophysics Earth And Planetary Science Letters Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta Geophysics Journal Of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth Organic Geochemistry Chemical Geology Geophysical Prospecting Geophysical Journal International Tectonophysics Chinese Journal Of Geophysics-Chinese Edition Publications 108 73 60 51 34 34 31 30 9 7
16
Introduction
Journal Sedimentary Geology Geology Journal Of Sedimentary Research Geomorphology Geology Acta Petrologica Sinica Sedimentology New Zealand Journal Of Geology And Geophysics Stratigraphy And Geological Correlation Cretaceous Research Rivista Italiana Di Paleontologia E Stratigrafia Journal Of Petroleum Science And Engineering Journal Of Canadian Petroleum Technology Petroleum Engineering Spe Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering Spe Journal AAPG Bulletin Petroleum Science And Technology Spe Drilling & Completion Oil & Gas Science And Technology-Revue De LInstitut Franais Du Petrole Petroleum Geoscience Spe Production & Operations
Publications 46 170 143 13 107 105 70 69 66 57 188 136 115 86 65 57 4 4 40 1
Regional Publication Trends The previous subsections examined publication data using a keyword-based approach. SRI International also performed an analysis of regional oil and gas publications using a journal based approach. For this
analysis, all articles in ISI-indexed journals related to oil and gas R&D were included. This analysis compared the number of oil and gas publications that are focused on three regions: the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Mexico, and the North Sea. The results are shown in Figure 7.
17
Introduction
Arabian Gulf Petroleum Engineering Petroleum Geophysics Total 339 855 1194
North Sea 650 638 3288
Gulf of Mexico 65 3341 3993
Global 27.142 93.981 121.123
Figure 7: Oil and Gas Publication Trends

100 1000 800 600 400
North Sea
Gulf of Mexico
00 0
96 97 98 99 00 01 0 03 04 19 19 19 19 0 0 0 0 0
Arabian Gulf
05 0 0 06
Despite the fact that the Arabian Peninsula contains the majority of the worlds oil reserves, oil and gas research, as measured by the number of publications, focuses less on the Arabian Gulf than on the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. This is particularly noticeable in the fields of petroleum geology and geophysics in which the Arabian Gulf produces less than one percent of global R&D publications. The challenges in the Arabian Gulf region are as significant, if not more significant, than those faced by the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea. The relatively poor quality of seismic data and the highly fractured and complex reservoirs in the region pose major challenges. These challenges present opportunities for the Arabian
Gulf countries, and specifically Saudi Arabia, to develop new technologies. Oil and Gas Patent Activity Between 2002 and 2006, there were 461 oil and gas related patent applications filed with the United States Patent Office. As shown in table 7, the majority of these (327) listed at least one inventor from the United States. Other countries with a significant number of inventors include: Japan (60 patents), the Netherlands (34 patents), and the United Kingdom (27 patents). Two oil and gas related patent applications listed an inventor from Saudi Arabia. These patent applications are not cited by any other patent applications.
18
Introduction
Table 7: Oil and Gas Patents (2002-2006) Rank 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10 10 13 13 13 13 13 Country United States Japan Netherlands United Kingdom Germany France Canada Italy Norway Australia Russia Ukraine Brazil China Israel Republic of Korea Saudi Arabia Petroleum Engineering 56 8 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Geophysics 40 51 31 5 1 19 14 6 4 3 3 3 1 Petroleum Geology 31 1 1 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Total 37 60 34 7 3 1 19 7 4 3 3 3
19
Strategic Components
This strategy includes a vision, a mission, values, strategic objectives, and challenges. Together these components will guide the future of the local oil and gas R&D program.
Vision
Achieving the technical competence and superiority to find and produce all the oil and natural gas resources in the Kingdoms territories.
Mission
Creating an effective research and development environment for oil and natural gas exploration and production technologies through: An R&D infrastructure with qualified professionals. Policies and procedures facilitating the collaboration between research institutes (universities and industry). Localization and development of oil and natural gas exploration and production technologies to solve problems, improve quality, and reduce cost.
Values
Openness: open and shared information environment. Cooperation: exchange information and ideas through cooperative work. Humbleness: improvement. Truth: delivering accurate and precise information. Dedication: to follow tasks to the end. Competition: the kind that promotes the work spirit and enthusiasm. recognizing that what you have always requires
0
Strategic Components
Strategic Objectives
The following objectives were designed so that the KSA will be able to achieve the strategic vision and mission by 2025. Each objective is followed by a corresponding performance measure. 1. Improved data availability, openness, visualization, and access for research The availability of all acquired geological, geophysical and petroleum informations digitally with instant access. 2. Improved human resources quality, quantity, and education Increase in local Ph.D. holders in E&P disciplines by 1000 percent (or 1000). 3. Improve oil recovery and proven reserves Increase oil in place to 900 billion barrels and obtain a recovery rate of 70 percent by 2025 (Aramco objective). 4. Reduced exploration and production cost Reduce the cost of onshore barrel by 20 percent and offshore barrel by 50 percent. 5. Improve and increase efficiency of oil and natural gas exploration and drilling operations Cut the time needed for land acquisition and drilling operations by a 50 percent. 6. Reduced well pollution and emission No harmful pollutants emission from Red Sea wells and reduce emission from onshore and gulf wells to a minimum. 7. Complete the geological information needed for oil and gas upstream R&D Complete all missing petroleum geology information. 8. Development and localization of technology services for oil and gas The availability of at least 50 percent of the technology services (i.e. software) locally. The performance measures were developed so that projects can be easily evaluated in regards to how they contribute to the strategic objectives.
Challenges
The following is a list of some challenges identified by stakeholders: Education of young people on the importance of oil and gas technologies. Higher sulfur content in petroleum. High water-to-oil ratio. Slow information gathering, including survey and seismic acquisition in land. Seismic acquisition in areas covered with sand and characterized by near surface complexities and multiples. Reservoir characterization and monitoring. Data sharing and availability. Subsalt exploration and production. Drilling in deep water and old and complicated formations. Environmental and zero emission technologies. Identification, mapping, and understanding of source rocks and petroleum system in the region, including the Red Sea. Basement depth and mapping. Unayzah formation heterogeneity. Improved oil recovery. Exploration in new frontier areas such as the Red Sea and Rubaii alkhali. Mapping the top of large reservoirs. Detection and mapping of fractures in carbonate reservoirs. Deep inter-well resistivity measurements. In-situe wettability characterization. The problem of condensate banking in gas wells. Oily water disposal. Upstream waste management. Water down hole and online separation. Pore network modeling. Well monitoring systems. Well testing analysis in highly permeable layers. Sand production from unconsolidated formations. Dealing with reservoirs characterized with high salinity and temperature.
1
Technology Areas
Technology Target Areas
The oil and gas program, together with stakeholders, identified eight technology target areas (TTAs) that will be the focus of Saudi Arabian oil and gas R&D in the future. These technology targets were developed by identifying technology gaps in high-priority areas. The eight technology target areas and more focused secondary technology areas are listed below.
An advanced and integrated database with high end visualization and communication tools for oil and gas information: Development of data storage, compression, and monitoring capabilities Capabilities in data format upgrade and adaptation to our needs (i.e. new Development of analysis, visualization, and integration tools (i.e. user Improved data accessibility through better communication and structure Advancements in data openness and sharing systems (i.e. access Completion of the petroleum geological information: Mapping, modeling, and describing the sedimentary basement (i.e., Better understanding and characterization of the petroleum systems Improved description of important and complicated formations including Improved fault and fracture description and direction in carbonate improved gravity interpretation) including the source rock (i.e., seismic data interpretation). onaiyza formation (i.e., improved well information). formations (i.e., azimuthal anisotropy). (i.e. database). data formats). interface). (i.e. internet access). regulations).

Technology Areas
Completion of the geological maps and their integration and coherency Enhanced oil recovery (EOR): Improved injection and production systems in carbonate reservoir. Determine the proper enhance recovery methods for existing reservoirs. Reduce water-oil ratio. Reservoir modeling, monitoring and management: Improved reservoir modeling and simulation (i.e. parallel simulation), Enhanced reservoir monitoring and attributes extraction (i.e. 4-D seismics, Enhancements in real-time and remote monitoring of changes in giant Improved information and attribute integration for reservoir simulation Fracture and fault detection and mapping in carbonate reservoir (i.e. Improved oil and gas exploration success rates especially in the Rubaii Alkhali and the Red Sea: Improved efficiency and quality of land acquisition (i.e., land streamers). Solving near surface seismic problems (i.e., datuming and inversion). Solving seismic multiple related problems (i.e., full waveform inversion). Improved seismic imaging (i.e., prestack depth migration). Development of unconventional methods for exploration and data modeling and simulation tools. deep diagnostics and sensing). reservoirs (i.e. passive seismic, nanotechnology, wireless technology). (i.e. well-seismic integration), modeling and simulation input data. azimuth anisotropy).
(i.e., remote sensing interpretation).
integration (i.e., remote sensing). Oil and natural gas production: Solving the problem of gas condensate in producing wells. Oil and gas reservoir stimulation. Production free of pollutants. Improved drilling operations (quality and efficiency): Reduce drilling cost and drilling completion through developing efficient Complete drilling and consequences monitoring systems (i.e., drilling drilling systems (i.e., new cutting methods and drilling fluids). sensors and advanced drilling components).
3
Technology Areas
Improved drilling in deep water and through formations in old and hard Improved drilling in high temperature, high pressure and high productivity
layers (i.e., ultra extended reach drilling). formations. Protecting the environment: Improved monitoring systems and methods for emission from wells (i.e., Enhanced production standards to avoid emission. Improved carbon dioxide capture, and sequestration. Production and injection related hazard assessment (i.e., passive seismic, water real-time sensors).
InSAR). The technology target areas were defined to provide guidance to those implementing the oil and gas strategic plan. Each technology target area includes an objective, a background and a description. The phases of implementation for a technology target area are: Theoretical development. Laboratory testing and modifications. Development/further development of equipment. Testing of prototypes. Qualification. Pilot/demonstration. The time required to develop a technology target is estimated to be six to ten years. Therefore, secondary goals (technologies) have been identified under each technology target area. Where technology development is fairly advanced, the demonstration phase may be the only one remaining. Secondary goals can be developed considerably earlier, possibly within two years for some technologies. The technology target areas have not been ranked by priority, but it is assumed that a plan of execution will contain criteria for ranking based on the contribution of each technology target to the strategic objectives. Additionally, eight technology target teams will be formed comprised of three to five professionals from both industry and academia to draft a detailed
4
Technology Areas
plan for each target area and to lead the technology development during the plan execution phase in these areas. KACST EPT2025
Management
Co
Figure 8: Basic/Applied Research Technology Transfer
Funds
bo rat i
strategic objectives fall into two categories: technology prioritization and technology transfer.
on A
The technology initiatives required to meet this plans
g re
em
Technology Initiatives and Priorities
en t
bo lla io rat nA t en em gre
Technology Prioritization
Following a model used by Saudi Aramco, technologies will be prioritized according to their compliance with the strategic objectives (impact), to their probability of success, and to their required resources. While Saudi Aramco>s objectives are focused on oil in place and recovery, the objectives in this plan include elements related to enhancing local content. Therefore, the oil and gas program weighs the criteria with impact weighted more heavily than the probability of success and required resources as follows: Impact (50 percent). Probability of success (25 percent). Required resources (25 percent).
Local Universities and Research Centers
Co
lla
Project
Exchange Professors and Students
International Universities and Research Centers
The second model is concerned with transferring developed technologies or products that require minimal to moderate development for application locally. As a result, it includes an additional component corresponding to the end user. (Figure 9) Figure 9: Developed Technologies/Products Technology
Technology Transfer Models

We use two models for technology transfer, both of which include the exchange of professionals and students between the technology owner or developer and a local entity. The first model applies to the case of transferring basic or applied research that is of strategic importance. research center. In this model, KACST funds projects that allow Saudi graduate students and scientists to join international institutions. (Figure 8) The receiving party in this case is a local university or
Transfer
Ventures and Oil Companies
Collaboration Agreement
KACST EPT2025
IP Agreement
Agreement
Service
Project
Local Labs and Technology Companies
Exchange Professonals and Instruments
F Ma und s na ge me nt
s nd Fu tion rec Di
International Technology Owner or Developer
5
Technology Areas
Like the first model, the project is managed and funded by KACST. However, there is also a collaboration agreement between KACST and the end user (e.g. Aramco, SRAK, TAQA). The end user may also contribute funds and provide direction for the project. In return, the end user gets a preferential service agreement that guarantees access to the developed product or service. An IP agreement is arranged between KACST and the international owner or developer of the technology, Table 8: Technology Target Areas and Underlying Technologies Technology Target Area (TTA) TTA1 TTA1-1 TTA1-2 Technologies which provides the local entity with the right to locally use and develop the technology.
Key Technologies
Table 8 lists some specific technologies within each technology target area. The technologies and target areas in this table are not ranked but will be prioritized according to the methodology discussed previously.
An advanced and integrated database with high end visualization and communication tools for oil and gas information Development of data storage, compression, and monitoring capabilities Capabilities in data format upgrade and adaptation to our needs Wavelet transform and wave packet technology Integrated Databases CFP format and HDF format New data formats Coherency cubes e-drilling Rate of penetration (ROP) modeling and optimization Data integration 3-D visualization and rendering User interface Data bank technologies Internet access Internet friendly access regulations Access regulations
TTA1-3
Development of analysis, visualization, and integration tools
TTA1-4 TTA1-5 TTA2 -
Improved data accessibility through better communication and structure Advancements in data openness and sharing systems Completion of the petroleum geological information Mapping, modeling, and describing the Sedimentary basement
TTA2-1
Improved Gravity interpretation Deep seismics Regional earthquake seismology Basin modeling Seismic data interpretation Seismic while drilling Managed pressure drilling
TTA2-2
Better understanding and characterization of the petroleum systems including the source rock
6
Technology Areas
Technology Target Area (TTA) Improved description of important and complicated formations including Onaiyza formation Improved Fault and fracture description and direction in Carbonate formations Completion of the geological maps and their integration and coherency Enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
Technologies Logging at bit Seismic while drilling Improved well information Data integration for high resolution modeling Azimuthal anisotropy Seismic while drilling Remote sensing interpretation
TTA2-3
TTA2-4 TTA2-5 TTA3 -
TTA3-1
Improved injection and production systems in carbonate reservoir
Smart fluids Water/CO2 injectivity pilot CO2 flooding Wettability characterization and alteration Smart proppant Non-damaging stimulation fluids Acoustic energy for heavy oil production Cost efficient chemicals
TTA3-2
Determine the proper enhance recovery methods for existing reservoirs Field screening for proper enhance recovery methods Gas based EOR Water based EOR Thermal Microbial In well separation methods Chemical and microbial polymer shutoff Smart fluids Down hole water control Smart wells
TTA3-3
TTA3-4
Reduce water-oil ratio
TTA4 -
Reservoir modeling, monitoring and management Finite difference and finite element modeling Advanced computing and Linux clusters Parallel simulation Pore scale modeling Virtual intelligence Near borehole mechanics simulation Fluid flow modeling Basin modeling
TTA4-1
Improved reservoir modeling and simulation
7
Technology Areas
Technology Target Area (TTA) Enhanced reservoir monitoring and attributes extraction
Technologies 4-D seismic Deep diagnostics and sensing Tracers Passive seismic Wireless technology Intellipipe Nanoscope concept Down hole robotics and sensors Nanotechnology Down hole fluid analyzer Multi phase flow metering Well-seismic integration Seismic while drilling Borehole seismic integration Integrated modeling 3-D visualization Azimuth anisotropy Coupled geo-mechanical and reservoir simulation of naturally fractured reservoirs
TTA4-2
TTA4-3
Enhancements in real-time and remote monitoring of changes in giant reservoirs
TTA4-4
Improved information and attribute integration for reservoir simulation and modeling
TTA4-5 TTA5 TTA5-1
Fracture and fault detection and mapping in Carbonate reservoir
Improved oil and gas exploration and success rates especially in the Rubaii Alkhali and Red Sea Improved efficiency and quality of land acquisition Land streamers Wave-equation Datuming and near surface modeling High resolution seismic Radar technology Wave equation inversion SMRE Wave equation migration and velocity estimation Prestack depth migration Remote sensing based mapping
TTA5-2
Solving near surface seismic problems
TTA5-3
Solving seismic multiple related problems
TTA5-4
Improved seismic imaging Development of unconventional methods for exploration and data integration Oil and natural gas production Solving the problem of gas condensate in producing wells
TTA5-5 TTA6 TTA6-1
Smart fluids
8
Technology Areas
Technology Target Area (TTA)
Technologies Acidizing Hydraulic fracturing Non-damaging stimulation fluids Smart fluids and proppants Oil in water acoustic monitoring Down hole water control Down hole gas oil separation process (GOSP)
TTA6-2
Oil and gas reservoir stimulation
TTA6-3 TTA7 -
Production free of pollutants Improved drilling operations
TTA7-1
Reduce drilling cost and drilling completion through developing efficient drilling systems
Advanced drilling fluids (smart fluids) Microholes GEOSTEERING - Low cost 3D rotary steerable systems Logging at bit Novel drill bits Slim hole drilling Down hole sand control Nano composite materials for drill pipe and bit construction Intelligent completion applications Drilling Micro sensors Advanced drilling components Intellipipe wireless transmission Mud logging sensors e-drilling ROP modeling Inclination and logging at bit Electrical drill pipe Leak detection tools
TTA7-2
Complete drilling and consequences monitoring systems
9
Technology Areas
Technologies Ultra extended reach drilling Managed pressure drilling Lightweight drilling fluids and cement, Lightweight risers Torque reduction Through tubing rotary drilling Slim hole re-entry Coiled tubing (CT) drilling Flexible composite drill pipe Laser drilling and perforation Slim hole drilling Managed pressure drilling Lightweight drilling incompressible fluids and cement Lightweight risers Torque reduction Through tubing rotary drilling Slim hole re-entry CT drilling Multi-lateral drilling and completion Precise pore pressure prediction Well testing while drilling Smart wells
TTA7-3
Improved drilling in deep water and through formations in old and hard layers
TTA7-4
Improved drilling in high temperature, high pressure and high productivity formations
TTA8 -
Protecting the environment Real-time sensor systems Cuttings management Water treatment and water based fluids Sonic leak detection systems for oil and gas pipelines Photo acoustic oil in water monitoring Microorganisms for oil spill removal Microbial desulphurization
TTA8-1
Improved monitoring systems and methods for emission from wells
TTA8-2
Enhanced production standards to avoid emission Improved carbon dioxide capture and sequestration Advanced capturing and compression technologies Local sources and sinks screening Monitoring for leak detection
TTA8-3
30
Technology Areas
Technologies Passive seismic DINSAR Integrated geo-mechanical and fluid flow modeling
TTA8-4
Production and injection related hazard assessment
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Strategic Initiatives
This section describes the initiatives that will be undertaken to achieve the strategic objectives. finance, coordination research trends, These human and and initiatives fall into seven categories: infrastructure, resources, strategic
cooperation, laws and regulations, localization. These were obtained based on the output of the conducted SWOT analysis (see appendix C).
Infrastructure
This initiative will develop the KSA R&D infrastructure to support the strategic objectives by: Initiating new outstanding academic programs and developing current available ones (graduate and under-graduate programs). Establishing centers of excellence in universities and research institutes. Starting and supporting incubators that find and commercialize innovative technologies. Starting and developing advanced specialized laboratories. Constructing an organizational structure that will manage and guide R&D operations on the national level. Developing a national database for oil and gas exploration and production technical data to support R&D activities.
Finance
There are two kinds of financial initiatives that will be undertaken. First, there are those that deal with how existing money is spent. Second, are those that deal with securing future funds.
Efficiently Using Existing Funds

Initiatives that deal with how existing money is distributed include: Utilizing current assigned budget in developing infrastructure (buildings,
3
laboratories, equipments, academic chairsetc). Utilizing current assigned budget in the quantitative and qualitative development of human resources through recruitment, financial motivations, fellowships for students and researchers, and supporting training and qualification programs for the R&D staff. Supporting and funding activities that assist R&D activities (data bases, periodical meetings, workshops, societiesetc).
Securing Future Funds

Initiatives that deal with securing future funds include: Proposing allocating part of foreign investments taxes in oil and gas industry to national R&D activities in the same field. Enhancing financial returns from studies and consultation that are provided to beneficiaries. Proposing a way to benefit from private grants and donations. Encouraging national mega companies that could benefit from R&D in oil and gas to take part in funding these activities. Securing continuous governmental funding.
Human Resources
There are three types of human resources initiatives that will be undertaken. The first relates to filling current shortages by attracting foreign researchers. The second aims to attract local manpower over the medium term. The final type of initiative aims to improve educational opportunities for future researchers. Individual initiatives are listed by type below. 1. Compensating current shortages in research staff by attracting outstanding foreign researchers by: Providing an attractive research environment and financial motivations. Exploiting the conservative environment of the kingdom to attract regional researchers. Supporting academic programs and accepting foreign students in graduate studies Proposing amendments to immigration and foreign recruitment laws to eliminate any obstacles to attracting foreign researchers. 2. Attracting local manpower to oil and gas R&D activities by: Arranging educatory programs for talented students.
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Providing financial awards for outstanding students in related academic fields. Approving a new attractive salary structure for researchers that ensure keeping outstanding staff from moving to another industry sector. Adopting new laws and regulations that ensure high quality R&D activities and providing financial incentives for outstanding researchers. Attracting local researchers from other fields (math, physics, and engineering) to participate in oil and gas R&D activities. Supporting current academic programs and starting new programs (in other universities). 3. Developing current and future human resources by: Providing enough scholarships for graduate students in local and international universities. Establishing specialized training programs for researchers and research assistants and technician. Providing fellowship for highly performing researchers in outstanding research institutes. Improving academic and graduate programs. Coordination and cooperation between industry and research sectors: Enhancing the established cooperation between the industry and some research institutes and encouraging the same for other institutes. Encouraging the industrial sector to participate in Exploiting the similarities in the gulf environment to funding R&D activities. promote cooperation of the industry and research sectors and to create a future market for R&D products in the gulf. Utilizing the presence and interest of international oil companies and laboratories in the region to establish an internal and external R&D alliance through which funds and profits are shared.
Laws and Regulations

Initiatives will be undertaken that will propose amendments to laws and regulations that obstruct R&D activities related to: Researchers salary structure. Immigration, foreign recruitment and foreigner salary structure. Performance evaluation and quality control. Rights and laws governing intellectual property. Industry support of local R&D activities through funds and information. Removal of unjustified or unnecessary confidentiality on technical data.
Coordination and Cooperation

To ensure a successful R&D program, there has to be an effective system for coordination and cooperation between the industry and research sectors and between research entities themselves. The following two types of initiatives will be undertaken to achieve this. Coordination and cooperation among research entities: Conducting joint research projects. Exchange of experience and expertise. Establishing periodic meetings, workshops and Enhancing the role of current scientific societies and
conferences. establishing new ones.
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Localization
This initiative will direct and concentrate localization efforts in: Technologies stated in the research trends. Services of a technology nature. Products. Knowledge and consultation capabilities. Advanced education and training capabilities.
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Strategy Oversight and Management

Exploration and Production Technologies 2025
Within KACST, a department will be created called the Saudi Exploration and Production Technologies 2025 (EPT2025) that will manage, oversee, revise, and organize the implementation of this strategy. EPT2025 will have a manager and a secretariat.
Mandate
EPT2025 will be a KACST department that facilitates innovation, technology development, technology transfer and research & development to solve existing problems, and improve the financial, environmental, and quality performance of the Saudi Arabian upstream oil and gas industry. EPT2025 will facilitate collaboration in all aspects of oil and gas R&D. EPT2025s role includes: Facilitating the localization and transfer of new technology for application in the Saudi upstream oil and gas industry. Acting as a matchmaker between those that have problems or opportunities and those that have potential technology or research solutions. Bringing stakeholders together to identify areas where technology or research will make a difference and launching specific projects to address those challenges. Promoting industry participation in the resulting initiatives and assisting with securing funding from a variety of sources. Providing a forum for the exchange of information and the creation of partnerships that are of mutual benefit to all involved and improve industry performance. Facilitating consensus for input to government on strategy and priorities regarding innovation, technology development and research in upstream oil and gas.
36
Strategy Initiatives Strategic Oversight and Management

Organization and Implementation of the Strategy
The strategy outlined in this document provides direction and focus. However, successful implementation of the technology strategy requires: Sufficient support in the industry and the public sector. A plan of action. Sufficient human and financial resources to implement proposed measures, and to follow up the strategy. A capable follow up structure. Thus, to implement this strategy, it is important to establish a single organization to develop and improve already Figure 10: Schematic Oil and Gas Organization Organization EPT2025 will be organized through a secretariat/working group and a board that has a direct link to KACST. Its connection to the oil and gas sector will be through the EPT2025 Forum. A schematic form of the organization is illustrated in Figure 10. established networks (like those in the universities) and organizational structures (like that in Aramco). EPT2025 will link these structures, ensure cooperation, and provide overall coordination of technology development in the oil and gas sector to maximize return on investment.
KACST
EPT 2025 Board
Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources
EPT 2025 Forum
EPT 2025 Secretariat
EPT 2025 Technical Committees
Project 1 Technology Strategy
Project 2 Information / Web
Project 3 Follow up
Project 4 xxxx
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Strategy Oversight and Management

EPT2025 will serve as a catalyst for initiating R&D projects in time-critical areas with relevant participants from the sector. Implementation EPT2025s implementation of the technology strategy will be aided by the strong support it enjoys among stakeholders. This support will be gathered by allowing a broad representation of stakeholders on the EPT2025 Board, and by allowing a comprehensive round of comments on drafts of this strategy document. KACST and MOPM resources will ensure top-level support from the oil companies. The strategy will be introduced through the various research programs under the direction of KACST and through its use in the development of technology strategies by companies and universities. Publicity for the technology strategy and information about activities related to EPT2025 will primarily be disseminated through the website at http://www.ognpksa.org. EPT2025 will provide strategic input to the program The stakeholders will work together to define secondary goals and plans under each technology target area and to identify in more detail the technology gaps and needs that can help achieve their overall objectives. Proposals for projects may be submitted by one or more research/ academic institutes in co-operation with one or more oil companies to bridge the gap between academia and industry. To achieve an efficient, powerful system for implementing and following up the strategy, and for EPT2025 to be more of significant contributor, it has been proposed that the major oil companies be responsible for co-ordinating one or more of the technology target areas. The oil companies would work with the EPT2025 secretariat, forming a core committees. group/technical committee. The participants in this core group will be responsible for: Surveying demonstration. Surveying the technology gaps and research needs in the area in consultation with the oil and gas sector. Drawing up action plans for technology development in the area. Initiating and promoting technology development projects in the area. Being a driving force behind the funding of relevant technology development projects. Keeping track of technological developments in the area, following up the strategy and informing relevant participants in the sector. Ensuring the co-ordination of overlapping activities, and exploiting synergies. Establishing and operating an electronic meeting place in the relevant area. relevant technological developments in the areas in question, from strategic research to
Strategy Review
This strategy and corresponding implementation plans will be reviewed and updated annually. A comprehensive review will take place every five years. This update will require the same amount of effort needed to develop this initial strategy. Updates will be suggested and studied by the EPT2025 Forum and must be approved by the EPT2025 Board.
Funding
Implementing the strategy described in this document will require considerable effort over a period of five to ten years. This will only be the beginning of long-term
38
Strategy Initiatives Strategic Oversight and Management

efforts as it is expected that initiatives undertaken in this strategy will last beyond 2025. KACST, the oil companies, and the supplier industry must work together to support these efforts. The formation of EPT2025 will allow existing oil and gas R&D funding to be used more effectively. However, more government funding is necessary as a catalyst to achieve the desired <push>. Without the government funding and incentives, it is doubtful that the industry will be able to develop technology fast enough to take advantage of the window of opportunity presented by the challenges in oil and gas R&D. The supplier industry has fewer funds available for R&D investment than the oil companies due to lower profitability. At the same time, considerable technology development tasks should be transferred to the local supplier industry. As oil prices are high, local oil companies are executing larger and larger projects requiring quick supplier response, which increases the cost of supplier services. This creates an opportunity to develop technology enhanced local suppliers at a lower cost. The local supplier industry has limited opportunities to strengthen its R&D efforts and should focus on enhancing its competitiveness. This is largely taking place today as markets and technological needs are shifting away from Saudi Arabian needs. The supplier industry cannot handle long-term R&D needs specific to the KSA. This strengthens the argument for doing research and development in supplier activities and to help develop these technologies for new supplier companies. Funding and guidance for this will be predominantly provided by the government through KACST. However, we envision that this strategy will also help direct funding that oil companies and other entities may wish to provide.
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Project Evaluation
Projects that support this strategy will be considered through a yearly request for proposals (RFP) that will be distributed and announced on the EPT2025 website every September. Proposals will be due in January of the following year. The technology target groups for each technology target area will develop the request for proposals for their relevant areas. The RFP should fit the vision and objectives developed for each technology target area. The technology target groups will evaluate the received proposals. The evaluation will be based on how much each proposal contributes to the strategic objectives outlined in this document.
Table 9: Strategic Objectives, Technology Target Areas, and Stakeholder Support Type Objective Technology Target Areas 1 Stakeholder Support Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, KACST, and the Saudi Geological society EPT2025, KACST, the ministry of higher education, and universities EPT2025, Aramco, MoPM, and the universities EPT2025, Aramco, service companies, and universities EPT2025, Aramco, service companies, and universities EPT2025, Aramco, MoMP, and universities EPT2025, MoMP, and universities EPT2025 and KACST
The availability of all acquired DataAvailability and Access geological, geophysical and Petroleum info digitally with instant access Human Resources Increase in local Ph.D. holders in E&P disciplines by 1000 percent (or 1000) Increase Oil in place to 900 billion barrels and obtain a recovery rate of 70 percent by 2025 Reduce the cost of an onshore barrel by 20 percent and an offshore barrel by 50 percent Cut the time needed for land acquisition and drilling by a 50 percent
All
Enhanced Oil Recovery
3, 4
Reduced Cost of Exploring and Production Efficient and Improved Exploration and Drilling
3, 5
5, 7
Eliminate emissions from Red Sea Reduced Well Pollution and wells and reduce emissions from Emissions onshore and gulf wells Geological Information for Upstream R&D Complete all missing Petroleum geology information
1 All
Technology Services for Oil The availability of at least 50 percent of the and Gas technology (i.e. software) services locally
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Project Evaluation Strategic Initiatives

As an example, three oil and gas projects were evaluated: Advanced Imaging dedicated to advanced processing and imaging of seismic data for better exploration and reservoir description. This project would help four potential scientists obtain their PhD in advanced imaging from abroad. A purely scientific project on Smart Fluids. Figure 11: Example Evaluation of Three Projects with Regards to Strategic Objectives Information Human Recovery Cost Efficient Pollution Geology Services
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Human development: a project to develop ten graduates in the field of petroleum geology. The evaluation of these three projects with regards to each strategic objective is shown in Figure 11. Each of the three projects was weighted based on how much they contribute to each objective.
Human Development Smart Fluids Advanced imaging
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Final remarks
The development of this plan has been a joint effort with companies like Saudi Aramco, SRAK, LUKSAR providing significant contributions. This strategic plan will be followed by an implementation plan describing how to achieve the stated objectives. The plan will detail spending and project priorities as well as a structure for quality control and risk management.
4
Appendix A: SWOT Strategic Initiatives Analysis

Table A-1: Policy Related SWOT Analysis Table 1 Strengths: 1. The current availability of funds and support 2. Increased focus on upstream R&D strategic planning 3. Underutilized local university professors in R&D Weaknesses: 1. Lack of long term funding commitment and well structured support for R&D activities 2. Lack of focus and direction 3. Inefficient and insufficient infrastructure to support research activities 4. Insufficient cooperation and coordination between involved sectors and researchers 5. Shortage of qualified specialists (quality and quantity) 6. Departure of scientists to better pay jobs (inside & outside) 7. Weak academic and research programs 8. Shortage of young researchers and technicians 9. Weak incentives for R&D professionals 10. Lack of accountability and quality control in R&D activities 11. Lack of international R&D alliances 12. Lack of technology incubators to transform innovations to commercial realities 13. Nonexistent or insufficient number of centers of excellence
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Appendix A: SWOT Analysis
Threats: 1. Committed ongoing funding resources for R&D activities 2. Government regulations and strict immigration laws 3. Confidentiality policy set by data owners limiting information and raw data sharing 4. Lack of confidence in national researchers and national research centers 5. Instability of oil and gas prices and the consequent affect on R&D funding and interest 6. Low interest by students in joining the related fields 7. Seeking investment return in a short period by oil companies 8. Inadequate enforcement of intellectual property regulations 9. Technology monopoly and secrecy 10. The increasing interest in alternative fuels 11. International environmental policy and regulations 12. The international geopolitics
Initiative # 1 3 4 5 6 7 8
Factors S1 S2 T5 S1 S2 T6 S1 T7 S2 T1 S2 T2 S1 S2 T3 S2 T8 S3 T4
Initiative # 1 3 4 5 6 7 8
Factors W3 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10/ T2 W2 W7 / T3 W10 / T4 W1 / T5 W11 W9 / T8 W4 W12 W13 / T9 W2 W7/T11 O9 /T3 T4
44

Opportunities: 1. Government Interest and public appetite for scientific development and achievement 2. HC being the main national income 3. The position of Kingdom as a leading oil producer 4. Presence of vast amount of upstream E&P data and cases (onshore, offshore) 5. Huge current and unexplored potential oil and gas reserves with desire and need to improve reserves and recovery 6. New exploration activities targeting new frontier areas 7. New exploration activities for free gas by international companies 8. Industry eagerness for using and applying the latest upstream technologies 9. Recent industry desire to cooperate with local R&D centers 10. Presence of promising current and future markets for R&D products in the gulf countries 11. General lack of focus and investment on onshore technologies 12. Underpaid and underappreciated scientists in third world countries 13. Stable oil and gas governmental policy 14. Easily accessible excellent outcrop geological information 10 11 1 13 S1 S2 O13 S3 O11 S1 S2 S3 O8 O9 S1 O14 14 15 16 17 18 19 0 Initiative # 9 Factors S1 S3 O4 O5 O6 O7 O12 Initiative # 13 Factors W1 W3 W5 W8 W9 W12 W13 / O1 O2 O3 W2/O4 O5 O6 O7 W2/ O8 W5 W6 W7 W8 / O13 W11 / O14 W4 / O9 W14 / O7 W12 W13 / O8
45
Appendix A: SWOT Analysis

Table A-2: Technical SWOT Analysis Table 2 Strengths: Weaknesses:
1. Good modeling tools and computer capabilities 1. Higher sulfur content 2. Oil recovery as compared to others 3. Number of wells and possible info 4. Long history of exploration and production 5. Low relief and simple structure at depth 6. Oil in shallow waters, no deep drilling 7. Generally highly porous reservoirs 8. Generally large oil fields 9. Oil production and examples 10. Amount of oil exploration and seismic data 11. The latest software and solutions are present 12. Available funds 2. Water production 3. Slow information gathering including survey and seismic acquisition in land 4. Acquisition seismic sand and near surface and multiples 5. Reservoir characterization and monitoring 6. Data sharing and availability 7. Subsalt exploration and production 8. Drilling cost and efficiency 9. Environmental technology and zero emission in Red Sea production 10. Identification, mapping and understanding of source rocks and petroleum system in the region including the red sea 11. Basement depth and mapping 12. Onaiza formation heterogeneity 13. Red Sea and Rubaii alkhali Exploration 14. Gas exploration and production 15. Mapping the top of large reservoirs 16. Detection and mapping of fractures in carbonate reservoirs 17. Deep inter-well resistivity measurements 18. In-situe wet-ability characterization 19. The problem of condensate banking in Gas wells 20. Oily water disposal 21. Upstream waste management 22. Water downhole and online separation 23. Pore network modeling 24. Well monitoring systems
46
Threats: 1. Technology monopoly and secrecy 2. International environmental policy and regulations 3. Lack of scientists in some technologies 4. Lack of continuity of funding resources for R&D activities 5. Hiring regulations
Initiative # 1
Factors S1 S3 S8 S12 T1 T3 S8 T4 S4 S5 S6 T2
Initiative # 15
Factors W1-W24/ T1 T3 T5 W1 W2 W3 W4 W8/ T2 W1-W24 / T4
3
16 17
Opportunities: 1. Available funds for research 2. High number of wells and corresponding info 3. Good coverage of exploration data 4. Weak environmental regulations 5. Presence of vast amount of data and examples 6. Good modeling tools and computer capabilities 7. Easily accessible excellent outcrop geological information 8. Significant hydrocarbon reserves 9. Coordination between various local entities 10. Collaboration with international research entities 11. A plan to organize efforts 12. University research capability 13. Aramco facilities and researches 14. Ministry support 15. Collaboration with service companies
Initiative #
Factors S1 S2 O8 O10 O12 O15 S5 S6 O15 S7 O7
Initiative #
Factors W1 W2 W22/ O1 O4 O8 O10 O12 O13 W6/O1 O2 O3 O5 O6 O11 O14 W10 W11 W12/ O1 O2 O3 O6 O7 O12 O14 W3 W4 W7 W13 / O1 O3 O10 O12 O13 W5 W15 W16 W18 W23/ O1 O2 O4 O6 O8 O9 O12 O13 W8 W22 W24/ O1 O2 O7 O14 O15 W14 W19/ O1 O12 W9 W20 W21/ O1 O11 O12 O14
S8 S9 S10 O12 O14 O15
11
10
13
1
14
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Appendix B: Proposed Organizational Structure Strategic Initiatives

Figure B-1: Proposed Organizational Structure
KACST
Steering
Consultant
Program Management
Support
Research
Human Procurement Training Financial Project
TTA1 TTA2 TTA3 TTA4 TTA5
48
Appendix C: Strategic Initiatives Process Strategic Initiatives

This appendix explains the process that was undertaken to develop the strategic initiatives. The process involved extracting primary initiatives after performing the SWOT analysis (Table A-1) and categorizing these initiatives Table C-1: Strategic Initiative, SWOT, and Themes # 1 ST S1 S2 T5 Initiative Utilizing current assigned budget to make plans for a sustainable funding Providing financial and mental motivators to attract students to relevant fields of studies and developing a strategy to attract students Concentrating on long term researches and limiting funds of short term research to benefiting companies Utilizing current interest in R&D and strategic planning to secure a continued future funding Proposing the change of recruitment and procurement laws and regulations utilizing current interest in R&D strategic planning Utilizing financial funding and interest in R&D to establish a data base that support research activities Providing proposals that address intellectual property rights and enforcement Utilizing currently wasted manpower in the researchers sector to accomplish outstanding researches and increase the confidence in local researchers Initiative Utilizing current assigned funds and available manpower to benefit from available data in performing research projects in new frontier area exploration (onshore and offshore), gas exploration and enhanced recovery Utilizing current assigned funds to develop a detailed long term plan to exploit researchers from developing countries and those who want to live in the Kingdom Exploiting the resemblance of geological conditions of the Gulf in conducting joint researches and creating a local future market for advanced E&P technologies Themes Financial according to administrative themes (HR, coordination & cooperation, etc.). Primary initiatives were then rephrased in order to consolidate initiatives.
S1 S2 T6
Financial, HR
3 4
S1 T7 S2 T1
Financial, Coordination Financial
S2 T2
Laws
6 7
S1 S2 T3 S2 T8
Coordination Laws
8 #
S3 T4 SO
Laws, Coordination, HR
S1 S3 O4 O5 O6 O7 O12
Res. Trends
10
S1 S2 O10 O13
HR, Laws
11
S3 O11
Coordination
49
Appendix C: Strategic Initiatives Process
1
S1 S2 S3 O8 O9 WO W1 W3 W5 W8 W9 W12 W13 / O1 O2 O3 W2/O4 O5 O6 O7
Directing resources within a long term plan to produce advanced technologies that support increasing demands of oil industry Initiative Having oil and gas as the primary resource for the country and being the greatest producer and exporter in the world imply a greater concern in developing infra structure of R&D in oil and gas E&P (funding, HR, infrastructure) Directing researches towards exploration and production technologies in new frontier areas (Red Sea & Rub Alkhali) while concentrating on discovery of new fields and enhancing available ones Exploiting current industry interest in applying state of the arts technologies to direct R&D activities to fill future demands of industry Utilizing the attracting environment of the Kingdom to Muslims to attract outstanding researchers to support R&D and academic activities Utilizing the stability of oil industry policy of the Kingdom in establishing international R&D alliance Utilizing the current cooperation between the industry and specific research entities to enhance cooperation between research centers and researchers Utilizing the presence of international gas ventures to enhance international cooperation in R&D activities
Res. Trends
13
Infrastructure, Financial, HR
14
Res. Trends
15
W2/ O8
Res. Trends
16
W5 W6 W7 W8 / O10 O13 W11 / O14
HR, Laws
17
Coordination
18
W4 / O9
Coordination
19 0 #
W14 / O7 W12 W13 / O8 WT W3 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10/ T2
Coordination
Exploiting current industry interest in applying state of the arts Coordination, Infrastructure technologies to establish excellent centers and incubators Initiative Proposing the amendments of laws and policies that obstruct developing scientific research as foreign recruitment and administrative laws Re-evaluating the confidentiality of technical data in the industry to help in the formulation of the strategy and to enhance research and academic programs
1
Laws

W2 W7 / T3
Coordination, Laws
50
3
W10 / T4
Establishing standards for quality assurance in the research to gain more confidence from the industry in local R&D activities Securing a sustainable and continued funding of the R&D sector mitigating the instability in oil prices Enhancing and enforcing IP laws to motivate researchers and cooperate with international entities Enhancing cooperative research activities to produce technologies that will break monopoly Directing R&D activities to environmentally friendly technologies. (CO sequestration, waste water management etc) Initiative Utilizing the current cooperation between industry and specific research institutes to break down confidentiality and enhance confidence in local researches
Laws, HR
4 5 6
W1 / T5 W11 W9 / T8 W4 W12 W13 / T9 W2 /T11
Financial Laws, Coordination, HR Coordination
7
Res. Trends
OT
8
O9/ T3 T4
Coordination
51
Appendix C: Strategic Initiatives Process

Primary Initiatives
The following is the formulation of the initiatives after rephrasing: Infrastructure Extracted from (20+13): Having oil and gas as the primary resource for the country and being the greatest producer and exporter in the world imply a greater concern in developing infrastructure of R&D in oil and gas E&P including: Academic programs (graduate and undergraduate). Excellence centers. Incubators. Well equipped laboratories.
Financial Extracted from (2+13): Utilizing current assigned funds to support R&D by: Motivating researchers. Fellowship and scholarship to students. Equipping laboratories. Funding high priority researches. Training. Funding academic programs (research chairsetc). Extracted from (1+4+24): Making a plan for securing a sustainable funding through: Available governmental funds. Grants and donations. Financial returns from studies and consultation that are provided to Foreign investments taxes in oil and gas industry.
beneficiaries.
Future Research Trends Extracted from (27+15+14+12+9): Directing researches, current and future resources through: Coordination and cooperation with industry to define research trends. Concentrate on technologies that suit our local conditions and needs. Concentrate on non-traditional new frontiers (Red Sea and Rub Alkhali). Gas exploration and production technologies. Environmentally friendly technologies (CO sequestration, waste water
managementetc).
5

Human Resources Extracted from (2): Enhance the enrolment of talent gifted students to academic fields related to oil and gas E&P technologies through: Arranging educatory and public awareness programs. Industry provided scholarship. Allocating enough opportunities of scholarship for Improving the salaries and compensations for Extracted from (13): Utilizing available funds in developing HR through: Training and scholarship. Fellowship. Attracting salaries. Financially motivating outstanding researchers. Extracted from (10+16): Compensate the shortage of manpower by foreign recruitment through: Amendment of recruitment laws. Good salaries and attracting research environment. Enhancing graduate studies in universities and Extracted from (8+23): Establishing standard and regulations for R&D activities and exploiting wasted human resources by applying standards to control quality. Coordination and Cooperation Extracted from (3): Coordination with industry in sharing the support of research. Extracted from (6+22+28): Establishing a technical database that includes all information needed to support researchers while taking in account confidentiality of some information. Extracted from (11+17+18+19+26+28): Establish local and international R&D alliance through which support and benefits are shared between all parties Laws and Regulations Extracted from (5+7+8+21+23+25): Proposing amendments of laws and regulations that obstruct R&D activities that are elated to recruitment: Immigration, foreign recruitment and foreigner salary Performance evaluation and quality control. Procurement. Rights and laws governing intellectual property. Industry support of local R&D activities by funds structure. through: Utilizing what currently is available of cooperation between industry and some research institutes and spreading the experience to other institutes. Exploiting the resemblance of research environment of the Gulf in conducting joint researches and creating a local future. Utilizing the presence and interest of international oil companies and laboratories in the region to establish an internal and external R&D alliance through which funds and profits are shared.
graduate studies. researchers and R&D staff.
providing seats for foreign students.
and information and removal of unjustified or necessary confidentiality on technical data.
53
Appendix D: Stakeholders and Participants

Stakeholders
Private Sector Table D-1: Private Sector Stakeholders
Department
EXPEC-ARC The exploration divisions Development divisions Development divisions Development divisions Universities Table D-2: University Stakeholders Department
Company
Saudi Aramco The four Gas ventures Services companies, ARGAS, Schulumberger, and more Alkhafji joint operations Saudi Chevron Company
Comments
Dedicated to advanced research and development in exploration and production
Carbonate research center, Dhahran
University King Fahad University for Petroleum and Minerals King Saud University King Abdulaziz University
Petroleum Engineering and Earth Sciences Departments Petroleum Engineering and Geology Departments Earth Sciences College Ministries and Agencies Table D-3: University Stakeholders Department The Ministry branch in the Eastern region Research Centers and Institutions Table D-4: Research Center and Institution Stakeholders Department Oil and Gas Center Dhahran Carbonate Research Center
Organization Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources
Center and Institute Research Institute at King Fahad University Schulumberger
54
Appendix D: Stakeholders and Participants Strategic Initiatives

Workshop Participants
Dr. Salih Saner Dr. Ali Sahin Dr. Emad A. El-Sebakhy Dr. Abdulaziz M. Al-shaibani Dr. Abdullatif Abdulrahman Al-Shuhail Dr. Mustafa M. Hariri Dr. Tarek Sheltami Dr. Hasan Yousef Al-Yousef Dr. Hassan Salman Al-Hashim Dr. Muhammad Ali Al-Marhoun Dr. M. R. Awal Dr. Oguz Irtem Dr. Abdulwahab A. Abokhodair Dr. Adel Fawzy Douban Mr. Abdulmohsin Al Dulaijan Mohammed Badri Mr. Akhat Khakimov Abdulbari Arefi Mr. Abdulaziz S. Al-Issa Saud Al-Haluli Dr. Harry W. Mueller Dr. Dhafer A. Al-Shehri Sami Al-Neaim SUSHANTA MOHAPATRA Jan Erik Strand Dr. Tariq Alkhalifah Dr. Abdulaziz A. Al-Majed Dr. Emad S. El-Homadhi Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Quraishi Dr. Abdulaziz Ibn laboun Dr. Abdulaziz Kaabi Mr. Abdallah Alsabti Mr. Emad Al-Mushaigeh
Participants in SWOT Analysis Forum

Mr. Moujahed Al-Husseini GEOARABIA, Dubai Dr. Adel Fawzy Douban KSU, Riyadh Dr.Abdullatif Al-Shuhail, KFUPM, Dhahran Dr. Adnan Alhashem, Dr. Hassan Salman Al-Hashim Dr. Mohammed Emera Mr. Abdulbari Arefi Dr. Ahmed Gawish Dr. Eissa Shokir Dr. Mohammed M. Amro Mr. Mohammed Badri, DRC, Dhahran Dr. Ali Sahin Mr. Yahya Shinawi, MOPM, Dhahran Mr. Saleh A. Al-Maghlouth, SSG, Khobar Mr. Abdulmohsin Al Dulaijan, SRAK, Khobar Mr. Claudio Bagaini, Schulmberger, UK
55
www.kacst.edu.sa
DAKKIN 01 478 8584
Petrochemicals
Biotechnology
Energy
Strategic Priorities for Petrochemicals Technology Program
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Program Scope Plan Development Process Alignment with National Science & Technology Policy Strategic Context KSA Petrochemicals R & D Needs Stakeholders Roles Analysis of Petrochemical Publications and Patents Global Petrochemical Technologies Publication Activity The Current Status of the Petrochemical Industry in the Kingdom Analysis of Comparable Petrochemicals R&D Institutes SWOT Analysis for KSA Petrochemicals Strategic Technology Program Higher Strategy Vision Mission Program Values and Culture Program Strategic Goals Technology Areas Selection Process
4 6 6 8 9 9 10 10 11 1 13 19 0 1 3 3 4 4
Contents
Selected Technology Areas Program Structure Program Objectives Performance Indicators Program Project Categories Operational Plans Portfolio Management Portfolio Management Process Technology Transfer Plan Quality Management Plan Human Resources Plan Communications Management Plan Risk Management Plan Implementation of the Plan Appendix A: Stakeholders Participants Appendix B: Development Methodology 4 5 5 6 7 8 8 9 30 30 31 31 3 34 36 37
Executive summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined 11 programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. This roadmap is the plan for one of these programs, the Petrochemicals Technology Program. The program is designed to promote the development of petrochemical technologies in support of economic, social, and other critical national needs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Particular emphasis is placed on the development of local capacity supported by strategic technology adoption. Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producer in the world. It is projected that ethylene, the most important basic petrochemical, will be produced at a capacity of greater than 18 million tons in 2012. Saudi Arabia is considered among the largest producers of polymers in In this connection, and in order for Saudi Arabia to efficiently utilize its natural resources from oil and gas in the petrochemical industry, it is necessary for all stakeholders (i.e., governmental and private sectors, universities, research centers, and petrochemicals manufacturers) to collaborate jointly in the following areas: Oil Processing Hydro-treatment (e.g. Deep hydrodesulphurization of petroleum fractions) Clean fuel (e.g. production of high octane components, conversion of heavier crude oil to higher quality hydrocarbons, development of refining catalysts and additives for clean fuel target, and desulphurization of crude oil). Petrochemicals Synthesis Light paraffin activation (e.g., gas to liguid (GTL), selective oxidation, utilizing novel catalytic reactors such as membrane reactors for selective oxidation and oxidative coupling). Polymers (e.g., producing engineering and high performance polymers, polymeric membranes, and conductive polymers). The priority technology areas that emerged from this process are the following: 1. Oil & Gas Processes. 2. Refining Processes. 3. Clean Fuel. 4. Process Development. the world at annual production of greater than 8 million tons. Hence it is essential for Saudi Arabia not only to export primary petrochemicals but also to make value added products from basic petrochemicals with innovative technologies for economic prosperity.
Executive summary
Specific fields of interest within these areas include 1. Cracking. 2. Isomerization. 3. Dehydrogenation. 4. Polymerization. 5. Alkylation. This plan was developed by KACSTs with the input from stakeholders in petrochemical technologies including government agencies, industry and universities. The planning process was based on the following steps: identifing the key needs of the Kingdom for petrochemicals technology. assessing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the program, including an analysis of KSA petrochemicals publications and patents and an assessment of international research institutes. defining a vision and a mission for the Kingdoms petrochemicals program. defining the key technologies and other program areas needed to address the Kingdoms needs in petrochemicals technology. Among the key needs in the Kingdom identified in process are: satisfying the increasing demand for petrochemical products. supporting national self-reliance in petrochemical and refining-related research and development and reducing dependence on foreign technology. enhancing price/value efficiency in the petrochemical industry. contributing to national economic diversification by developing petrochemical technology industries and export. providing new investment and employment opportunities. The Petrochemicals Strategic Technology Advisory Committee, with stakeholder membership, will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will establish and review performance metrics and provide advice on the portfolio of projects. The Committee will advise the Program Manager and will also report to the National S&T Plan Supervisory Committee, which will oversee all of the Strategic Technology Programs. The Petrochemicals Technologies Program consists of a program leadership function, responsible for overall planning, management, and cross-cutting issues, and 5 priority technical areas corresponding to the abovementioned fields. The Petrochemicals Technology Program will be directed by a Program Manager, who will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. In addition to the technical needs, stakeholders identified a large number of areas where policies need to be changed or barriers removed to facilitate petrochemicals innovation. These needs include: Policies to facilitate R&D collaboration between KACST, universities, and industry. Policy and organizational changes in universities to improve the ability of faculty members to conduct research. Expanded human resources for petrochemicals R&D Improved knowledge of international technology developments. Expanded international collaboration, including cooperation between Saudi universities and world universities. Small business contracting preferences to support innovative small companies.
Introduction
Background
KACST was directed by a 1986 Royal Decree to propose a national policy for the development of science and technology and to devise the strategy and plans necessary to implement them. In July 2002, the Council of Ministers approved the national plan for science and technology, which drew up the broad lines and future direction of science, technology, and innovation (STI) in the Kingdom, considering the role of KACST as well as that of universities, government, industry, and society at large. The plan, depicted in figure 1, encompasses:
1. Strategic and advanced technologies 2. Scientific research and technical development capabilities 3. Transfer, development and localizing technology 4. Science, technology and society 5. Scientific and technical human resources 6. Diversifying financial support resources 7. Science, technology and innovation system 8. Institutional structures for science, technology and innovation
Introduction
an Hum ces ur Reso


l cia an rces Fin sou Re
Ad
In the Strategic Technologies area, KACST is responsible for 5-year strategic and implementation plans for 11 technologies: 1. Water 2. Oil & Gas 3. Petrochemicals 4. Nanotechnology 5. Biotechnology 6. Information Technology
7. Electronics, Communication, & Photonics 8. Space and Aeronautics 9. Energy 10.Environment 11.Advanced Materials Each plan establishes a mission and vision, identifies stakeholders and users, and determines the highest priority technical areas for the Kingdom.
Introduction
Program Scope
The scope of this plan is national: it is a Petrochemicals Technology Strategic plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The plan involves KACST, universities, industry, and government stakeholders. KACST has overall responsibility for the development and execution of the plan. The programs sphere of activity involves petrochemicals and refining-related fields of technology that are significant to the Kingdoms interests and concerns as expressed in the National Policy for Science and Technology. The programs main deliverables are petrochemicals and refining technologies. These technologies are to be developed within the Kingdom and through strategic technology transfers to benefit users in the Kingdom as well as incubators and Technology Innovation Centers. The program will also maintain a perspective on international developments in petrochemicals technologies. The program will concentrate on applications and projects that most closely meet the Kingdoms needs. The primary focus of the program is applied research and development (R&D), including development related to localization and technology transfer. The program conducts basic / fundamental research only if and when needed to support applied research and development. The principal concepts employed by the program are the following: Technology Development: involves developing new technologies that are non-existent, or currently unavailable in the Kingdom. needed for technology development. Technology Localization: involves research and education required to strengthen the absorptive capacity of the Kingdom. It emphasizes the development of local technical human resources and policy structures to promote the importation of beneficial foreign technologies and the creation of spin-off technologies in the Kingdom. Technology Transfer: involves scientific and technical support for transferring off the shelf technologies into the Kingdom. The program will emphasize the development of local capacity to prevent a dependence on foreign technologies. Technology development may involve strategic basic research to generate new knowledge
Introduction
The development of this plan began with identifying the stakeholders and users of petrochemicals technology in the Kingdom, creating vision and mission statements, and conducting background research on the current position of the Kingdom in petrochemicals technology and on the role of other petrochemicals technology research institutes around the world. Appendix-B provides a full description of the development process. 6. Promoting effective international cooperation in science and technology. 7. Enhancing science and technology support activities, such as information and standardization services, patents, consulting and engineering firms, and scientific societies. 8. Developing and investing in a knowledge-based economy and community and their required information technologies. 9. Exploiting science and technology for the preservation of natural resources and the environment. 10. Creating societal awareness of the importance of science and technology in realizing national security and sustainable development. The National Policy for Science and Technology further and comprehensive defined ten Strategic Underpinnings that are compatible with these goals and objectives. The goals and objectives, the needs of the Kingdom in petrochemical technologies, and the current position of the kingdom in petrochemical technology are the starting point and foundation for developing the programs higher strategy (vision, mission, It also defined General Objectives that can be summarized as follows: 1. Adopting a comprehensive view of the national science, technology and innovation system that supports system development as well as coordination and integration of its components and beneficiaries. 2. Developing qualified human resources in science and technology fields. 3. Fostering and supporting scientific research to serve national security and sustainable development. 4. Supporting and developing the technical capabilities of various national sectors to enable technology transfer and localization and development, and production of high added value, internationally competitive products. 5. Continuously developing and coordinating the official regulations related to science and technology. values, strategic goals) and implementation strategy (technology selection criteria, program objectives, performance indicators and projects).
Alignment with National Science & Technology Policy

The National Policy for Science and Technology defined four main goals for S&T programs: 1. Preserving national security. 2. Serving sustained, balanced development. 3. Promoting the citizens standard of living and quality of life. 4. Contributing to human civilization.
Strategic Context
KSA Petrochemicals R & D Needs
The following key needs of the Kingdom were identified through a National Stakeholder workshop:
Satisfying the increasing demand for petrochemical products. Supporting national self-reliance in petrochemical and refining-related research and development and reducing dependence on foreign technology. Enhancing price/value efficiency in the petrochemical industry. Contributing to national economic diversification by developing petrochemical technology industries and export. Providing new investment and employment opportunities. In addition to the technical needs, workshop participants identified a number of areas where policies need to be changed or barriers removed. These needs include: Policies to facilitate R&D collaboration between KACST, government agencies, universities, and industry. Expanded human resources for petrochemicals technology R&D . Improved knowledge of international technology developments. Expanded international collaboration, including cooperation between Saudi universities and world universities. Small business contracting preferences to support innovative small companies.
10
Strategic Context
Stakeholders Roles
The stakeholders for the Petrochemicals Technology Program include KACST, KSA universities, various independent or Table 1: Stakeholders and their roles Stakeholders Role Plan, coordinate and manage the program Conduct applied research, technology transfer and prototype applications development KACST Manage and participate in national projects Provide support for university and industrial participation in national projects Provide and manage national research facilities Provide advice and services to government on science and technology. Create new basic and applied scientific knowledge Universities Train students in science and engineering Host and participate in Technology Innovation Centers Participate in collaborative projects Independent or Government Specialized Research Centers Create new applied scientific knowledge Participate in collaborative projects Operational and implementation projects Ministries and Government Agencies Provide input to program on government R&D needs Reduce regulatory and procedural barriers to R&D and innovation Support R&D in universities and industry Develop and commercialize products & processes resulting from the program. Private Sector Communicate company needs to program Support and participate in collaborative R&D projects. Support and participate in the Technology Innovation Centers specialized research institutes, other government agencies, and private companies. Table 1 shows the roles of these stakeholders in the program.
11
Strategic Context
Analysis of Petrochemical Publications and Patents
Overview Petrochemical technology is a multidisciplinary field that draws tools and techniques from a variety of fields including chemical engineering, physical chemistry, energy & fuels, environmental sciences and materials science. The overall field, petrochemical technologies, as well as sub-topics, were defined in close consultation with KACST researchers and other KSA stakeholders, who provided detailed lists of keyword terms that were used to query publication and patent databases.1 The KSA petrochemical technologies program identifies two research tracks-oil processing and petrochemicals-relevant to KSA strategic priorities. The scope of this study was restricted to only recent publication (20052007) and patent (2002-2006) activity in those two fields. There is general agreement that publications and patents strongly correlate with scientific research capacity, although publication and patent counts alone do not fully represent the quality or scope of research. Nonetheless, publication and patent activity have long been used as indicators for knowledge creation and research output.2 Several indicators, including forward citations (the frequency at which publications and patents are cited by others), a measure of impact, and co-authoring relationships, an indicator of scientific collaboration, are presented below. Together, these indicators provide measures of collaboration, globalization and impact of science and technology research in fields related to the KSA petrochemical technologies program.
1 ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific publication and U.S. patent application data, respectively. The ISI Web of Science is a database of peer-reviewed articles in major scientific journals from around the world. Delphion is a searchable database of global patent activity, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is one of the worlds major granters of patents and it has been argued that the U.S. market is so large that most important inventions from around the world are patented there. 2 Seminal research in the use of publications as a measure of scientific productivity includes A.J. Lotka, The frequency distribution of scientific productivity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 16 (1926); D. Price, Little Science, Big Science, (New York: Columbia university Press, 1963); J.R. Cole and S Cole, Social Stratification in Science, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973); J. Gaston, The reward system in British and American science, (New York: John Wiley (1978); and M.F. Fox, Publication productivity among scientists: a critical review, Social Studies of Science, vol 13, 1983.
1
Strategic Context
Global Petrochemical Technologies Publication Activity
Between 2005 and 2007, there were 9541 articles published related to KSA priorities in oil processing and petrochemicals.3 As shown in figure 2, the United States was the worlds largest producer of related articles, Figure 2: Benchmark Countries generating 1934 articles over this time period. The Peoples Republic of China was second, producing 1442 articles followed by Japan, Germany, and France with 885, 560, and 518 articles respectively.4 Saudi Arabia was tied for the 35th largest producer of publications, producing 53 articles in ISI-indexed journals.
Peoples R. China 144
3 Throughout this report, petrochemical technologies refers only to the fields of research defined by the KSA petrochemical technologies research program. 4 A publication is assigned to a country if any of the publications authors affiliations are located in that country. Because publications often have multiple authors, a single publication may be assigned to multiple countries. Aggregate figures, such as total global publication output, count each publication only once, but adding up sub-totals may yield a result larger than the reported total due to multiple counting.
13
Petrochemical Technologies Research Organizations Strategic Context

Average publication impact is calculated as the number of citations of articles from a particular country divided by the total number of articles published by authors from that country. For example, a country that published 50 articles that were cited 100 times would have an average publication impact of two. Between 2005 and 2007, Germany had Table 2: Petrochemical Technologies Publication Impact (2005-2007) Country Germany Usa Uk Spain France Japan Canada P.R. Of China India Russia Saudi Arabia Publication 560 1934 350 409 518 885 49 144 344 355 53 Total Citations 1875 496 986 963 1199 198 89 496 474 39 39 Average Publication Impact 3.35 3.31 2.74 2.35 2.31 2.18 1.93 1.73 1.38 1.10 0.74 the highest average publication impact of all countries at 3.35 followed by the US (3.31), the UK (2.74), and Spain (2.35). The average publication impact for Saudi Arabia was 0.74 with only 39 citations of 53 articles. Table 2 presents publication and citation counts for benchmark countries.5
Petrochemical Technologies Research Organizations

Petrochemical technologies R&D publications are produced at many research institutions. As shown in table 3, the three institutions producing the largest number of publications related to petrochemicals technologies
R&D are the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and CSIC (The Spanish National Research Council). This top-three is the same when split into the separate topics of petrochemicals and oil processing.
5 Benchmark countries include global leaders in terms of total petrochemical technologies publication output in addition to a list of specific countries provided by KACST.ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific.
14

Table 3: Petrochemical Technologies R&D Organizations (2005-2007) Institution Chinese Acad Sci Russian Acad Sci CSIC Tsing Hua University Natl Inst Adv Ind Sci & Technol Seto Univ Texas Tokyo Institute Technol Indian Inst Technol CNR Inst Mexicano Petr Tianjin Univ Zhejiang Univ Penn State University Univ Tokyo Inst Francais Petr Total Publications 345 199 105 101 84 80 75 70 65 65 6 61 58 57 57 Average Impact 2.34 0.88 2.63 2.20 2.40 3.74 2.31 1.20 1.77 1.57 1.15 1.72 5.17 1.96 1.25 Oil Processing 63 131 83 74 6 56 4 5 48 56 47 35 46 33 41 Petrochemicals 195 16 67 47 40 36 50 8 34 0 30 4 16 3 8
International Collaboration and Publication Impact

For countries with similar levels of publication activity, those countries with a high level of international collaboration also tend to produce publications with a high level of impact. In this study, international collaboration is calculated as the average number of countries represented per publication, based on authors addresses. Figure 3 plots a countrys level of international collaboration (horizontal axis) against the average impact of its publications (vertical axis). Countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom which show significant international collaborative activity also tend to produce papers with a higher average impact.
KSA Collaboration Activity

Table 4 shows the countries of co-authors of KSA authored papers. Authors affiliated with KSA institutions collaborated on more than one article with authors from: the Pakistan (3 publications), the United Kingdom (2), and the United States (2). KSA-affiliated authors collaborated on individual publications with authors from: Canada, Germany, Ireland, Oman, UAE, and Venezuela.
15

Figure 3: Petrochemical Technologies Collaboration and Publication Impact (2005-2007)
4.00
3.50
USA Germany
3.00
UK
2.50
Average Impact
Spain Japan
France
2.00
Peoples R. China
Canada
1.50
India
1.00
Saudi Arabia
Russia
0.50
0.00 1.00 1.10 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.50 1.60 1.70 1.80
Table 4: KSA Publication Collaborators (2005-2007 Country

Pakistan UK USA Canada Germany Ireland Oman United Arab Emirates Venezuela
Number of Publications
3 1 1 1 1 1 1
16

Petrochemical Technologies Journals
Table 5 shows the journals with a significant number of articles in the KSA petrochemical technologies sub-fields from 2005-2007. Table 5: Petrochemical Technologies Journals (2005-2007) Journal
Catalysis Today Applied Catalysis A-general Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Publications
199 177 135 110 105 99 97 87 83 67 66 47 3 13 159 135 10 118 115 96
Petrochemicals
Journal Of Catalysis Journal Of Molecular Catalysis A-chemical Applied Catalysis B-environmental Journal Of Physical Chemistry B Journal Of Power Sources Catalysis Letters Energy & Fuels Catalysis Today Applied Catalysis A-general Energy & Fuels
Oil Processing
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Journal Of Catalysis Applied Catalysis B-environmental Journal Of Molecular Catalysis A-chemical Journal Of Power Sources Fuel Journal Of Physical Chemistry B
17

Petrochemical Technologies Patents Activity
Table 6 shows petrochemical patents. Between 2002 and 2006, there were 305 petrochemical technology-related patent applications filed with the United States Patent Office (USPTO). The majority of these (509) listed at least one inventor from the United States. Other countries with a significant number of inventors include: Japan Table 6: Petrochemical Technologies Patents (2002-2006) Country United States Japan France Belgium South Korea China Germany India Canada United Kingdom Russia Saudi Arabia Spain Oil Processing 6 4 15 1 5 7 6 4 5 5 0 0 Petrochemicals 48 57 9 18 10 4 1 0 4 0 0 Total 110 81 4 3 3 17 8 8 6 5 4 0 (81 applications), France (24 applications), Belgium (23 applications), and South Korea (23 applications). Two petrochemical technologies related patent applications listed an inventor from Saudi Arabia: Fluid catalytic cracking process for heavy oil6
7
and Heavy oil fluid catalytic
cracking process. Both of these involve collaboration of KSA inventors with inventors from Japan.
6 Ino, Takashi, Okuhara, Toshiaki, Abul-Hamayel, Mohammad, Aitani, Abdullah, Maghrabi, Abdulgader, U.S. Patent Application # 20030006168, 2003. 7 Ino, Takashi, Okuhara, Toshiaki, Redhwi, Halim Hamid, Abul-Hamayel, Mohammad, Aitani, Abdullah, Maghrabi, Abdulgader, U.S. Patent Application # 20020195373, 2002
18

While the majority of the petrochemical technology-related patent applications are defined as individually owned patent applications (180 applications) by the United States Patent Office, some institutions, shown in table 7, are designated as the patent assignee on a significant number of applications. These institutions, with demonstrated innovative activity in the petrochemical technology fields related to KSA strategic priorities, could be targets for future collaborations. Huntsman Petrochemical Corporation is listed as the patent assignee on 18 petrochemical technologies applications followed by Idemitdu Petrochemical Co. (13 applications), Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co. (13 applications), and China Petroleum and Petrochemical Corporation (10 applications).
Table 7: Leading Petrochemical Technologies Patent Assignees (2002-2006) USTPO Assignee Individually Owned Patents Huntsman Petrochemical Corporation Idemitdu Petrochemical Co. Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co. China Petroleum and Petrochemical Corporation No. of Patents Apps. 180 18 13 13 10
The Current Status of the Petrochemical Industry in the Kingdom

The Saudi Petrochemical Industry The Saudi petrochemical industry relies essentially on petroleum and natural gas (associated and non-associated) as well as liquefied petroleum gas, to obtain various raw and intermediate materials. These products can be in turn utilized to manufacture finished materials such as organic and plastic materials, synthetic fibers, solvents, paints, adhesive materials, various kinds of rubber, pesticides, detergents, in addition to many other products. Natural gas is one of the most important raw materials used in the petrochemical industry, which boomed in the mid-1970s, and continued to grow approximately tenfold over the last two decades, from an estimated 3.7 to 36 million tons/year. Production is estimated to further grow to 70 million tons/ year by 2010. Since natural gas is the main supply of the petrochemical sectors, production currently focuses on: 1. Basic materials: Methane, ethane, propane and butane
are the main supplies used to manufacture primary petrochemicals such as olefins (ethylene, propylene and butanes) and aromatics. 2. Intermediate chemicals: such as methanol, methanol, ethylene glycol, polyterphthalic acid (PTA), 2-Ethyhexanoic Acid (2-EH), dioctylphtalte(DOP), Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) Styrene, etc 3. Basic polymers- Poly Ethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terphthalte (PET). SABIC, the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation is credited for the development of most of the Kingdoms petrochemical sector. It currently produces 95% of Saudi petrochemicals. KSA is dedicating great efforts to decrease this percentage to 75% by 2010, aiming to raise private investments to accelerate the growth of the downstream petrochemical sector. In addition, Saudi ARAMCO is currently planning to enhance competition in the petrochemical market, by being
19

the first in the Kingdom and the Middle East to manufacture new petrochemicals, such as phenol, cumene and aromatics, including xylene and toluene. The abundance of raw materials holds great potential for the Kingdom, as it can produce every kind of natural gas, naphtha, benzene and others, thus accelerating and supporting the development of the petrochemical sector in the Kingdom. Furthermore, negotiations between Saudi Aramco and Sabic, the largest petrochemical company in the world in terms of market value, have reached an advanced stage to develop a petrochemical complex along the coast of the Red Sea, in the Western region. Saudi Private Companies The first plants developed by the private sector came onstream in the early 1980s and were small units for the production of finished petrochemicals, such as PVC pipes and polyurethane. Since then, however, larger facilities have been built for the production of bulk chemicals and petrochemicals, including solvents, butadiene, formaldehyde, polystyrene materials, polyester, epoxy resins, latex, and titanium dioxide. In addition, projects are underway or planned for the production of propylene and polypropylene, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), paraxylene, sodium triphosphate, chlorine, caustic soda, butanediol, maleic anhydride, cumene, linear paraffin, and linear alkyl benzene. These institutes are working in a range of technical areas related to those considered for this plan, including: Renewable and biodegradable materials Coordination chemistry and catalytic processes Processes synthesis to improve organic and inorganic The research foci and scope of the four institutions reflect interesting and useful approaches regarding strategies and options for development of petrochemical research and related technology. From a national planning perspective, the consideration of national government research institutes (Australia) and university-based research institutes (Germany and United States) provides a continuum of policy and institutional understanding in regard to the strategic role and activities of research institutes. program. These centers include: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Manufacturing & Materials Technology (CMMT), Australia Leibniz Institute for Catalysis at the University of Rostock (LIKAT), Germany College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, United States University of Delaware Center for Composite Materials (UD-CCM), United States
Analysis of Comparable Petrochemicals R&D Institutes

As part of the background work for this plan, the planning team reviewed several other petrochemical technology research laboratories/centers around the world, selected to include a mix of government supported laboratories with functions similar to that of the petrochemical technology
8 SRI International. Strategic Review: Petrochemicals. August 2007
Advanced material characterization and performance benchmarking A full description of these laboratories programs can be found in a separate document.8
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SWOT Analysis for KSA Petrochemicals Strategic Technology Program
This section presents a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Saudi Arabia Petrochemicals Strategic Technology program relative to achieving its vision. In a SWOT analysis, terms are defined as follows: Strengths: attributes of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objective. Weaknesses: attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objective. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization while opportunities and threats are defined as external to the organization. Following are the main items identified through SWOT analysis sessions: Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective. Threats: external conditions that are harmful to achieving the objective.
Strengths Extensive experience of Sabic and Saudi Aramco and related opportunities available to the Program Saudi Aramcos interests in petrochemicals market and the competitiveness created Possibility of licensing commodity technologies through international strategic partnerships
Weaknesses Inadequate qualified human resources Difficulty of obtaining value-adding specialty technologies Weak program sponsorship by some stakeholders
Opportunities Facilities granted to technology localization organizations in obtaining feedstock Availability of financial incentives for value-adding specialty technologies Globalization and WTO encourages investors with advanced technologies Availability of research centers in both public and private sectors
Threats Possibility of developing alternative feedstock to oil and gas Possibility of developing competitive petrochemical products Energy and carbon taxations Negative effect of some governmental regulations on investment in technology
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Petrochemical Technologies Research Organizations Higher Strategy

The Program higher strategy is represented by its Vision, Mission, Values and Strategic Goals. These are derived with consideration of the goals and objectives of the National Policy for Science, Technology, and Key Needs of the Kingdom.
Vision The vision for the Kingdoms Petrochemical technologies program is: To reach a prominent strategic position internationally through a broad national sponsorship of petrochemical technology transfer, localization and development. This vision focuses on the establishment of an effective innovation system in which research and invention need to lead to economic and social benefits for the Kingdom. To achieve this, it is essential to have strong and mutually beneficial linkages between universities, government, and industry. Mission The programs Mission is: Working on developing, transferring and localizing petrochemical technologies in the Kingdom through qualifying distinguished human resources and developing the methods and applications of scientific and technological research. This will support competitive local production and facilitate new investment opportunities and markets. Pursuing a robust economic base, comprehensive development and efficient use of available resources in our field.

Higher Strategy
To achieve excellence, the program will develop an effective internal culture through training, sponsorship of the programs leadership, and commitment of its operational teams, based on the following values: Excellence of work. Professional integrity and ethical behavior. Openness and transparency. Commitment to achieving objectives. Support of creativity and innovation. Teamwork and collaboration.

The strategic goals of the program are: 1. To support and develop domestic capacity in critical petrochemicals and refining technologies. 2. To optimize the use of abundant available natural resources. 3. To support the local refining and petrochemicals industry with technology solutions that facilitate new product development, improve production efficiency, price/value efficiency, environmental protection and similar concerns. 4. To develop innovative high quality petrochemical technologies and applications to meet specialized industrial and commercial needs in the Kingdom such as in oil and gas. 5. To adapt and localize petrochemical technologies to support the development of national capability. 6. To support societal and cultural development towards optimal exploitation of technology and transformation from a consumption to a production culture. 7. To enhance the Kingdoms competitiveness in regional manufacturing through transfer and development of advanced petrochemical technologies. 8. To improve the national ranking in science and technology capabilities.
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Technology Areas
Selection Process
An initial list of technology areas in the petrochemicals field was developed by stakeholders with consideration of the programs strategic goals and the higher strategy. Based on this input, KACST staff and consultants refined the list of critical technology areas for the Kingdom. The technology areas were reviewed by the KACST Petroleum and Petrochemical Research Institute (PAPRI) and a final list of targeted technologies areas was selected.

The programs Technology Areas were selected based on meeting the Kingdoms needs in the following critical areas: 1. Gas & Oil Processes. 2. Refining Processes. 3. Clean Fuel. 4. Process Development. Specific fields of interest within these areas include: 1. Cracking. 2. Isomerization. 3. Dehydrogenation. 4. Polymerization. 5. Alkylation.
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Program Structure
Work in each Technology Areas will be achieved through a program structure that starts with identifying specific three Objectives program Core within domains: Operations major participated throughout the Objectives, Indicators and Projects definition process, using a Balanced Scorecard development process).
Infrastructure,
and Value Delivery. Performance Indicators (and target levels) are defined for each Objective and then Projects are identified to satisfy the Indicators. Stakeholders
Program Objectives
To achieve the programs strategic goals, the following implementation objectives were considered: Infrastructure Developing Human Resources: removing barriers to hiring/retaining key staff. advocating changes to pre-college education, advocating improvements to college training in relevant science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses. expanding the role of women in petrochemical research and innovation. Developing a collaborative culture: expand R&D collaboration between KACST, universities, and industry, and make policy changes to improve the ability of university faculty members to conduct research. improve KSA knowledge of international technology developments and KSA participation in international research. Effective financial management. Developing work processes and systems. Provision of Laboratories and Equipment. Developing knowledge management system.
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Program Structure
Core Operations Technology Selection. Establishing Strategic Partnerships. Technology Development. Conducting Fundamental Research. Conducting Applied Research. Building Pilot Plants. Technology Localization. Conducting Localization Research & Studies. Building Localization Pilot Plants. Technology Transfer. Assessment of Ready Technologies. Delivery of Program Value Working with the Incubators. Working with the Technology Innovation Centers. Working with the Program Beneficiaries: Providing Cost/Value Efficiency. Providing Job Opportunities. Providing Investment Opportunities. Supporting Environmental Protection. Effective Use of National Resources. Supporting National Goals: National Self-Reliance and Security. Continuous Development. Economic Growth.
Several performance indicators will be used to gauge the progress of the broad program functions. Major performance indicators include: Percentage of HR requirements fulfillment. Program return on investment. Level of strategic objectives fulfillment by projects and work processes. Size of used knowledge assets (documented and acquired). Level of strategic objectives fulfillment by selected technologies. Percentage of activated strategic partnerships to total required.
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Program Structure
Number of innovations leading to new applications through fundamental research. Percentage of applied research resulting in prototypes, pilot plants or applied solutions. Percentage of pilot plants leading to production line or solution. Percentage of applied research resulting in localized technologies. Percentage of by-product technologies resulting from localized technologies. Percentage of localization pilot plants leading to production line or solution. Percentage of ready technologies leading to production lines or solutions. Number of ready technologies passed on to localization and development. Percentage of technologies, prototypes and pilot plants adopted by incubators from total offered. Percentage of pre-incubation and production prototypes developed with TICs to total offered.
Program Project Categories

To fulfill the program objectives and achieve satisfactory levels in the performance indicators for each objective, initial program projects were identified by stakeholders which can be divided into the 3 main categories that correspond to the the three major program domains: infrastructure projects, core operation projects (including research and development), and value delivery projects. These projects will be subject to evaluation during implementation and possible cancellation or replacement, if not satisfactory (portfolio management).
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Operational Plans
Operational plans include a portfolio management plan, a technology transfer plan, a quality management plan, a human resources plan, a communications plan, and a risk management plan.
Initial Portfolio Formation Potential R&D projects were entered into a project portfolio formation process to form an initial portfolio based on best utilization of available resources to achieve the programs strategic objectives. This included the following main phases: Phase 1: Evaluate with respect to strategic goals In this phase, only projects aligned with the Programs strategic goals were selected. These projects were distributed into strategic groups and the total available resources were allocated to the strategic groups based on their strategic significance. The Program adopted a Project Distribution Matrix technique for defining the strategic groups. Nine groups resulted from the intersection of two dimensions having 3 elements each. These are Strategic Technology Paths (Development, Localization and Transfer) and Research & Development Types (Basic Research, Applied Research / Pilot Plants, and Product Devt / Added Value). Phase 2: Prioritization for resources: In this phase, projects competing for the same resources within each group are prioritized. The Program adopted a Paired Comparison technique for this purpose. Accordingly, nine paired comparison tables were developed.
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Operational Plans
Projects were selected to the portfolio one by one starting from the top of the prioritized list in each group down until the initially allocated resource for that group is consumed. Phase 3: Select vs. Balancing Factors In this phase, further selection or elimination is made to the projects selected in Phase-2 to balance the selection in terms of some balancing factors such as: Research vs. Development. Long-Term vs. Short-Term. High Risk vs. Low Risk. Growth vs. Sustainability. Outsourced vs. In-sourced. Local / National vs. International.
Portfolio Management Process

Following the initial formation of the portfolio, projects are then activated and the portfolio is managed over the life of the Program. Active projects will be evaluated, completed, postponed or cancelled based on their performance in: Achieving the strategic objectives they were selected for, and/or Achieving satisfactory implementation progress (in terms of scope, schedule, budget and quality). At the same time, strategic objectives may be adjusted and resources may be varied, which results in a requirement for portfolio reformation as well. This portfolio management process is designed to ensure that projects implemented in the program always represent the best means of achieving program strategies with best utilization of available resources. Without such objective and methodical process, project initiation and resources utilization is usually subject to personal preferences, organizational political pressures and subjective factors.
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Operational Plans
The Petrochemical Technology Program will follow internationally recognized best practices in technology transfer. Key elements of the program that are designed to facilitate technology transfer are: Involvement of users in the program design. This occurs through user participation in the planning workshop and user involvement in the petrochemical advisory committee. It is well recognized that user involvement in the research design leads to research and outcomes that are more likely to meet the needs of users, and thus are more likely to lead to successful innovation. The national programs focused on the development of advanced pilot application projects. The projects involve universities as well as companies, and knowledge is transferred to the companies in the course of the project. This is a proven method for developing technologies that serve a need and can be transferred readily to government or commercial users. The use of university/industry centers as a major research mechanism throughout the plan. Industry involvement in these centers (providing advice and funding) will encourage university research to be focused on user needs, increasing the likelihood of technology transfer. These centers will also transfer knowledge to industry though the training and graduation of students (who have been trained on problems of interest to industry), who then take jobs in companies or form their own companies. The linkage between the petrochemical program and technology business incubators and other programs to aid the start-up of new petrochemical companies.

The Petrochemical Technology program will follow international best practice quality management processes for science and technology programs. Elements of this plan include: Advisory committee review of the overall program design and budget. Competitive, peer-reviewed selection processes for university-based research centers and projects. Annual reviews of technology development projects to ensure that
30
Operational Plans
milestones are being met. Periodic (every 5 years) subprogram evaluations conducted by a review committee supported by an experienced evaluator. Procedures will be developed for disclosing and managing potential conflicts of interest among reviewers. In many cases, some international experts will be used on review panels to reduce possible conflicts of interest and to provide an independent external assessment. Analyze petrochemicals human resource issues and advocate changes to improve the quality of math and science education in primary and secondary education Work with the other agencies to improve the quality of undergraduate petrochemicals education, especially at regional universities. Work with new universities to develop research and education programs that especially match the kingdoms petrochemicals strategic technology needs. Work to change policies to allow more international hiring, to bring specialized expertise to the Kingdom. Support training for researchers to become R&D managers and leaders. At the undergraduate and especially graduate level, this plan is designed to help increase the numbers of petrochemicals researchers through its emphasis on university-industry centers. These centers are designed to train new students with research and innovation skills needed by research organizations and industry.

As noted in the SWOT analysis, human resources are a critical barrier for the success of the Petrochemicals Technology Program. The availability of skilled people, including both researchers and technical managers and leaders, is likely to limit the growth and success of KSA Petrochemicals programs. The plan will require substantial numbers of Petrochemicals professionals, including additional researchers, technical managers, and technical leaders at KACST, at universities and at companies. A central task of the program management function will be to address this issue. To achieve the goals of the program, KACST will need to hire or develop additional program managers with the skills to lead national programs. To do this KACST will need additional flexibility with respect to compensation packages, speed of hiring, and ability to hire international staff. Universities and companies will need additional researchers and software engineers with the skills to develop innovative technologies. This will require broader changes, some of which are outside of the scope of this plan. As part of the activities in this plan, the Petrochemicals Technology Program will:

The purpose of the communications management plan is to provide appropriate information to the program participants and stakeholders. One element of the communications plan is to improve communication throughout the KSA Petrochemicals research and innovation community and to expand collaboration among members of the community. Aspects of this include: There will be a public website with information on program goals, accomplishments, funding opportunities, and other news. Periodic workshops will be held with users and stakeholders to define future program needs. Requests for proposals (for university centers, grants, and pilot application development programs) will be announced to the public.
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Operational Plans
The program advisory board will review and comment on the program, and advisory board reports will be made public on the website. The program will sponsor workshops, conferences, and professional society activities to expand communication and networking throughout the community. Presentations on the program will be made at national and international conferences. Another element of the plan is to define appropriate communications within the management structure of the plan. It is especially important that information about risks or difficulties in the program, such as delays, lack of resources, or non-attainment of goals be rapidly communicated to higher levels of management. A general principle is that management should never be surprised by bad news.

The program presented here is an ambitious program that will challenge the capabilities of the Kingdom. There are several types of risks that could prevent attainment of program goals, including technical risks, market risks, and financial risk. One source of technical risk-risk to attainment of technical goals-is, as described above, the lack of adequate human resources to implement the program. Approaches to managing this risk are: Changing policies to attract people with the needed skills. This may involve raising salaries and recruiting internationally. Delaying or phasing in some program elements if people are cannot be hired. Expanding the pool of people with needed skills through education and training programs, such as university petrochemicals research centers (see human resources plan). Another cause of technical risk is overly ambitious goals. The approaches to addressing the risk are to have an independent review of technical goals to ensure they are feasible, and to adjust technical goals if milestones are not being met. Market risk is that projects, while technically successful, do not lead to
3
Operational Plans
successful products because of poorly understood or changing market conditions, such as the development of other technical approaches. A way to address this risk is through: Designing programs based on carefully considered market needs. Monitoring international technology and market developments. Continual readjustment of plans in responses to changes in the environment. Financial risk is the risk of unavailability of funds or of cost overruns. The way to address risks in this area is through careful program planning and monitoring, and early identification of possible cost overruns. Another financial risk is due to changes in the plan or funding due to political or policy changes. It will be important for the plan management to maintain communication with policy leaders to ensure they are aware of the accomplishments of the program and to get early warning of any policy changes that may affect the program.
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Within KACST, the Petrochemicals program manager will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. Some portions of the plan may be managed by other parts of KACST. For example, the technology innovation centers and technology incubators may be managed by the Technology Development Center, which may specialize in the management of these kinds of programs. In this case, the program managers role will be to provide technical input to the design and evaluation of these programs rather than to manage.
Many aspects of the plan represent new functions, especially in developing and managing national technology programs that include industry and universities and may involve international collaborations. A major task for the first year of the program will be, in addition to detailed program planning, for KACST to acquire or develop the necessary skills through hiring or training. Although it is critical to rapidly start new research programs, it is essential to build the skills necessary to lead and develop these programs, and to plan them carefully. As part of the initial activities under this plan, KACST staff members will visit programs of a similar nature elsewhere in the world to discuss their management practices and lessons learned. The Petrochemicals Strategic Technology Advisory Committee will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will meet approximately four times a year and review progress in the program. Key performance indicators will be established for each subprogram. General performance indicators include: Growth or establishment of technology-based businesses due to Petrochemicals program. Amount of revenue and jobs created. Successful importation of technology resulting in new businesses or applications.
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Appendix A: Shakeholders Plan Implementation of the Participants

Movement of projects to incubators. Contribution to OSS applied in Kingdom. Licenses and licensing revenue to universities and research institutes. Petrochemicals-related patents and copyrights. Private sector funding of university and KACST petrochemicals research (indicates the value private sector places on university or KACST petrochemicals R&D). Number and level of presentations in international conferences. Changes in policies (described previously) to improve petrochemicals innovation. Number and impact of publications. Extent of domestic and international R&D collaborations. Numbers of petrochemicals advanced degrees awarded. The advisory committee will also sponsor and oversee studies of emerging areas of petrochemicals, to serve as the basis for developing new program areas. This plan is intended to be a dynamic document that will be updated at least annually and more frequently if required. In addition to the advisory committee input, it is expected that workshops with the research community, users, industry and other stakeholders will also contribute to both a continual evolution of the plan as well as a stronger petrochemicals research and innovation network in the Kingdom.
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Appendix A: Stakeholders Participants

The program thanks the following stakeholder participants for their contribution. The development of this roadmap was assisted valuably by their joint input. They are held free of any responsibility resulting from the plans content.
Representatives Dr. Ahmed AL-Shafiea Dr. Abdulwahab AL-Sadoon Eng. Raed AL-Humaid Dr. Abdullaziz AL-Jodai Dr. Aydh AL-Shihri Dr. Abdullah AL-Arifi Dr. Abdullrahman Arabiah Dr. Yahia AL-Hamed Dr. Suliman AL-Khataf Dr. Mauyed Mehdi Eng. Adel AL-Ghamdi Eng. Mohamed AL-Tayyar Eng. Musaed AL-Ghamdi Eng. Ahmed AL-Bassam
Stakeholders Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu SAGIA SABIC King khalid University King Saud University
King Abdulaziz University KFUPM
Saudi Aramco Co.
NIC
KACST Planning Team Members Name Dr.Hamid A. AL-Megren Dr.Mohamed S. AL-Kinany Dr.Fares D. AL-Sewalim Eng.Khalid S. AL-Ghamdi
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Appendix A:B: Development Methodology Appendix Shakeholders Participants

A strategic planning / strategic management designed and methodology implemented was for
developing this program roadmap. Figure B-1 is a framework that shows the methodologys main stages and components. Major issues taken into consideration in developing this methodology include:
Ensuring a comprehensive approach from higher strategy to implementation level with clear strategic alignment. Maximizing the opportunity that the strategic plan represented by this roadmap finds its way to actual implementation through clarity of next step and guidance towards execution. Emphasizing focus and conciseness in representation and avoiding verbose expression to improve understanding among all parties involved with developing and implementing the roadmap, especially given the programs scientific / engineering setting. Making use of proven methods and concepts in strategic planning as well as project/program management fields, including: Balanced Scorecards for linking the programs vision and mission to its projects, developing a performance oriented strategy and identifying program objectives, performance indicators and projects in a methodical and objective way. Figure B-2 shows the Strategy Map that guided scorecard development and is instrumental in depicting the structure of the program and relationships between important program elements. Portfolio Management for ensuring optimal utilization of available resources and proper selection and balancing of projects as a continuous mechanism throughout the life of the program. This is further explained in Section 5 of the roadmap.
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Appendix B: Development Methodology

Program Management to ensure that program-level benefits are identified and effectively captured as projects are implemented. The above approach ensured that not only strategic planning, but also strategic management requirements Figure B-1: Plan Development Methodology and concerns are considered and addressed. The Petroleum and Petrochemicals Research Institute at KACST has a complete documentation of the roadmap development methodology and the processes that were applied with stakeholders over various workshops and functions to finalize the roadmap.
Methods - Examples: Workshops Interviews Group Analysis SWOT Analysis
Higher Strategy
Gap Analysis Tools - Examples: Brainstorming Questionnaires Mind Maps Decision-making Tech
Objectives
Strategic Management /
Measures Performance Evaluation
Targets
Cascading
Projects
Tools & Techniques Defined in Portfolio & Program Management Standards (PM)
Projects Portfolio
Program Core Plans Scope / Time / Cost / Quality / Integration
Program Management
Support Plans
Project Management
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Appendix B: Development Methodology

VISION: To reach a prominent strategic position internationally through a broad national spomsorship of petrochemical technology localization and development. Figure B-2: Program Strategy Map
Achieve our MISSION
Support:
National Economy
National Development
National Self-reliance and Security
to ensure we Success with our Stakeholder
Utilize National Resources Efficiently
Preserve The Environment
Create New Investment Opportunities
Create New Jobs
Deliver Best Value for Cost
which drive the Strategic Actions
TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY
LOCALIZED TECHNOLOGY Utilized Incubators
DEVELOP TECHNOLOGY
Evaluate Ready Technologies
Produce Localized Prototypes
Produce Prototypes & Establish Pilot Plants Conduct Applied Research
Conduct Localization Research Conduct Fundamental Research

that enable us to execute People and Organizations
Select Appropriate Technologies
Human Capital Develop Capable Human Resources
Organizational Capital Develop International Partnership Develop Organizational Culture
allow us to support the Our Resources & Systems
Effeciently Utilized Financial Resources
Develop Effective Management Systems and Processes
Acquire Labs and Equipment
Information Capital Develop / Use Knowledge Management System
VA L U E S : I n t e g r i t y C o l l a b o r a t i o n E x c e l l e n c e I n n o v a t i o n D e d i c a t i o n
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www.kacst.edu.sa
DAKKIN 01 478 8584
Petrochemicals
Biotechnology
Energy
Strategic Priorities for Space and Aeronautics Technology Program
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Scope Process Strategic Context Capabilities in the Kingdom Space and Aeronautic R&D Indicators Summary of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Program Strategy Vision Mission Values Strategic Objectives Program Management Program Organization Strategic Management Office (SMO) Project Management Work Breakdown Structure Schedule Control Change Control Configuration and Data Management Product Assurance Key Performance Indicators
4 6 6 6 7 8 9 10 0 3 3 3 3 34 35 36 38 38 39 40 41
Contents
Risk Management Progress Reporting Reviews Property Control Appendix A - Acronyms Appendix B: Plan Development Process Planning Project Core Team Workshop Participants Acknowledgements 43 46 46 47 48 49 49 50 51
Executive summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined 11 programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the Kingdoms future development. This document is the strategic priorities for one of these programs, the Space and Aeronautics Program.
This document presents the strategic plan for the development of space and aeronautical capabilities for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, over the 5 year period from 1429-1433H (2008-2012) led by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). This plan encompasses all R&D and industrialization aspects of these sectors, including civil but excluding military aviation. The strategic program is to be managed by a Space Program Management Office (SPMO) to be formed within KACST, along with a group of stakeholders consisting of critical engineering departments in the Kingdoms universities, government units related to aviation and aeronautics, and members of the Kingdoms industrial base. The vision for the program is: Over the next five years, with the strategic support of other key stakeholders, is to become a regional leader in space and aeronautical activities not limited to research and development and will support the needs of national security and sustainable development within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in these disciplines. Seven high priority strategic objectives have been established: 1. To design and develop advanced aeronautical platforms for research and commercialization. 2. To become the leading provider of numerical simulation services for
Executive summary
aerospace objectives within the region. 3. To enhance significantly the Geographical Information System (GIS) capabilities for both national and regional development. 4. To implement an optimized, responsive, and advanced civilian Earth Observation satellite system to provide key data for the region. 5. To develop into the leading provider of commercial and Earth Observation (EO) products within the region. 6. To create a thriving commercial space and aeronautical sector within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) capable of executing advanced technology programs. 7. To research and develop specific advanced enabling technology in order to develop intellectual property (IP) for longer term international collaboration, commercial exploitation or to support stakeholder strategic programs. The projects necessary to achieve these high priority objectives will be authorized during the second half of 2008 after a feasibility study and baseline definition are conducted during 2008. All associated development and test programs are planned to be completed by the end of 2011. Four medium priority strategic objectives have been established: 1. To become a participant in international or regional aerospace science missions. 2. To exploit the downstream opportunities opened up by the introduction of aerospace systems provided by other aerospace organisations. 3. To raise the level of aerospace higher education and training programs within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and to expand interest and resources in the space and aeronautical sectors. 4. To promote the wider national use of space and aeronautical projects and services within government, industry and the general public. The projects necessary to achieve these medium priority objectives will be authorized during the second half of 2009 after the feasibility study and baseline definition are conducted during 2009. The majority of associated development and testing programs will be completed by the end of 2012.
Introduction
Background
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was directed by its charter of 1406 (1986) to propose a national policy for the development of science and technology and to devise the strategy and plans necessary to implement them. In accordance with this charter, KACST launched a comprehensive effort in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MoEP), to develop a long-term national policy on science and technology. In July 1423 (2002), the Council of Ministers approved the national policy for science and technology, entitled The Comprehensive, Long-Term, National Science and Technology Policy:
Then KACST and MoEP embarked on a national effort in collaboration with stakeholders to develop the national plan for science, technology and innovation (STI), which drew up the broad lines and future directions of science, technology, and innovation in the Kingdom, considering the role of KACST as well as that of universities, government, industry and society at large.
Scope
This document presents the strategic plan for the development of space and aeronautical capabilities for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia led by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), over the 5 year period from 2008-2012. This plan encompasses all R&D and industrialization aspects of these sectors, including civil but excluding military aviation. It defines the strategic objectives to be achieved and the role of KACST and other stakeholders and partners in organizing and establishing projects, initiatives, and partnerships both within Saudi Arabia and with international collaborators. It is derived from the objectives of the National Plan for Science and Technology as defined by the National Policy for Science and Technology, which stated an objective to be: ...to direct scientific research and technical development to secure the strategic needs of defence and national security with attention to scientific research and technological development...
Introduction
In addition to the Space Program Management Office (SPMO), which is a new office to be formed to manage the program, the stakeholders will be representatives from key institutional sectors of the Kingdom. Among the stakeholders will be representatives from critical engineering departments in the Kingdoms universities as well as from industry. The Kingdoms agencies for governance of civilian aviation and aeronautics are also Figure 1: Process Flow Chart Background Documents & Stakeholder Questionnaire Study Requirements & National Objectives stakeholders. The range of key stakeholders is necessary to fulfill the breadth of the scope of the space and aeronautics program.
Process
The process used for generating this space and aeronautics strategic development plan is shown in diagrammatic form in figure 1:
Research
Local Capability Mapping SWOT Space & Aeronautics Sector Review
Initial Review with Stakeholders
Headline Objectives
Buy-in Review with Stakeholders
Strategic Plan Initial
Review of Current Resources in Saudi Arabia
Strategic Plan Final
Management Plan
Implementation Plan
The process has been constructed on the basis of maximizing the synergies brought by each of the stakeholders to create a unified strategic plan. The intent
is to build a consensus of stakeholder acceptance of the plan so that the implementation will attract the full cooperation and support of the stakeholders.
Strategic Context
The international space and aeronautics sector is characterized by accelerating technological advancement and increasing competition. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seeks to become a regional leader in critical areas of this sector.
The aerospace sector expands very rapidly in the region. The major thrusts in the sector are the following: Aeronautical and Aviation: Very light aircraft. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Space: Earth Observation. Navigation. Telecommunications. Science. Launch Services.
There are significant trends underway in aeronautics and aviation. For example, there is an increasing need to manage the ever growing demand for global air travel. Some of the challenges associated with that are devising more efficient air traffic management systems and developing new business models to accommodate the changing landscape of air travel generally. Another component of the aeronautics and aviation sector is in the development of new kinds of aircraft that serve a variety of functions. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), for example, are used in a host of applications relevant to security surveillance and monitoring the atmosphere, weather, and natural resources. Another example is very light jets, which are currently
Strategic Context
generating considerable interest among major aircraft manufacturers. The reduction in weight is directly correlated with the reduction in fuel consumption, which is of international concern. As a result, there are significant opportunities to develop specific skills and contribute to this increasingly large and complex global supply chain. Earth Observation (EO) is a well established scientific and technical field. In many ways, it is a common link between the major areas of the space sector as it relies on the fundamental technical platforms that support these areas. There are generations of imaging satellites dating back to the 1960s that provide detailed data on the earths topography and atmospheric and weather system dynamics. Due to the increasing sophistication of current and planned generations of imagining satellites, there is a growing set of applications derived from earth observation platforms. The applications include, for example, monitoring biosphere changes, solid earth topography, interior characteristics, and natural resources, and improving geographical information systems. In addition to the increase in specific applications, there is a broader trend in the characteristics of satellites themselves. Major space agencies are planning for smaller satellites with more specific functionalities to be launched more frequently. Satellites as well as their complementary technologies are becoming increasingly decentralized. Until the late 1980s only the United States, the former Soviet Union and the European Space Agency operated EO satellites. Currently more than 20 nations, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia operate EO satellites. In the early stages of this transformation, many nations simply purchased satellites. Today, not only are satellites distributed among more nations, the technical capability Another consequence of the decreasing size of individual satellite projects and the diffusion of satellite technology is the increasing role of the private sector. There is growing private sector involvement in spacebased projects coinciding with a slackening of state control and decreasing capital investment requirements. The emergence of privately financed earth observation and space-based initiatives is another fundamental shift in the space and aeronautics sector that represents an enormous potential for increased participation and technical specialization in niche markets among many nations such as the Kingdom. This trend demonstrates the importance of having a balance between state and private investment in space-based initiatives. State funded initiatives will be required to specifically address key needs of individual nations. Private funding, however, will foster broad commercialization of specific technologies and the development of niche specialties. to develop and maintain satellite systems and the data processing platforms to support them are also more broadly distributed. The distribution of capability and the growing specification of satellite functions has resulted in increasing international collaboration on space-based initiatives. There are a number of international organizations coordinating space-based earth observation projects among several participating nations. This trend presents yet another mechanism for strategic partnerships among nations and for accelerated development of individual nations technical capacity through collective learning and interdependence.
Capabilities in the Kingdom

The vision of KACST, along with its strategic stakeholders, is to have the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia be a regional leader in space and aeronautical activities. In the current global context of the space and aeronautical sector,
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the Kingdom is well poised to realize this vision. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia currently has well established critical capacities in the space and aeronautics sector. The stakeholders of the Strategic Development Plan each offer unique specialties that contribute to the Kingdoms capacity. The combination of university and government based research and technical capacities combined with an industrial focus on technical applications and commercialization provide a substantial foundation for further development of the space and aeronautical sector in the Kingdom. KACST Space Research Institute (SRI) is composed of an array of centers dedicated to satellite technologies, including monitoring, communications, and data processing. In addition, there are centers dedicated to material testing for aeronautical applications, and numerical modeling and simulation, including computational fluid dynamics and finite element modeling and there is significant existing research and established competence in theoretical and computational fluid dynamics, thermodynamics and fluid solid interaction modeling. Importantly, KACST SRI currently supports a generation of Saudi satellites, having already crossed the barriers to entry to successful space systems programs. These core competencies are complemented by the research and development taking place in the Kingdoms major universities: King Abdulaziz University (KAAU), King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) and King Saud University (KSU). KAAU and KFUPM have departments specifically dedicated to aeronautical and aerospace engineering. The mechanical The Kingdoms industrial stakeholders offer considerable capabilities in manufacturing and flight systems modification as well as specific components relevant to satellite systems and advanced aircraft. In addition to general industrial expertise in electronic systems and components, the Advanced Electronic Company specializes in the manufacture, testing, and inspection of electronic components for military vehicles including advanced fighter aircraft. The Al Salam Aircraft Company has considerable experience and expertise in heavy maintenance and modification on both civilian and military aircraft. In addition, Al Salam offers competency in avionics and aircraft communication systems. The other industrial partners, Saudi Aramco and SABIC offer large scale industrial experience and significant resources to support relevant components of the space development plan. The oil and natural gas industry as well as the petrochemical industry are also natural customers of advanced earth observation technologies, which are a key component of the strategic plan. engineering department at King Saud University offers relevant competencies in material characterization, solid mechanics and heat transfer.
Space and Aeronautic R&D Indicators

Overview Publication and patent activity are widely used as indicators of research output and invention.1 The frequency with which publications and patents are cited by others (forward citations) is used as a measure of impact. Co-authoring relationships are used as an
1 Seminal research in the use of publications as a measure of scientific productivity includes A.J. Lotka, The frequency distribution of scientific productivity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 16 (1926); D. Price, Little Science, Big Science, (New York: Columbia university Press, 1963); J.R. Cole and S Cole, Social Stratification in Science, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973); J. Gaston, The reward system in British and American science, (New York: John Wiley (1978); and M.F. Fox, Publication productivity among scientists: a critical review, Social Studies of Science, vol 13, 1983. For example, they do not cover research results that are presented on conferences, technical reports, or new technology that is protected by copyrights rather than patents.
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indicator of scientific collaboration. Although there is general agreement that these are useful indicators, it is important to recognize that they are not by themselves complete indicators of R&D output or quality. Several indicators are used here to provide measures of science and technology output, impact, and collaboration in fields related to the KSA space and aeronautics program. The overall field, space and aeronautic technology, as well as sub-topics of interest to the Kingdom, were defined in close consultation with KACST researchers and other KSA stakeholders. The KSA space and aeronautic technologies program identifies five sub-topics - remote sensing and geographic information systems, space platforms, aeronautical platforms, numerical simulation, and enabling technologies - as relevant to KSA strategic priorities. Lists of keywords were used to develop search queries to develop databases of publications and patents in these areas.3 Space and aeronautic technology is a fast moving field, so the scope of this study was restricted to only recent publication (2005-2007) and patent (2002-2006) activity in the identified sub-topics. These databases of KSA-relevant space and aeronautic fields were then used to analyze the position of the Kingdom in these fields. Space and Aeronautic Publication Activity Between 2005 and 2007, there were 17840 articles published worldwide related to KSA space and aeronautic R&D priorities. As illustrated in figure 2, the United States was the worlds largest producer of related articles, generating 6791 articles over this time period. The United Kingdom was a distant second, producing 1617 articles, followed by Germany and the Peoples Republic of China with 1579 and 1437 articles respectively. Saudi Arabia was the 48th
3 ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific publication and U.S. patent application data, respectively. The ISI Web of Science is a database of peerreviewed articles in major scientific journals from around the world. Delphion is a searchable database of global patent activity, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is one of the worlds major granters of patents and it has been argued that the U.S. market is so large that most important inventions from around the world are patented there. 4 A publication is assigned to a country if any of the publications authors affiliations are located in that country. Because publications often have multiple authors, a single publication may be assigned to multiple countries. Aggregate figures, such as total global publication output, count each publication only once, but adding up sub-totals may yield a result larger than the reported total due to multiple counting.
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Figure 2: Space and Aeronautics Activity
Belgium Russia Australia Spain Japan Sweden Netherlands France Brazil Israel
USA
Canada
Peoples R. China India
Saudi Arabia
UK
Germany
Italy
largest producer of publications, producing 24 articles.4 As shown in table 1 remote sensing and geographic information systems accounts for the largest share of space and aeronautic related publications (8421) Table 1: Space and Aeronautic Sub Topics (2005-2007) Sub-Topic Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Space Platforms Enabling Technologies Aeronautical Platforms Numerical Simulation
followed by space platforms (4788), enabling technologies (3446), aeronautical platforms (2847) and numerical simulations (981).
Publications 8400 4051 344 87 937
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Benchmark Countries Average publication impact is calculated as the number of citations of articles from a particular country divided by the total number of articles published by authors from that country. For instance, a country that published 50 articles that were cited 100 times would have an average publication impact of two. Between 2005 and 2007, the Netherlands had the highest average publication impact of all countries at 2.55 followed by France (2.42), Germany (2.29), and the UK (2.22). The average publication impact for Saudi Arabia was 0.33 with only 8 citations of 24 articles. Saudi Arabias most highly cited article, Statistical processing of large image sequences5, was produced in collaboration with researchers in the UK and Canada. Table 2 presents publication and citation counts for benchmark countries.6
Table 2: Benchmark Countries Publication Impact (2005-2007) Country Netherlands France Germany UK USA Canada Italy South Africa Japan Peoples R. China India Iran Jordan Kuwait Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Egypt Publications 67 1446 1697 1739 7195 995 10 133 995 1454 681 90 18 14 4 14 31 Total Citations 1601 3496 3878 3866 15888 135 99 40 135 1364 6 77 14 7 8 1.50 1.42 Average Publication Impact 2.55 2.42 2.29 2.22 2.21 2.15 1.91 1.80 1.36 0.94 0.91 0.86 0.78 0.50 0.33 0.21 0.16
5 Khellah, F, Fieguth, P, Murray, ML, Allen, M. 2005. Statistical processing of large image sequences. IEEE Trans. Image Process., 14 (1): 80-93. 6 Benchmark countries include global leaders in terms of total space and aeronautics output in addition to a list of specific countries provided by KACST.
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Space and Aeronautics Research Organizations As shown in table 3, the three institutions producing the largest number of publications related to space and aeronautic technology R&D are the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (811), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (494), and the California Institute of Technology (345). NASA is the number one producer of publications in all sub-topic fields except remote sensing, in which the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the leader. For the institutions on this list, authors from NASA have generated the papers with the largest number of citations (2521 citations) followed by the California Institute of Technology (1235 citations), and NOAA (862 citations).
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Table 3: Space and Aeronautic Technology R&D Organizations (2005-2007)
Institution
Total Publications
Average Impact
Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Space Platforms Enabling Technologies Aeronautical Platforms 80 359 101 133 9 87 178 106 98 55 98 49 51 67 17 49 67 63 17 33 45 35 56 59 56 166 67 45 64 51 40 3 75 56 19 8 41 6 80 69 6 186 135 1 5 55 41 6 9 33 7 0 9 5 1 5
Numerical Simulation
NASA 1.15 3.58 1.82 3.41 3.70 2.23 2.53 2.23 2.95 1.45 2.61 1.07 4.03
811
3.11
89 8 44 18 10 5 1 9 16 8 13 16 6
Chinese Acad Sci
494
CALTECH
345
Univ Texas
84
Univ Colorado
39
NOAA
33
USDA
9
Univ Maryland
15
CNR
197
CNRS
19
Univ Florida
161
USN
153
Russian Acad Sci
153
Univ Paris
15
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International Collaboration and Publication Impact For countries with a similar level of publication activity, those countries with a high level of international collaboration also tend to produce publications with a high level of impact. International collaboration is calculated as the average number of countries represented per publication, based on authors addresses. Figure 3 plots a Figure 3: Space and Aeronautics International Collaboration and Publication Impact (2005-2007) countrys level of international collaboration (horizontal axis) against the average impact of its publications (vertical axis). Countries, such as the Netherlands and France, that show significant international collaborative activity also tend to produce papers with a higher average impact.
3.00
2.50
France USA UK Germany
Netherlands
Canada Italy
2.00
Average Impact
South Africa
1.50
Japan
1.00
India
Peoples R. China Iran Jordan Kuwait Saudi Arabia
0.50
Egypt
United Arab Emirates
0 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00
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KSA Collaboration Activity As shown in table 4, authors affiliated with KSA institutions collaborated on more than one article with authors from the United States, Pakistan, and the United Table 4: KSA Publication Collaborators (2005-2007) Country United States Pakistan UK Canada Egypt Iran Italy Jordan Turkey Number of Publications 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 Kingdom. KSA authors collaborated on individual publications with authors from Canada, Egypt, Iran, Italy, Jordan, and Turkey.
Space and Aeronautic Technology Journals Table 5 presents journals that have published the greatest Table 5: Space and Aeronautics Journals (2005-2007) Journal JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT
number of articles in the KSA space and aeronautics subfields from 2005-2007.
Publications 68 40 35 34 34 4 3 0 18 16
JOURNAL OF GUIDANCE CONTROL AND DYNAMICS Numerical Simulation ACTA ASTRONAUTICA JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS JOURNAL OF SPACECRAFT AND ROCKETS AIAA JOURNAL ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS PLANETARY AND SPACE SCIENCE AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING AND AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY ICARUS
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Journal ACTA ASTRONAUTICA IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES Space Platforms GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS ANNALES GEOPHYSICAE JOURNAL OF SPACECRAFT AND ROCKETS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING JOURNAL OF GUIDANCE CONTROL AND DYNAMICS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING Remote Sensing and GIS REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT ISPRS JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND REMOTE SENSING ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING AND REMOTE SENSING INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SCIENCE JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES APPLIED OPTICS Enabling Technologies IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS PHYSICA B-CONDENSED MATTER INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS OPTICS EXPRESS Publications 3 109 105 95 88 84 79 73 63 5 379 357 31 111 100 98 97 85 84 84 151 1 100 94 63 6 54 51 46 44
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Journal JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT JOURNAL OF GUIDANCE CONTROL AND DYNAMICS AERONAUTICAL JOURNAL Aeronautical Platforms AIAA JOURNAL JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS PART G-JOURNAL OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING AND AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN HELICOPTER SOCIETY AVIATION SPACE AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE Space and Aeronautic Patent Activity Between 2002 and 2006, there were 5,584 space and aeronautic related patent applications filed with the United States Patent Office (USPTO). As shown in table 6, the majority of these (3,914) listed at least one inventor from the United States. Other countries with a significant number of inventors include: France (377 Publications 40 96 70 70 49 44 43 4 39 39
applications), Japan (317 applications), and Germany (247 applications). The most cited space and aeronautic related patent application (54 citations): Structural reinforcing member with ribbed thermally expansible foaming material,7 listed only inventors from the United States. No space and aeronautic related patent applications listed an inventor from Saudi Arabia.
Table 6: Space and Aeronautics Patents Applications (2002-2006)
Country
Remote Sensing and GIS 140 5 5 3
Space Platforms 1818 81 37 60 70
Aeronautical Platforms 1886 85 77 176 114
Numerical Simulation 6 1 0 0
Enabling Technologies 168 8 10 7
Total
United States France Japan Germany United Kingdom
3914 377 317 47 189
Fitzgerald, Gerald E., Stratman, Randy, Chang, Chin-Jui, U.S. Patent Application # 20020074827, 2002.
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Country
Remote Sensing and GIS 9 3 0 1 0
Space Platforms 63 6 13 9 0
Aeronautical Platforms 88 9 3 6 8 0
Numerical Simulation 0 0 0 0 0 0
Enabling Technologies 1 0 1 0
Total
Canada Italy India Netherlands China Saudi Arabia
17 39 19 15 13 0
While the majority of the space and aeronautics related patent applications are defined as individually owned patent applications by the United States Patent Office, institutions are designated as the patent assignee on a significant number of applications. These institutions, which have records as inventors in technology fields related to KSA space and aeronautics priorities, could be future targets for collaboration. As shown in table 7, Boeing Company is listed as the patent assignee on 100 space and aeronautic related patent applications followed by Honeywell International Inc. (50 applications), Hughes Electronics Corporation (46 applications), and Airbus France (44 applications).
industries combined with their desire to utilize the proposed technical products is a unique advantage of the space and aeronautics plan. Table 7: Leading Space and Aeronautics Patent Assignees (2002-2006) No. of Patents Apps. 3977 100 50 46 44 41 40 31 1 0
USTPO Assignee Individually Owned Patents Boeing Company Honeywell International Inc. Hughes Electronics Corporation Airbus France Alcatel International Business Machines Co. Snecma Moteurs Lockheed Martin Corporation General Electric Company
Summary of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

KACST SRI and its strategic stakeholders are well poised to pursue the Kingdoms aim of becoming a regional leader in space and aeronautical technologies. The experience of the Space Research Institute in successfully supporting a fleet of Saudi satellites is a particular strength of the Kingdom. The strong and continuing financial support of the Saudi government is also a considerable strength of the space and aeronautical development plan. The financial strength of Saudi oil and gas and petrochemical
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The limited size of the technical workforce in the Kingdom is a weakness that affects all of the strategic technology plans. This shortage of technical workers is compounded by a relative weak ability of the Kingdoms universities to attract and train students in relevant fields such as advanced mathematics, physics and advanced material science. Notwithstanding the shared technical interests between the universities and industry in the Kingdom, there is little substantive collaboration or linkages between the two. That internal discord contributes to a lack of international scientific collaboration which limits the speed with which KACST SRI and the Kingdom can become truly viable members of the international aerospace community. The current global environment of the space and aeronautics sector provides significant opportunities for Saudi space as well. The Kingdom is well-positioned to contribute to regional development of space and aeronoutic technological systems. There are also significant opportunities to commercialize Saudi technologies particularly related to aeronautical and Global Navigation Satellite Systems applications. The regions relative weakness in the collection and processing of atmospheric data is an opportunity for the Kingdom to become one of the leading providers of such services. The lack of internal collaboration and limited workforce development is the principal threat to Saudi aerospace science. As is the case in all technologies, the Kingdom faces considerable competition from other developing nations, most notably India and China. In addition, the Kingdoms limited international profile in complex aerospace science projects could lead to it being left out of maturing markets and international collaborative partnerships. On balance, the Kingdom possesses considerable strengths and there are ample opportunities to develop regional prominence in space and aeronautical sciences. It will require efficient collaboration between the KACST Space Research Institute and its stakeholders to overcome the structural weaknesses of the Kingdom and reduce the external threats it faces. This effort will require a concerted alignment behind the singular vision and mission of the space and aeronautical strategic development plan.
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Program Strategy
Vision
Over the next five years the Saudi Space and Aeronautics Program, with the strategic support of key stakeholders, will become a regional leader in space and aeronautical activities not limited to research and development, and will support the needs of national security and sustainable development within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in these disciplines.
Mission
The mission of the Space and Aeronautics Program is to enhance the position of the Kingdom in space and aeronautics technologies and systems, through a nationally and internationally collaborative program of research, development, and technology transfer. The vision shall be achieved by: Developing capabilities in sectors in which the stakeholders have existing expertise. Broadening capabilities by moving into sectors where the stakeholders have little or no current involvement and which support the vision. Implementing a number of challenging projects and initiatives specifically chosen to achieve the vision. These will: Raise stakeholder profiles nationally, regionally and internationally. Allow stakeholders to join and become active in regional and global Promote international collaboration with companies and universities Focus R & D and develop products and IP. Stimulate sustainable industrial expansion. Promoting and encouraging an expansion of space and aeronautical related education and training. Expanding the range of existing and stimulate new private and joint venture
forums.

Program Strategy
companies. Promoting wider use of space and aeronautical applications within government, industry and the general public. Establishing aeronautical or aerospace research groups at the local universities to support the plan and to encourage an increase in the numbers and quality of graduates in relevant disciplines. The program will be led by the PMO with support of the other stakeholders and will cover major projects and capital investments in the space and aeronautical development sector. However individual stakeholders would still be able to perform their own smaller programs, make independent capital investments in space and aeronautics, and diversify into non-space and nonaeronautical sectors. Among the stakeholders are the relevant engineering departments of major KSA universities. To ensure that the activities in these departments are directed towards the achievement of the strategic plan and are given the right priority and resources, it is proposed to establish aeronautical or aerospace research groups in these departments.
Values
The Programs core values are: Excellence of work. Professional integrity and ethical behaviour. Openness with all stakeholders. Commitment to achieving objectives. Quality of products. Sustainability of activities. Core values have been generated to capture the key characteristics of the participants necessary to achieve successfully the vision statement.
Strategic Objectives
Eleven strategic objectives have been derived by SRI and the stakeholders and are defined in this section: Seven high priority objectives. These are each of equal priority and are considered essential to achieving the vision statement.
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Program Strategy
Four medium priority objectives. These are each of equal priority and are considered important to achieving the vision statement. For each objective a rationale is provided together with policies, projects, and initiatives to be considered as part of the implementation. High Priority Strategic Objectives Strategic Objective 1 To design and develop advanced space and aeronautical platforms for research and commercialization. Rationale This objective expands and extends current capability within KACSTs Aeronautics Technology Center (ATC), and universities. The development of a research and development agenda in advanced aeronautical technologies will complement the civilian and Strategic Objective 2 To become the leading provider of numerical simulation services for aerospace objectives within the region. Rationale The KACST Numerical Studies Center (NSC) has existing capabilities and facilities for Computational Fluid Policies, Projects and Initiatives The advanced aeronautical systems initiative will be anchored in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and light aircraft that will enable a range of technological capabilities relevant to the key needs of the Kingdom: Surveillance and atmospheric measurements with electro optic payloads and both remotely and fully autonomous flight control systems. Development of solar and electric power sources for UAVs. Development of control systems capable of dynamic data processing and communication systems with UAVs. Dynamics and Finite Element modeling and Fluid Solid interaction modeling and analyses. Further development of numerical simulation and computational capacity within the Kingdom will enhance the potential for commercialization in the aerospace industry and related technical areas. Capacity development in these critical fields serve as a compliment to several major projects proposed in the Kingdoms strategic plan. This is particularly true of strategic objectives in Earth Observation platforms and Geographical Information Systems, aeronautical technologies and advanced material commercial efforts in Earth Observation systems. Expertise in advanced aeronautical systems supports the national objective of providing for sustainable development within KSA and has the potential for Saudi industrial involvement and international collaboration. In collaboration with the General Authority for Civil Aviation, develop regulatory policy to integrate UAVs into Saudi military and civilian airspace. ATC to design, implement and test modifications to a light aircraft or helicopter for special applications. Potential missions to be studied will include: Design, implement, and test modifications to an aircraft for atmospheric pollution measurement applications. Design, implement, and test advanced modifications to a light aircraft for pest control operations (e.g. spraying of desert locust spraying). Design, implement, and test modifications to a light Design, implement, and test modifications to a light aircraft for emergency response in desert operations. aircraft for SAR operations.
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Program Strategy
Policies, Projects and Initiatives The particular policies, projects, and initiatives planned are for: NSC to develop research and develop specialised software in collaboration with external software companies in support of GIS objective 3 and objective 6. NSC to provide numerical analyses expertise to space and aeronautical projects as defined under objectives 5, 4. Required numerical support includes : Structural analyses (static and dynamic). Thermal analyses (steady state and transient). Mission and orbit analyses. Aerodynamics and thermodynamics. Radiation analyses. EMC/ ESD analyses. Fault free control analyses and algorithms (for on board software). NSC to market and provide training and consultancy on numerical analysis techniques to universities, external organisations, and companies and to become a regional producer and supplier of numerical software. Strategic Objective 3 To enchance significantly the Geographical Information System capabilities for both national & regional development. Rationale GISC already has systems and infrastructure in place for national institutional applications together with an existing and active stakeholder network. This objective supports a national objective of providing for sustainable development within KSA and should provide enhanced support to a national objective of securing the strategic needs of defense and national security. There is significant potential for regional development and commercialization. There is also potential for exploiting products commercially beyond KSA and for developing international collaboration. Policies, projects and initiatives The particular policies, projects and initiatives planned are for: GISC to build a fast access national database for GIS products, including unifying the standards and specifications for all Saudi GIS users and
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Program Strategy
consolidating base maps, digital elevation models (DEMs) and ground control points (GCP)s already available for national and regional use. GISC, with NSC support and international cooperation with advanced research centers elsewhere in the world, to conduct research and develop specialized GIS software for: Auto generation of (ortho-rectified) satellite images. Generation of specialized 3D visualization products. Land cover change detection applications. GISC in conjunction with SCRS, to develop and provide the web-based GIS framework for the delivery of EO data, products and services (see strategic objective 1), including: Google earth or similarly based applications for User-specific monitoring systems linked to displaying data coverages and on-line ordering. environmental and resource management applications (e.g. coastal zone degradation, irrigation efficiency, crop stress). GISC in conjunction with SCRS, to develop an end-toend web-based GIS software system for the (operational services) to be provided by the Monitoring and/ or Hazard Warning Unit (see strategic objective 1). SCRS and GISC to provide a commercial outlet for EO based GIS products regionally. Policies, Projects and Initiatives The particular policies, projects and initiatives planned are for: NSTP to continue to develop, launch, and operate family of satellite with an advanced multi-spectral imaging capability. Stakeholders to study, develop, launch, and operate with international collaborators a regionally optimized hyper-spectral mission, justified on the basis of: Strong applications potential within KSA and regionally, including coastal and offshore monitoring (oil slicks with thermal channels), mineral exploration, vegetation characterization and monitoring. High number of cloud free days favorable to the Very few (hyperspectral instruments) currently operate operation and use of narrow band optical imaging. in space, so there is the prospect of developing a worldleading position (note:. the Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd/European Space Agency (SSTL/ ESA) experimental Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS) Strategic Objective 4 To implement an optimized, responsive and advanced civilian Earth Observation satellite systems to provide key data for the region. Rationale This objective involves introducing new and advanced systems which contribute new information regionally or instrument is currently the only high resolution, 18m, imaging spectrometer in space). Excellent prospects for collaborating with international partners in instrument development, operations and applications. Stakeholders to study alternative candidate missions for an additional advanced EO satellite, including the following: globally and raise the stakeholders profile internationally. It supports a national objective for providing for sustainable development within KSA and enhances prospects for international collaboration and has the potential for training and technology transfer. Advanced systems are now becoming available for civil and commercial use from satellite suppliers.
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Program Strategy
A latitude optimized synthetic aperature radar (SAR) mission, which would provide an all-weather mapping and surveillance capability, together with special capabilities for ship tracking, oil slick detection, subsidence mapping and earthquake prediction. A regionally optimized atmospheric chemistry mission, primarily aimed at monitoring ozone and levels of atmospheric pollution. Strategic Objective 5 To develop into the leading service provider of commercial Earth Observation products within the region. Rationale This objective is a logical development of current Earth Observation capabilities within KACST. It supports a national objective of providing for sustainable development within KSA and will provide enhanced support to national objectives of securing the strategic needs in defense, national security and domestic civilian topographic data needs. There is considerable potential for exploiting products commercially beyond KSA and for developing international collaboration. Policies, Projects and Initiatives KACST Space Research Institute will collaborate with the National Satellite Technology Program (NSTP) and the Saudi Centre for Remote Sensing (SCRS) to maintain and develop a fleet of satellites to provide critical data in support of KSA national security and domestic needs. The responsibilities of NSTP and SCRS will focus on satellite development and data processing respectively. NSTP will continue to control the Saudi satellites and will orchestrate the research, development and support of the next generation of satellites. SCRS, in conjunction with the Numerical Studies Center (NSC), will play a lead role in the development of data gathering and processing systems to support the key needs of the Kingdom. The key policies, projects and initiatives are: SCRS to upgrade the Ground Segment to collect data from future planned Saudi satellite systems. SCRS to build a fast accessed national database for EO satellite images including collecting and archiving data from: Externally sourced data (under license).
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Program Strategy
Data from Saudi satellite systems. SCRS, ATC and NSC to collaborate with another EO operator to maximise the synergistic return of data from an enlarged family of satellites and to develop advanced EO products in conjunction with objectives 2 and 3. SCRS and ATC to establish and operate an Atmospheric Monitoring and/or Hazard Warning Unit in conjunction with other countries to provide emergency response information to civil defence authorities and international organizations with timely products and services. Examples of products and services are: Identifying offshore hydrocarbon seepage and oil Pipeline zone integrity monitoring. Identifying flood hazard areas and damage Rationale This objective builds on the capabilities of the existing industrial stakeholders and promotes the involvement of new and existing companies other than the stakeholders. In particular it encourages and motivates interplay between academic and local industries. It supports a national objective for providing for sustainable development within KSA. An active and mature aerospace industry will help focus academic activities and will be of mutual benefit. Policies, Projects and Initiatives The particular policies, projects, and initiatives planned are for: KACST to perform surveys to determine and evaluate the local industrial infrastructure and hence provide necessary support to it according to the needs of aerospace development. KACST to become a strategic shareholder in a new service company formed to provide aerospace equipments and subsystems. KACST to form an joint venture company to commercialize the Saudicomsat constellation. NSTP and ATC under the auspices of KACST to establish joint-ventures with KSA companies that utilize the acquired technologies, .e.g., space and airborne slicks. Strategic Objective 6 To create a thriving commercial space and aeronautical sector within the KSA capable of executing advanced technology programs. Water management and irrigation scheduling. Precision farming. Pastureland management. Mineral exploration. Monitoring urban development.
assessment. Food security status. Monitoring forest and scrubland fires. Earthquake prediction and damage assessment. Prediction and monitoring of desert locust outbreaks. SCRS and ATC to provide a leading role in environmental and biodiversity monitoring in KSA and the region, including the provision of data and products for: Identifying habitats and land cover changes (including Plant diversity mapping. Land and soil degradation. Coastal zone degradation. Coral reef monitoring. Coastal lagoon monitoring. Effluent mapping. SCRS to support national and regional mapping and management of resources, with data and products (with support from KACSTs Geographical Information Systems Center (GISC)) for: Crop inventory and production forecasting. desertification).
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Program Strategy
platforms. KACST to form an joint venture company to commercialize EO/ GIS products throughout the region (see objectives 1 and 2). Medium Priority Strategic Objectives Strategic Objective 7 To research and develop specific advanced enabling technologies in order to develop IPR for longer term international collaboration, commercial exploitation or to support stakeholder strategic programs. Rationale Research and development in aerospace needs to be focused in accordance with the strategic vision and other strategic objectives. In particular it is essential that it is used to provide assets such as IP that can be exploited in the future. Also it will be necessary to provide R&D in support of other strategic objectives. Policies, Projects and Initiatives The particular policies, projects and initiatives planned are for: ATC, NSC, and KSA universities will perform detailed studies in order to identify key technologies related to aeronautical vehicles. NSTP, NSC, and KSA universities to perform detailed R&D studies and develop key IP and products related to satellites, e.g. Interferometry. Reflectometry. Close formation flying between satellites. LIDARs (including Doppler). Experimental on board wireless data systems for Strategic Objective 9 To exploit the downstream opportunities opened up by the introduction of aerospace systems by other aerospace organization in Europe and the United States. Space ISLs. Electric propulsion. Laser ranging between satellites. Policies, Projects and Initiatives The particular policies, projects and initiatives planned are for: NSTP to collaborate in a Phase A/B of a space science mission. Potential examples are: An early warning satellite for severe solar activity -A tracking satellite for potential Earth collision A satellite to characterise interstellar dust. Equipment for impactor/ deep drilling (lunar orbiter ATC to collaborate on an aeronautical science mission. Potential example is: high altitude contrails. Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) replacement. asteroid Apophis. Rationale This objective would extend aerospace involvement into a new sector that offers wide potential for international collaboration with major agencies or universities. It could be developed into a flagship project in particular in support of Strategic Objective 10. It requires an interested user to emerge from the KSA science community. Strategic Objective 8 To become a participant in international or regional space and aeronautic science missions. Experimental space robotics including teleoperation. Deep drilling operations (lunar and asteroids).
or lander).
satellites.
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Program Strategy
Rationale Other aerospace organizations are planning large capital investment in space systems. Examples include the new Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites such as the European Unions Galileo, the United States NAVSTAR GPS lll as well as space tourism ventures such as Britains Virgin Galactic. Although these will offer limited or minimal upstream opportunities for the stakeholders, there will be extensive opportunities for commercial downstream development with much easier market entry and lower capital investment requirements. In addition, involvement would be extended to new aerospace sectors and the strategic objective also supports a national objective for providing for sustainable development within KSA. Policies, Projects and Initiatives The particular policies, projects and initiatives planned are for: NSTP and KSA companies to develop terrestrial equipment, software, systems, and services for these space systems. Examples include: Tracking of high value containers and packets via Tracking and control of aircraft, trains and vehicles Testing and maintenance of commercial space GACA to provide a regulatory and operational environment for testing and operations of the above airborne services. Strategic Objective 10 To raise the level of aerospace higher education and training programs within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and to expand interest and resources in the space and aeronautical sectors. Strategic Objective 11 To promote the wider national use of space and GNSS and Saudicomsat. using GNSS and GEO comsats. tourism vehicles. Policies, projects and initiatives The particular policies, projects and initiatives planned are for: KACST to enhance its education coordination programs to include : Collaborating with the Ministry of Higher Education in developing and executing technical programmes in the curriculum that relate and promote interest in space and aeronautics and in increasing the number of qualified graduates and technicians for the space and aeronautical sectors. Another goal is to increase the retention and attract postgraduates from abroad. Organising a programme of visits by students to all stakeholders to promote interest and participation in space and aeronautical activities. Providing short or dedicated education and training KACST to establish aeronautical or aerospace research groups at KSA universities in support of this plan and to use these centers to encourage interest and expansion in undergraduate and post graduate courses at these universities in relevant disciplines. courses in aerospace related disciplines. Rationale This objective is necessary to ensure the flow of suitably trained qualified personnel into the space and aeronautical organizations that will be expanding under this strategic plan. This will require close cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education and initiatives should make use of the new and challenging programs contained within this plan to raise aerospace awareness among the student population. The objective also supports a national objective for providing for sustainable development within KSA.
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Program Strategy
aeronautical projects and services within government, industry, and the general public. Rationale This objective is necessary to ensure widespread support for the space and aeronautical sectors throughout KSA. Initiatives should make use of the new and challenging programs contained within this plan. The objective also supports a national objective for providing for sustainable development within KSA. Policies, Projects and Initiatives The particular policies, projects, and initiatives planned are for: KACST to extend its public relations department to: Increase awareness among Saudi government agencies of space and aeronautical products, such as by circulating newsletters and organising seminars. Increase awareness among the Saudi industry of space and aeronautical Raise awareness within the general public of space and aeronautics by products such as by arranging visits and organising seminars. encouraging broadcasters to make space and aeronautical programs and by arranging exhibitions.
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Program Management
KACST will form a Space Program Management Office (SPMO) to oversee the activities and progress of the Kingdoms strategic plan for space and aeronautics. The SPMO will consist of a combination of personnel with technical and managerial expertise. Members of the SPMO will be given specialized training the courses to help with successful implementation aeronautical or aerospace groups to be established in the early phases in direct support of the plan at stakeholder universities.
of the strategic plan. The SPMO will manage and control three
Program Organization
The overall management and reporting structure is shown in Figure 4. The SPMO Program Manager reports formally to the KASCT Management. The various project teams are grouped according to the strategic objectives with the High Priority objectives 1-7 being established at the start of the program and the Medium Priority objective teams being phased in during the program as soon as resources allow.
3
KACST Management
Program Management
Executive Steering Committee SPMO
Figure 4: Overall Management and Reporting Structure
Objective 1
Objective 2
Objective 3
Objective 4
Objective 5
Objective 6
Objective 7
Objective 8
Objective 9
Objective 10 Objective 11
High Priority Projects
Medium Priority Projects

Project Team 3A Project Team 4A Project Team 5A Project Team 6A Project Team 7A Project Team 8A Project Team 9A Project Team 3N Project Team 4N Project Team 5N Project Team 6N Project Team 7N Project Team 8N Project Team 9N
Project Team 1A
Project Team 2A
Project Team 10A
Project Team 11A
Project Team 1N
Project Team 2N
Project Team 10N
Project Team 11N
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Program Management
Strategic Management Office (SPMO)
The SPMO organization is as shown in Figure 5. It is a matrix organization with line functions of Contracts, Engineering, Project Control, Quality and International relations being coordinated by the Program Manager to oversee and act as customers for the individual project Figure 5: The SMO Organization Executive Steering Committee SMO Program Manager teams formed within the stakeholders. When the number of projects and their scope becomes excessive, an Assistant Program Managers will be added to support and act for the Program Manager for individual projects or a range of projects.
Contracts Officer
Chief Technical Officer
Project Controller
Quality Manager
International Operation Manager (KACST)
Assistant Program Manager
Space Project Engineer Aeronautical Project Engineer Ground Segment Project Engineer
Scheduler
Product Assurance
International Bodies Collaboration with Agencies
Accountant
Quality Assurance
CADM Manager
QA and KPI Auditor
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Program Management
The roles and responsibilities of the key members of the SPMO team are defined below. Reporting to the SPMO Program Manager are: The SPMO International Operations Manager is responsible for managing all agreements with external aerospace agencies and bodies and companies and is also responsible for overseeing all contracts involving companies outside KSA. This Manager is seconded from the KACST International Cooperation Department. The SPMO Project Controller is responsible for schedule, cost and configuration control for the program. The Project Controller will be supported by a scheduler, CADM Manager and project accountant. The SPMO Assistant Program Managers (APMs) support the Program Manager in managing the performance of individual projects or a range of projects. The number of APMs will be dependent on the number of projects underway within the stakeholders project teams and in particular the numbers in later phases of development (i.e., Phase B onwards). The SPMO Chief Technical Officer is responsible for the technical performance of the program and is the overall Design Authority. The CTO is supported by specialist senior engineers: A Senior Aeronautical Systems Engineer is responsible for all systems requirements and the technical performance of the aeronautical related projects. A Senior Space Systems Engineer is responsible for all systems requirements and technical performance of the space-related projects. A Senior Terrestrial Systems Engineer is responsible for all systems requirements and the technical performance of terrestrial projects (e.g. Ground segments, GIS). The SPMO Quality Manager is responsible for the quality and product assurance aspects of the program and is supported by personnel as follows: The project team is required to establish and apply a Business Management System that provides the following functions: Contract Monitoring and Finance Control. Schedule Status Control. Action Item Control. Configuration and Data Management. Meeting Coordination. Project Reporting. Each project team is required to establish and apply a program control system that provides the milestone payment status, as well as the planning and technical data necessary to adequately manage the program. Each project team will hold a monthly meeting or teleconference with the SPMO to discuss the progress in the project. A Senior PA Engineer is responsible for overseeing all PA matters on the projects. A Senior QA Engineer is responsible for overseeing all QA matters on the projects. A Senior QC Engineer is responsible for auditing and KPI monitoring.
Project Management
Projects Each Project will be negotiated and authorized prior to formal start and a definitive charter will be executed between the SMO and individual stakeholder Project Teams. The emphasis will be on actively monitoring project performance without duplicating functions. Each charter will contain: Contract Terms and Conditions. Statement of Work. Specifications (where applicable).
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Program Management
Work Breakdown Structure
Work and activities are broken down into a logical Work Breakdown Structure as shown in Figure 6. Activities are grouped into twelve work areas covering the activities of the SMO and of the eleven strategic objectives. The next level contains work packages covering disciplines within the SMO and individual projects. Each project will be required to define a Work Breakdown Structure in accordance with this overall structure and an SMO defined numbering system.
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Program Management
Figure 6: Overall Work Breakdown Structure
Strategic Plan
SMO
Objective 1
Objective 2
Objective 3
Objective 4
Objective 5
Objective 6
Objective 7
Objective 8
Objective 9
Objective 10
Objective 11
Management
Project A
Project A
Contracts
Technical
Project Control
Quality
International Operations
Project N
Project N
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Program Management
Schedule Control
Ensuring on-time delivery of the strategic objectives is a major function of the SMO and the individual project teams. The project teams shall establish project networks showing activities, links, and dependencies identified. The SMO shall establish a Master Network showing major and milestones activities and links between projects. Updates to the program master network and lower levels schedules will be performed monthly and they will be regularly subjected to Critical Path Analysis (CPA). The SMO shall establish Microsoft Project as the standard scheduling software throughout the program. The progress of completing activities shall then be carefully reviewed, deviations from the planned completion date will be identified, and the appropriate management action will be taken either at SMO or project level depending upon the gravity of the situation. The derivation of the schedule will take in to account the major program milestones. These milestones will include major business and design reviews, deliveries and funding authorization. The schedule control will, in particular, ensure the following: Effective communication of current plans and schedules to the staff ultimately responsible for the execution of the work. Adherence to the requirements of these plans and schedules. Use of these plans to control actively the execution of the work not merely for recording progress. Real time reporting of any actual or foreseeable deviation from the plan. Effective processing of such reported deviations including the definition and implementation of any required corrective action. The SMO will provide a Schedule Report as part of a Quarterly Report. The SMO will advise the Strategic Program Director immediately if a seriously situation arises likely to adversely affect the program and will investigate and implement corrective action as appropriate. The SMO will regularly assess the overall project schedule status, taking into account the actual accomplishment of all project work as well as problems encountered, and shall report quarterly to the Strategic Program Director. The analyses will be performed to produce: Schedule Report including CPA. Detailed and summary bar charts. Trend analyses of major programme milestones and dependencies. Preparation and maintenance of a list of project milestones (major events). Each project will identify a schedule contingency to increase the likelihood of on time delivery. This contingency will then be managed carefully to ensure that project evolution has limited impact on these key stages in the project. The contingency taken in the schedule will take into account any factors highlighted in the risk management process.
Change Control
The SMO will establish and maintain a system for managing the following types of changes to the SMO and subcontracts. Requirements will be flowed down to Project Teams via the appropriate Statement of Work. This system will be administered by the SMO Project Controller: Change to Technical Requirements. Change to the Scope of Work (additions or deletions). Change to the Delivery Requirements (schedule).
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Program Management
The system shall provide the interface link between the SMOs internal change control procedures. The main features of the contract change control system are as follows. Project Change Notice (PCN) Any change raised by the projects, either on its own initiative or at the SMO request, shall be submitted to the SMO for Approval. The SMO will notify the Project of its acceptance or rejection of a PCN within 15 working days of receipt. Signature of a PCN by the SMO authorized representatives constitutes approval of the change and renders it enforceable. If the Project implements a change prior to any SMO approval, this shall be at its own risk. Baselines Design baselines, a set of control documents defining the physical and functional characteristics of a configured item, shall be established by the Project corresponding with critical milestones of the project (e.g. Baseline Design Review, Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review, etc.). A baseline shall be a point of departure for the control of subsequent performance, design, and build changes. The design standard of a configured item shall be the design baseline plus approved changes. Configuration Accounting The following records and listings shall represent the Ensure that all documents which define the functional and physical characteristics of project equipment are uniquely identified. Ensure that the design and build standard of the equipment can be defined at any point in the program. Ensure that effective change control is established and maintained. Ensure that all affected participants are aware of the impact of proposed changes, and participate in their evaluation. Documentation Management Configuration Items In order to implement an effective configuration management system, a tree of Configuration Items will be created, to separate the elements of each project into smaller subsets for the purpose of controlling their physical and functional characteristics. Each Configured Item will be identified with a unique reference number The SMO shall establish and maintain a documentation and test data control system for the program. A document list shall be prepared by each project showing deliverable documentation to the SMO. An example list is contained in Appendix A Deliverable documentation shall be submitted under one of the following criteria: major elements of the configuration accounting task: Maintaining a record for each configured item. Maintaining a register for all changes. Providing an historical record of the alterations made to each document. Providing an As Built Configuration List as part of the Acceptance Data Package for each CI to be delivered. This is the build standard and will be verified against the design standard and any differences reconciled. Part Marking All hardware and software data carriers will be identified by a non-ambiguous reference number. to denote its hierarchical position within the program.
Configuration and Data Management

Configuration Management The objectives of the configuration control system are to:
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Program Management
For Information: Routine documentation which will be evaluated by SMO to determine current program status, progress, and future planning requirements. For Review: Documentation to be evaluated by SMO for acceptance or rejection prior to its intended use. For Approval: Documentation that requires written approval from SMO before its acceptance or intended use. Revision to any formally deliverable document shall be subject to the same submission criteria as applied to the initial release of that document. Personnel and training. Program audits. Rights of access. Design assurance. Components, processes. PA implementation. Risk management. Design control. Control of vritical items. Documentation and data control. Configuration management. Subcontractor and supplier control. PA interfaces. Quality Assurance Quality Assurance activities shall be performed according to EN ISO 9001:2000 and KACST internal procedures. They shall encompass monitoring and auditing as appropriate of: A Product Assurance Plan will be designed as success oriented and the quality requirements shall be implemented to assure that: Strategic objectives are met within the period of the plan. Each project achieves the required functional and operational reliability. The design and developments are traceable (as built versus as designed). The formal verification processes (qualification) are traceable. Requirements are verified. Key Performance Indicators are achieved. The Product Assurance Plan will document: The PA organisation. The authority and independence of PA management. Status reporting. Feasibility studies. Development. Procurement. Manufacturing. Production. Test. Launch and flight. Handling, storage, transport and maintenance Quality control functions shall include: Metrology and calibration. Non conformance control. Traceability and changes. materials, mechanical parts and
Product Assurance
Product Assurance activities The SMO will establish an organization under the Product Assurance Manager to plan, organize, and control all activities in such a manner that objectives are systematically achieved and any deficiencies are detected, corrected, and prevented from occurrence.
Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are defined overall and for each objective (see Table 8). Each KPI will be monitored on a monthly basis by the SMO and formally
40
Program Management
reviewed and reported every three months. The SMO shall be responsible for taking action if achievement of a particular KPI is at risk of not being achieved. Table 8: Key Performance Indicators Subject Overall Vision Key Performance Indicator Comparison with regional aeronautical institutes and agencies based on a formula using the following metrics: No of aircraft flight tested over 5 year period No of instruments flight tested over 5 year period Contribution of knowledge to international or regional aeronautical bodies Number of aeronautical qualified persons employed within country Annual commercial sales of aeronautical products Support to KSA on national defence Success Criteria Overall first within region after five years Overall first within region after five years
Major contribution considered made to national defence as judged by the responsible ministries Major contribution made to sustainable development as judged by the responsible ministries
Support to sustainable development Order book for commercial aerospace products Numbers of aerospace related staff employed within country Number of aerospace qualified persons employed within country Strategic Objective 1 Design Reviews for platforms (BDR, PDR,CDR, AR) Launch and in-orbit commissioning of satellites Design Reviews for UAVs and manned aircraft (BDR, PDR,CDR, AR) Completion of flight test programme (UAVs and manned aircraft) Strategic Objective Strategic Objective 3 Strategic Objective 4 Number of NSC customers Number of NSC products Annual sales of NSC products Number of GIS customers Number of GIS products Number sales of GIS products Design Reviews for satellites (BDR, PDR, CDR, AR) Launch and in-orbit commissioning of satellites
Satisfactory completion Satisfactory completion Satisfactory completion Satisfactory completion Increase of 40% per annum Increase of 60% per annum Increase of 40% per annum Increase of 40% per annum Increase of 60% per annum Increase of 40% per annum Satisfactory completion Satisfactory completion
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Program Management
Subject Strategic Objective 5 Strategic Objective 6 Key Performance Indicator Percentage of EO data provided regionally Number of customers regionally for EO images Number of EO products offered Number of aerospace companies Number of annual aerospace sales Number of staff in aerospace companies Strategic Objective 7 Number of patents Number of papers published in international recognised publications Agreement with international collaborator Design Reviews Launch and in-orbit commissioning of satellite or Completion of flight test programme (UAVs and manned aircraft) Strategic Objective 9 Strategic Objective 10 No of new products developed Annual income from sales of new products Number of students per annum studying to a curriculum which relates and promote interest in space and aeronautics Number of aerospace qualified graduates per annum Number of aerospace qualified technicians per annum Number of training courses x persons attending per annum Success Criteria Increase of 40% per annum Increase of 60% per annum Increase of 40% per annum Increase of 200% per five year period Increase of 40% per annum Increase of 40% per annum Increase of 200% per five year period Increase of 200% per five year period Signed Satisfactory completion Satisfactory completion
Strategic Objective 8
Satisfactory completion Satisfactory completion Greater than 1000 per annum
Increase of 100% per five year period Increase of 100% per five year period Increase of 40% per annum
4
Program Management
Subject Strategic Objective 11 Key Performance Indicator Number of newsletters circulated per month to interested parties in government and industry Number of interested parties in government and industry on circulation list Number of seminars x attendance per annum Success Criteria 4 after second year thereafter increasing to 10 at fifth year 100 after second year thereafter increasing to 400 at fifth year 500 after second year thereafter increasing to 2000 at fifth year 10 hours after second year thereafter increasing to 25 at fifth year
Number of hours of aeronautical and space related TV broadcast within KSA
Risk Management
Risk Management will be implemented by the SMO throughout the program and requirements will be flowed down to individual projects. The Risk Management process is designed to improve the probability of successful project execution (i.e. satisfactory technical performance, timely delivery, costs within budgets) by identifying problems before they occur and by proactively taking mitigating actions, if considered appropriate, to reduce their impact. Approach The approach adopted is to:
and their Probability/ Gravity periodically and to take decisions on implementing mitigation action when necessary. The authority for managing the process is the SMO Program Manager who can decide to implement mitigating actions or changes within the boundaries of the program cost budget. The authorities for managing the process at individual project level are the Project Managers who are required to report regularly to the SMO on the status of their most significant risks. The process is shown in Figure 7. Levels of Probability for Risk Occurrence
identify potential events which could effect the planned progress of activities, to identify a likelihood of each event occurring (i.e. Probability) and to quantify the potential impact on schedule, cost and performance (i.e. Gravity) if it does. evaluate potential actions to mitigate the impact of such events and to quantify improvements on Probability and Gravity parameters. review and update the register of significant risks
Probability that an unexpected event (a risk) occurs is measured according to three levels: Level 1 (low): probability of occurrence in the range 0-10%. Level 2 (low/ medium): probability of occurrence in the range 10-30%. Level 3 (medium): probability of occurrence in the range 30-50%.
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Program Management
Level 4 (medium/ high): probability of occurrence in the range 50-70% Figure 7: Risk Management Process Level 5 (high): probability of occurrence in the range 70-100%
Inputs / Updates from within SMO
Program Baseline: Cost Schedule Performance Resources
Inputs / Updates from Projects
Modify / Quantity Program Risks
Update Risk Register
Review Risk Register
Decide to Implement Mitigating Action
Up-to-date Risk Register
Levels of Gravity for Risk Impact Gravity is also defined by five levels (1 = low, 3 = medium, 5 = high), according to the cost, planning and
performance impacts. Table 9 shows the scale applicable to the program.
44
Program Management
Table 9: Gravity Table for Strategic Development Program Impact Technical Level 1 Performance degraded but project requirements still achieved Level 2 Project requirements not achieved but does not affect the strategic plan Level 3 Requirement not achieved but the impact may be accepted by SMO Level 4 SMO Requirement not achieved with serious significant on the strategic plan and unlikely to be acceptable by SMO 3 months < Delay < 6 months on delivery Level 5 Requirement not achieved with impact on strategic plan not acceptable by SMO
Schedule
Delay 2 weeks on delivery
2 weeks < Delay < 1 month on delivery
1 month < Delay < 3 months on delivery
Delay 6 months on delivery
Note: A risk may have at the same time technical and/ or schedule and/ or cost impacts. The level of gravity of the risk is given by the higher impact.
Development Program and managed by the SMO. The most critical risks shall be reported monthly. Acceptability/Non-acceptability of Risks
Risk Register A specific risk register shall be produced for the Strategic Figure 8: Domain of Acceptability/Non-acceptability
Risks shall be evaluated as shown in Figure 8.
Probabilty 5 4 3 1 1 3 4 5 Gravity
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Program Management
Action Required: Red Zone: Unacceptable--Major risk to program, immediate project management action required. Orange Zone: Unacceptable--Significant risk to program, urgent project management action required. Yellow Zone: Unacceptable--Risk to program, mitigation action required by work package manager. Green Zone: Acceptable--Acceptable risk to program, work package manager to monitor. Project Progress Report and Meetings Project Managers are required to submit a concise Progress Report to the SMO five working days prior to Progress Meetings which will be held at monthly intervals. The content of the report shall include: SOFTQ Report (Successes, Opportunities, Failures, Threats, Quality). Project Schedule summary. Key Technical summary. Update to Risk Register. Cost status. Action Item status. Change status. Non Conformance status. Ad Hoc meetings may be convened by the SMO or the Project Teams to resolve particular issues or external interfaces. Emergency reporting The SMO Program Manager shall immediately notify the Strategic Program Director of any event that puts the achievement of the strategic plan at risk. This requirement is flown down to individual project managers concerning their delivery schedule. The SMO shall be notified by project managers of any major emergency events immediately they becoming apparent.
Progress Reporting
Program Progress Report and Reviews The SMO Program Manager shall submit a concise report covering key program and strategic issues to the Strategic Program Director and the Advisory Board prior to reviews. The content of the report shall include: Project status: Technical. Schedule. External interface. Program Schedule summary including CPA and milestone achievement. Main outstanding risk issues. Status of Key Performance Indicators. Funding/cost status. A Quarterly Progress Review shall be held between the SMO and the Steering Committee chaired by the SMO Program Manager. A six monthly review shall be held between the SMO and the KACST Management and the Advisory Boards chaired by the KACST Strategic Program Director to address key program and strategic issues. The former will occur one day before the latter when they are scheduled at similar times. Typically these reviews will rotate between the sites of the stakeholders so that Management can also see progress on a site-by-site basis.
Reviews
Project Design Reviews SMO appointed chairmen (typically the SMO Program Manager or Assistant Program Managers) together with review boards of appointed specialists will perform design reviews on the projects. These reviews will consist of: Baseline Design Review (BDR). Preliminary Design Review (PDR). Critical Design Review (CDR). Acceptance Review (AR).
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Program Management
Lower level Reviews Individual projects will conduct a series of lower level design reviews. The reviews will be planned, organized, and managed by the project teams and will be occasions where the responsible parties for each item under review formally concur about the equipment status, having previously had the opportunity to evaluate the applicable documentation. The SMO shall be invited to attend and may serve as a member of the review board for some reviews.
Property Control
The SMO will implement a Property Control System to account for all owned property funded by the Strategic Program. The system will operate in such a way that: The existence, location and working condition of all property, both fixed and movable, can be verified. Changes in financial values, resulting from acquisitions, disposals and items written off are recorded. Financial reconciliation can be made and status reports prepared for incorporation into the SMO annual accounts. All property shall be physically labeled with a unique inventory number and statement of ownership. The numbering system shall operate throughout the program with a centralized overall record held by the SMO in the form of a computerized database. All projects shall be required to operate a Property Control system compatible with the requirements. Any disposal programme hardware will be agreed with SMO prior to the event. The inventory control system shall be capable of providing reports containing the following information: Item description. Unique Item Registration/ Inventory Number. Physical location. The SMO has the right to audit the project inventory and to have physical checks at project premises.
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Appendix A - Acronyms
ACWP AEC AR ACWP ATC BCP BDR CAD CADM CCB CDR CI CPA CTO DRL EAC EIDP EMC ETC ESD FMECA GACA GIS GISC IP KACST KAAU Actual Cost of Work Performed Advanced Electronic Company Acceptance Review Actual Cost of Work Performed. Aeronautics Technology Center (KACST SRI) Baseline Cost Plan Baseline Design Review Computer Aided Design Configuration and Data Management Change Control Board Critical Design Review Configured Item Critical Path Analysis Chief Technical Officer Document Requirements List Estimate at Completion End Item Data Pack Electromagnetic Compatibility Estimate to Complete Electrostatic Discharge Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis General Authority for Civil Aviation Geographical Information System Geographical Information Systems Center (KACST SRI) Intellectual property King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology King Abdulaziz University SMO SOFTQ SOW SRI NSTP TRB TRR WBS KPI KSA KSU NSC OSO PA PCN PDR PMI PMP QA QC R&D RDW SCRS King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals Key Performance Indicator The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia King Saud University Numerical Studies Center (KACST SRI) Outer Space Office Product Assurance Project Change Note Preliminary Design Review Project Management Institute Project Management Plan Quality Assurance Quality Control Research and Development Request for Waiver or Deviation Saudi Center for Remote Sensing (KACST SRI) Strategic Management Office Successes, Opportunities, Threats, Quality Statement of Work Space Research Institute (KACST) National Satellite Technology Program Test Review Board Test Readiness Review Work Breakdown Structure Failures,
KFUPM
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Appendix B: Plan Development Process

Planning Project Core Team
The KACST members of the planning project management team are : Name Dr. Khaled Alhussan Eng. Adil Alomair Dr. Abdulaziz Alsugair Eng. Waleed Mulla Mr. Fahad Algernass Eng. Fawzan Alharby Eng. Rames Alshehry Mr. Mohammad Alwhaiby Eng. Salah Redwan Eng Saud Algahtany Eng. Abdulaziz Aljewair Mr. Mohammad Bin Mahfoodh Dr. Abdullah Al-Mudimigh - KSU - Part time
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Workshop Participants
Name Dr. Ibraheem Alqadhy Dr.K haled Aljuhanee Dr. Mohammad Omar Budair Dr. Bakeer Yalbas Dr. Ayman Qassem Dr. Ahmmad Alqarnee Dr.Abdulla Alqarnee Eng.Adil Aloofee Eng. Tareq Fayraq Dr. Abdulhakeem Almajed Dr. Yahya Shakwa Eng.Akram Ahmad ENG. Khaled Aljaaweeny ENG. Ibraheem Alnassar Mr. Abdulaziz Alomran Dr. Mohammad Alhameedah Dr. Abdullah Alqarny Dr. Mohammad Qary Dr. Naser Salma Eng. Talat Albar Dr. Abdulqader Alsery Dr. Naser Alhumaid Eng. Abdulsalam Abdulaal Dr. Samy Zaydan Affiliation King Abdulaziz University King Abdulaziz University King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals General Authority for Civil Aviation General Authority for Civil Aviation King Saud University Advanced Electronic Company Advanced Electronic Company Advanced Electronic Company Alsalam Aircraft Company Alsalam Aircraft Company Aramco Company Ministry Of Municipalities & Rural Affairs King Abdulaziz University King Saud University Madinah City Municipality Alhasebah Technology Company King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Saudi Telecom Company Makah & Almadinah development Commission
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our stakeholders for their assistance with this project. King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals King Saud University King Abdulaziz University General Authority for Civil Aviation Ministry Of Municipalities & Rural Affairs Madinah City Municipality Makah & Almadinah Improvement Commission Aramco Company Saudi Telecom Company Alhasebah Technology Company Advanced Electronic Company Alsalam Aircraft Company
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www.kacst.edu.sa
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Strategic Priorities for Water Technology Program
Contents
Executive Summary Introduction Background Scope Plan Development Process Strategic Context KSA Water Technology R&D Needs Stakeholders Roles Analysis of Comparable Water R&D Institutes Analysis of Water Technologies Publications and Patents SWOT Analysis for Water Technology Program Higher Strategy Vision Mission Values Program Strategic Goals Technology Areas Selection Process Selected Technology Areas Program Structure Program Objectives Performance Indicators Program Project Categories
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Contents
Operational Plans Project Level Program Level Technology Transfer Plan Quality Management Plan Human Resources Plan Communications Management Plan Risk Management Plan Implementation of the Plan Appendix A: Plan Development Process Stakeholder Participant Planning Development Methodology Portfolio Management 0 0 1 1 4 6 6 7 9
Executive summary
The National Policy for Science and Technology, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1423 H (2002 G), defined 11 programs for localization and development of strategic technologies that are essential for the future development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This plan is for one of these programs, the Water Technology Program.
The main motivation of the program is to promote and support Saudi economic, social, security, developmental and other national interests through localizing (including initial transfer) and developing properly selected strategic and advanced technologies in the water area. The impetus for the water technology program stems from the specific needs of the Kingdom. The Kingdom faces a number of water resources limitations. It also stems from the role that water plays in the Kingdom's development plans, as well as the importance of water issues and policies internationally. This plan is based on input from the users and stakeholders of water technology in the Kingdom, including government agencies, industry and universities that have a role in water technology. The plan was derived from a process that: Identified the key needs of the Kingdom for water technology research Assessed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the program. Analyzed KSA water technology publications and patents and reviewed the works of some international research institutes. Defined a vision and mission for the Kingdoms water program. Defined the key technologies and other program areas needed to address the Kingdoms needs in water technology research. technology
Executive summary
This process concluded that improved KSA water technologies are needed to: Provide adequate water supplies for human, agricultural and industrial use. Support national self-reliance in water-related research and development and reduce dependence on foreign technology. Improve the price/value efficiency of water production and treatment. Develop a domestic water technology industry that will contribute to national economic performance and will provide employment opportunities. In addition to the technical needs, the planning process identified several areas where policies need to be changed or barriers removed to facilitate development and localization of water technologies. These include: Policies to facilitate R&D collaboration between KACST, universities, government agencies and industry. Expanded human resources for water technology R&D. Improved knowledge of international technology developments. Expanded international collaboration, including cooperation between Saudi Arabia government agencies, and world agencies. Studies of the social aspects of water technology. Small business contracting preferences to support innovative small companies. The technology areas of highest priority are the following: Water Desalination: Thermal Desalination. Membrane Desalination. Hybrid Desalination. The water technology program will be directed by a Program Manager who will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. The Water Technology Advisory Committee, with stakeholder membership, will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will establish and review performance metrics and provide advice on the portfolio of projects. The Committee will advise the Program Manager and will report to the National S&T Plan Supervisory Committee, which will oversee all of the Strategic Technology Programs. Wastewater Treatment: Biological Treatment. Biological Membrane Treatment. Chemophysical Treatment. Advanced Treatment. Water Resources Management: Water Conservation. Water Reuse and Recycling. Groundwater Recharge. Rain Harvest. Cloud Seeding. Drinking Water Treatment: Membrane Treatment. Chemical Treatment. Ionic Exchange. Disinfection. Filtration.
Introduction
Background
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was directed by its charter of 1986 to propose a national policy for the development of science and technology and to devise the strategy and plans necessary to implement them. In accordance with this charter, KACST launched a comprehensive effort in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MoEP), to develop a long-term national policy on science and technology. In July 2002, the Council of Ministers approved the national policy for science and technology, entitled The Comprehensive, Long-Term, National Science and Technology Policy.
Under the framework of this policy, KACST and MoEP, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, developed the national plan for science, technology and innovation (STI). The plan outlined the focus and future direction of science, technology, and innovation in the Kingdom, with special consideration of the role of KACST, universities, government, industry, and society. The plan encompasses eight major programs, depicted in figure 1, as follows: 1. Strategic and advanced technologies. 2. Scientific research and technical development capabilities. 3. Transfer, development, and localizing technology. 4. Science, technology, and society. 5. Scientific and technical human resources. 6. Diversifying financial support resources. 7. Science, technology, and innovation system. 8. Institutional structures for science, technology, and innovation.
Introduction
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In the "Strategic and Advanced Technologies" area, KACST is responsible for 5-year strategic and implementation plans for 11 technologies: 1. Water 2. Oil & Gas 3. Petrochemicals 4. Nanotechnology 5. Biotechnology 6. Information Technology 7. Electronics, Communication, & Photonics 8. Space and Aeronautics 9. Energy 10.Environment 11.Advanced Materials
Each plan establishes a mission and vision, identifies stakeholders and users, and determines the highest priority technical areas for the Kingdom.
Scope
The scope of the water program includes all water technology research and development within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The program involves KACST, universities, industry, and government stakeholders. KACST has overall responsibility for the development and execution of the program. The program's sphere of activity involves water-related fields of technology that are significant to the Kingdom's interests as expressed in the National Policy for
Introduction
Science and Technology. The program will also maintain a perspective on worldwide developments and movements in the water technology field. For implementation, the program will concentrate on areas of application and projects that represent optimal utilization of resources with realistic chances of successful outcomes. The program scope includes technology transfer and localization, and R&D needed to follow-on to or enhance the localization. Although program products may include contributions to knowledge, the emphasis is on applied R&D rather than basic research. The program's technology areas and research and development (R&D) projects are outlined in this plan. The program's main deliverables are water technologies and the establishment of international collaborative networks to enhance the research capacity within the Kingdom.

The development of this plan began with identifying the stakeholders and users of water technology research and innovation in the Kingdom, creating vision and mission statements, and conducting background research on the current position of the Kingdom in water technology and on the role of other water technology research institutes around the world. the elements of this process. Figure 2 illustrates
Introduction
Figure 2: Roadmap Development Methodology
Methods - Examples: Workshops Interviews Group Analysis SWOT Analysis Gap Analysis
Higher Strategy
Objectives
Strategic Management /
Tools - Examples: Brainstorming Questionnaires Mind Maps Decision-making Tech
Measures Performance Evaluation
Targets
Cascading
Projects
Tools & Techniques Defined in Portfolio & Program Management Standards (PM)
Projects Portfolio
Program Core Plans Scope / Time / Cost / Quality / Integration Support Plans HR / Commu / Risk / Procu
Program Management
Project Management
Strategic Context
KSA Water Technology R&D Needs
The workshops conducted during the development of this plan identified a wide number of water technology research and innovation needs for the Kingdom. These included needs from the water technology sector, water industry, several government agencies, and universities. Improved KSA water technologies are needed to:
Provide adequate water supplies for human, agricultural and industrial use Support national self-reliance in water-related research and development and reduce dependence on foreign technology. Improve the price/value efficiency of water production and treatment. Develop a domestic water technology industry that will contribute to national economic performance and will provide employment opportunities. Because water is so vital to the Kingdom, having a strong technological capability in domestic water industry is both a national security and economic imperative. A number of areas were identified where policies need to be changed or barriers removed to facilitate the development and localization of water technologies. These include: Policies to facilitate R&D collaboration between KACST, government agencies, universities, and industry. Expanded human resources for water technology R&D. Improved knowledge of international technology developments. Expanded international collaboration, including cooperation between Saudi universities and world universities. Small business contracting preferences to support innovative small companies.
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Strategic Context
Stakeholders Roles
The stakeholders for the water technology program include KACST, universities, various independent specialized research institutes, and other government agencies.
Table 1: Stakeholders and their roles Stakeholders Role Program management and coordination, including developing an integrated program management system Program technical development KACST Conducting infrastructure research and studies Providing qualified human resources, including researchers and experts Providing financial resources Providing equipments and laboratories Create new basic and applied scientific knowledge Universities Train students in science and engineering Host and participate in Technology Innovation Centers Participate in collaborative projects Independent or Government Specialized Research Centers Creating new applied scientific knowledge Participating in collaborative projects Operational and implementation projects Ministries and Government Agencies Provide input to program on government R&D needs Reduce regulatory and procedural barriers to R&D and innovation Support R&D in universities and industry Develop and commercialize products & processes resulting from the program. Private Sector Communicate company needs to program Support and participate in collaborative R&D projects. Support and participate in the Technology Innovation Centers
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Strategic Context
Analysis of Comparable Water R&D Institutes
As part of the background work for this plan, the planning team reviewed several other water research laboratories around the world, which were selected to include a mix of government-supported laboratories with functions similar to those of the KACSTs water program. These included: The National Water Research Institute, Canada. The Japan Water Research Center. The National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia. The Institute for Water Research, South Africa. The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, and Sandia National Laboratories. Various water related R&D activities in Australia. These institutes are working on a range of technical areas similar to those considered for this plan, including: Thermal desalination. Membrane desalination. Hybrid desalination. Membrane treatment. Chemical treatment. Ionic exchange. Disinfection. Filtration. Biological treatment. Biological membrane treatment. Chemophysical treatment. Advanced treatment. Water conservation. Water reuse and recycling. There is general agreement that publications and patents strongly correlate with scientific research capacity, although publication and patent counts alone do not fully represent the quality or scope of research. Nonetheless, publication and patent activity have long been used as indicators for knowledge creation and research output. Several indicators, including forward citations (the frequency Groundwater recharge. Rain harvest. Cloud seeding. A full description of these laboratories programs can be found in a separate document.1
Analysis of Water Technologies Publications and Patents

The overall field, water technologies, as well as subtopics, were defined in close consultation with KACST researchers and other KSA stakeholders who provided detailed lists of keyword terms that were used to develop search queries for publication and patent databases. Water technologies R&D is a multidisciplinary field that spans many research areas, including environmental engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, geosciences, microbiology, meteorology, and materials sciences. The KSA water technologies program identifies four major application sub-topics: water desalination, drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment, and water resources management. The scope of this analysis was restricted to only recent publication (2005-2007) and patent (2002-2006) activity in the four KACSTdefined fields.
1 Strategic Review: Information Technology. Report prepared by SRI International for KACST. 2 ISI Web of Science and Delphion were queried for scientific publication and U.S. patent application data, respectively. The ISI Web of Science is a database of articles in major scientific journals from around the world. Delphion is a searchable database of global patent activity, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is one of the worlds major granters of patents. Because the U.S. market is large, most important inventions from around the world are patented there. Seminal research in the use of publications as a measure of scientific productivity includes A.J. Lotka, The frequency distribution of scientific productivity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol 16 (1926); D. Price, Little Science, Big Science, (New York: Columbia university Press, 1963); J.R. Cole and S Cole, Social Stratification in Science, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973); J. Gaston, The reward system in British and American science, (New York: John Wiley (1978); and M.F. Fox, Publication productivity among scientists: a critical review, Social Studies of Science, vol 13, 1983.
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Strategic Context
at which publications and patents are cited by others), a measure of impact, and co-authoring relationships, an indicator of scientific collaboration, are presented below. Together, these indicators provide measures of collaboration, globalization and impact of science and technology research in fields related to the KSA water technologies program. Global Water Technologies Publication Activity Between 2005 and 2007, there were 10587 articles published worldwide related to KSA research priorities in wastewater treatment, drinking water treatment, water Figure 3: Water Technologies Publications (2005 - 2007) The United States was the worlds largest producer of related articles, generating 2240 articles over this period. The Peoples Republic of China was a distant second, producing 924 articles followed by Spain and Germany with 589 and 574 articles respectively. Figure 3 shows the number of publications produced by selected countries over this period. Saudi Arabia was tied for the 48th largest producer of water technologies publications, producing 31 articles. Overall, Saudi Arabia produces a small fraction of the worlds water technologies publications. resources management, and water desalination.4
UK 16 Israel Germany 74
USA 40
Italy 0 Canada 49
Mexico
Turkey 46
Japan 496
Peoples R. China 94
Spain 89
South Korea 77 Australia 80

Belgium
Saudi Arabia
Taiwan
India 4
France 46
Brazil
Sweden
Greece
4 Throughout this report, water technologies is defined by the keyword and sub-topic definitions provided by KACST. 5 A publication is assigned to a country if any of the publications authors affiliations are located in that country. Because publications often have multiple authors, a single publication may be assigned to multiple countries. Aggregate figures, such as total global publication output, count each publication only once, but adding up sub-totals may yield a result larger than the reported total due to multiple counting.
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Strategic Context
As shown in table 2, wastewater treatment accounts for the majority of water technologies related publications worldwide (4,551) followed by drinking water treatment (2,666), water resources management (2,624) and water desalination (746). Desalination publications account for almost half of Saudi Arabias water technologies publication output and Saudi Arabia is ranked 24th in the production of desalination technology publications. Table 2: Water Technologies Sub-Topics 2005 - 2007) Sub-Topic Wastewater Treatment Drinking Water Treatment Water Resources Management Water Desalination Publications 41 666 64 746
Benchmark Countries Average publication impact is calculated as the number of citations of articles from a particular country divided by the total number of articles published by authors from that country. For instance, a country that published 50 articles that were cited 100 times would have an average publication impact of two. Between 2005 and 2007, Switzerland had the highest average publication impact of all countries at 4.96 followed by Germany (3.40), France (2.63), and the Netherlands (2.55). The average publication impact for Saudi Arabia was 0.55 with 17 citations of 31 articles. Table 3 presents publication and citation counts for benchmark countries. 6
7 Benchmark countries include global leaders in terms of total water technologies publication output in addition to a list of specific countries provided by KACST.
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Strategic Context
Table 3: Water Technologies Publication Impact (2005 - 2007) Country Switzerland Germany France Netherlands USA UK Argentina Spain Sweden Australia Saudi Arabia Publications 176 74 46 87 40 46 89 176 80 1 Total Citations 87 1949 101 7 614 117 10 184 77 76 17 Average Publication Impact 4.96 3.40 2.63 2.55 2.51 2.46 2.31 2.18 2.14 2.01 0.55
Water Technologies Research Organizations Water technologies R&D publications are produced at thousands of research institutions in nearly 130 countries. As shown in table 4, the three institutions producing the largest number of publications related to water technologies R&D are the Chinese Academy of Sciences (192), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (107), and the University of Florida (92). The Chinese Academy of Sciences is the number one producer of wastewater treatment and water resources management, publications while the US EPA is the number one producer of drinking water treatment publications. Kuwait University is the leading producer of water desalination publications.
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Strategic Context
Table 4: Global Water Technologies Research Organizations (2005 - 2007) Drinking Water Treatment 46 86 9 7 9 1 1 1 Water Resources Desalination Management 64 1 6 40 1 4 6 11 1 7 4 10 4
Institution Chinese Acad Sci US EPA Univ Florida Univ Texas Indian Inst Technol Swiss Federal Institute Aquatic Science & Technology CSIC USDA ARS Tsing Hua University Harbin Inst Technol
Total 19 11 9 9 88 87 87 8 77 74
Average Impact 1.35 2.38 1.83 1.99 2.26 5.40 2.87 1.99 0.97 0.74
Wastewater Treatment 88 19 6 4 4 1 41 9
International Collaboration and Publication Impact For countries with a similar level of publication activity, those countries with a high level of international collaboration also tend to produce publications with a high level of impact. In this study, international collaboration is calculated as the average number of countries represented per publication, based on authors addresses. Figure 4 plots a countrys level of international collaboration (horizontal axis) against the average impact of its publications (vertical axis). Countries such as Switzerland and Germany, which show significant international collaborative activity, also tend to produce papers with a higher average impact.
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Strategic Context
Figure 4: Water Technologies Collaboration and Publication Impact (2005 - 2007)
6 USA Peoples R. China Spain
Switzerland
Germany Japan Canada
UK France
Average Impact
Germany
India Australia

USA Spain France Netherlands
Italy Turkey Netherlands Sweden Switzerland Mexico South Africa Thailand Agentina
India Turkey
UK Argentina Australia Sweden
Italy Canada Japan South Africa Thailand Mexico
Peoples R. China Saudi Arabia
0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Saudi Arabia
KSA Collaboration Activity As shown in table 5, authors affiliated with KSA institutions collaborated on more than one article with authors from Egypt (3 publications). KSA-affiliated
authors collaborated on individual publications with authors from: India, Pakistan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Table 5: KSA Publication Collaborators (2005 - 2007) Country Egypt India Pakistan Sweden United Kingdom Numbers of Publications 1 1 1 1
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Strategic Context
Water Technologies Journals Table 6 presents journals with a significant level of publication activity related to KSA water technologies sub-fields from 2005-2007. Table 6: Water Technologies Journals (2005 - 2007) Journal DESALINATION JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE FILTRATION & SEPARATION Desalination JOURNAL AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING RENEWABLE ENERGY SEPARATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WATER RESEARCH WATER RESEARCH DESALINATION Drinking Water Treatment ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION JOURNAL OF WATER SUPPLY RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY-AQUA JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS CHEMOSPHERE JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WATER RESEARCH Wastewater Treatment DESALINATION JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS CHEMOSPHERE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY PROCESS BIOCHEMISTRY BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY Publications 408 4 11 10 9 8 7 6 194 1 18 48 4 4 41 40 6 97 96 1 184 168 16 119 10 10 96
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Strategic Context
Journal DESALINATION Water Resources Management JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES HYDROGEOLOGY JOURNAL ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES Publications 14 67 6 64 48 47 41 6 1 9
Water Technologies Patent Activity Between 2002 and 2006, there were 795 water technologies-related patent applications filed with the United States Patent Office (USPTO). As shown in tabl e 7, the majority of these (509) listed at least one Table 7: Water Technologies Patents (2002 - 2006) Water Desalination 11 6 0 0 1
inventor from the United States. Other countries with a significant number of inventors include: Japan (59 applications), Germany (40 applications), and Canada (32 applications).
Country United States Japan Germany Canada Republic of Korea Taiwan France Israel United Kingdom China
Drinking Water Treatment 7 10 1 1 7 1
Wastewater Treatment 174 8 16 16 6
Water Resources Management 6 1 1 1 9 1 1 11 7 6
Total 09 9 40 4 18 17 11
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Strategic Context
While the majority of the water technologies related patent applications are defined as individually owned patent applications (518 applications) by the United States Patent Office, some corporations are designated as the patent assignee on a number of applications. These organizations have demonstrated their involvement in water technology innovation and could be future targets for collaborative outreach efforts. As shown in table 8, General Electric Company is listed as the patent assignee on six water technologies applications, followed by Aqua-Aerobic Systems Inc. (4 applications), Eastman Kodak Company (4 applications), and CH2M Hill Inc. (3 applications). Table 8: Leading Water Technologies Patent Assignees (2002 - 2006) USTPO Assignee Individually Owned Patents General Electric Company Aqua-Aerobic Systems Inc. Eastman Kodak Company CH2M Hill Inc. No. of Patents Apps. 18 6 4 4
SWOT Analysis for Water Technology Program

This section presents a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Saudi Arabian Water Technology Program. In a SWOT analysis strengths and weaknesses are defined as internal to the organization while opportunities and threats are defined as external to the organization. For the purpose of this analysis, the organization is the water technologies program, including KACST, universities, and other government agencies.
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Strategic Context
Table 9: SWOT Analysis Helpful Internal Strengths: High national priority given to water-related issues (e.g. First among Strategic Technologies) Availability of local multi-discipline expertise Availability of a viable national water industry External Opportunities: Increasing need for water resources due to expanding population and industry Availability of energy at favorable prices Availability of vast shorelines Need for advanced technology to address remote areas water necessities Threats: Decreasing ground water levels High rate of technological change & obsolescence in the field Price and quality competition from international products Harmful Weaknesses: Lack of experience with technology localization Low equipment and laboratory readiness Inadequate technical human resources
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Higher Strategy
Vision
KACSTs a vision for the water technologies plan is to achieve distinguished international position in developing, acquiring, and localizing water technologies through the development of a comprehensive knowledge and economic infrastructure.
Mission
To develop and localize water technologies by building in the Kingdom human qualified
resources and integrating local and international partners. This will enhance performance, reduce costs and provide investment opportunities. The program aims at increasing national water security and economic growth, as well as contributing to society at-large.
Values
To achieve excellence, the program will develop an internal culture through sound leadership and commitment to its operational teams that is rooted in the following values: Integrity. Sincere drive for excellence & proficiency. Creativity and innovation. Teamwork and collaboration. Loyalty.

The strategic goals of the program are: Developing advanced local technologies for water desalination and treatment at economical and competitive costs. Developing lab bench-scale prototypes for technology products in the selected areas. Acquiring equipment and facilities in KACST Institutes for each strategic project to support prototype development. Establishing specialized work teams in desalination and treatment technologies related to approved projects.

Higher Strategy
Integrating the efforts of related organizations, which is a program management prerequisite for success. Enhancing the performance of key public and private sector players. Reducing costs of water desalination, purification and sewage treatment. Providing new investment opportunities to the private sector. Promoting the role of science and technology in the water sector. Developing high-quality human resources

Technology Areas
Selection Process
Technology areas were selected according to criteria that were defined by the stakeholders in alignment with the strategic goals of the water technology program and in keeping with the key needs of the Kingdom. The primary selection criteria were:
The extent of dependence on the technology locally and regionally. Ease of design and manufacturing. Ease of use. Potential for further technology development. Future competitiveness. Economy of energy consumption. Availability of qualified human resources. Low operation and maintenance costs. Contribution to environmental protection. Low cost of technology development. Ability to form strategic partnerships as required. Ability to attract investors. High technology sustainability.

The technology areas selected were those that best met the criteria and have the greatest potential for developing the scientific and technical capacity of the Kingdom as well as meeting the urgent water needs. The following are the selected technology areas: Water Desalination: Thermal Desalination:
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Technology Areas
Developing high temperature scale control anti Development of high temperature corrosion Chemical Treatment: Development of local chemicals for hardness Exploring the use local material for production of removal. activated carbon. Ionic Exchange: Membrane Desalination: Develop a feedwater recovery system for membrane Develop a process to reduce/ recover energy. Development of membranes with high resistance to Filtration: Exploring and use of local naturally occurring filtration Developing filtration processes. Process efficiency improvement. Wastewater Treatment: Biological Treatment: Activated sludge process improvement. Development of biological biofilter processes. Process efficiency improvement. Biological Membrane Treatment: osmosis pretreatment Development of anaerobic membrane bioreactor Development of efficient aeration system. Development of membrane material. Process efficiency improvement. processes. Drinking Water Treatment: Membrane Treatment: Development of reverse processes. material. Hybrid Desalination: Develop a cost effective hybrid multi-stage flash and Develop a cost effective hybrid multi-stage flash and Develop a cost effective hybrid reverse osmosis and Develop a cost effective hybrid reverse osmosis and Develop a cost effective hybrid reverse osmosis and multi-effect evaporation system. reverse osmosis system. electrodialysis system. nanomembrane system. solar energy system. Development of anti corrosion membrane materials. Disinfection: Developing disinfection processes using chlorine dioxide, ozonation, and UV. desalination. Synthesis organic or inorganic ion-exchange materials. Process improvements. Development an innovative intake system. Improving performance of heat transfer surfaces of Development of new design for thermal desalination Development of micro, ultra, and nano filtration scalants. resistant materials for evaporators. membrane material and processes.
thermal desalination process. plants (multi stage flash, multi effect distillation , electro dialysis). Developing commercially viable solar assisted desalination plants.
organic and inorganic fouling.

Technology Areas
Chemophysical Treatment:
Development of coagulation chemicals. Exploring the development of innovative electroImprovement of process design.
coagulation and electro-oxidation processes.
Advanced Treatment:
Development of biological nitrogen and phosphorus Development of chemical/physical nitrogen and removal. phosphorus removal processes.
Water Resources Management:

Water conservation. Water reuse and recycling. Groundwater recharge. Rain harvest. Cloud seeding.
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Program Structure
The R&D in each of the technology areas will be conducted within the parameters of a specific program structure. The governance of the research work will be based on (1) program objectives, (2) performance indicators, and (3) project categories. The process of selection projects began by considering the program objectives and then performance indicators and target levels for each objective. Projects were then selected to meet the targets.
Work on the aforementioned technology areas is achieved through a program structure that starts with identifying specific implementation objectives within three major program domains/perspectives; namely infrastructure, core operations and value delivery. Performance indicators (and target levels) are defined for each objective and then projects are identified to satisfy the indicators. Stakeholders participated throughout the objectives, indicators and projects definition process (Balanced Scorecard development process).
Program Objectives
To achieve the program's strategic goals, the following implementationoriented objectives were defined by the stakeholders: Infrastructure Develop human resources. Develop organizational culture. Develop effective financial management. Develop work processes and systems. Provide laboratories and equipment. Develop knowledge management system. Core Operations Select technologies.
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Program Structure
Establish strategic partnerships. Develop technologies: Conduct fundamental research. Conduct applied research. Build pilot plants. Localize technology: Conduct localization research & studies. Build localization pilot plants. Transfer technology: Assess ready technologies. technologies. Percentage of activated strategic partnerships to total required. Number of innovations leading to new applications through fundamental research. Percentage of applied research resulting in prototypes, pilot plants or applied solutions. Percentage of pilot plants leading to production line or solution. Percentage of applied research resulting in localized technologies. Value Delivery Work with the incubators. Work with the Technology Innovation Centers. Work with the program beneficiaries: Provide cost/value efficiency. Provide job opportunities. Provide investment opportunities. Support environmental protection. Use national resources effectively. Support National Goals: National self-reliance and security. Continuous development. Economic growth. Percentage of by-product technologies resulting from localized technologies. Percentage of localization pilot plants leading to production line or solution. Percentage of ready technologies leading to production lines or solutions. Number of ready technologies passed on to localization and development. Percentage of technologies, prototypes and pilot plants adopted by incubators from total offered. percentage of pre-incubation and production prototypes developed with Technology Innovation Centers (TIC) to total offered.
Several performance indicators will be used to gauge the progress of the broad program functions. Major performance indicators include: Percentage of HR requirements fulfilled. Program return on investment. Level of strategic objectives fulfillment by projects and work processes. Size of used knowledge assets (documented and acquired). Level of strategic objectives fulfillment by selected
Program Project Categories

To fulfill the program objectives and achieve satisfactory levels in the performance indicators for each objective, initial program projects were identified by stakeholders that can be divided into the three main categories outlined below. These projects will be subject to evaluation during implementation and possible cancellation or replacement, if not satisfactory (portfolio management): Infrastructure Projects: these are projects to plan, establish, and manage the infrastructure required for the success and efficiency of the program including its
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Program Structure
human capital, knowledge capital, organizational capital, financial capital, and other systems / resources. Research & Development Projects: stakeholders representatives were divided into groups representing each of the technology areas according to their personal research activity and expertise. They considered worldwide technological trends as well as local needs, resources and conditions in suggesting these projects. The link to national goals and needs is achieved through the alignment of the technology areas with those goals and needs. These are projects to develop new knowledge and technology in each of the selected technology areas. Value Delivery Projects: these are projects to assist the program in delivering value to beneficiaries or in working with incubators and Technology Innovation Centers (TIC's).
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Operational Plans
As highlighted in other sections, the Water Technologies Program encompasses a large number of projects including water-related research and development projects, infrastructure projects and value delivery projects. Success of the program is dependent on success in accomplishing these projects. At the program level, high-level functions are carried out, but the most important role of the program is to support the individual projects. This section discusses the actions that will be undertaken at the project and program level.
Project Level
To maintain a high success rate in achieving the Program's projects, the following actions will be taken: 1. Achieving the required maturity level at the program level by managing and delivering projects according to internationally recognized project management standards. 2. Establishing a Project Management Office (PMO) structure with multiple tiers including the program level, organization level (stakeholders / implementers), and the project level (PMO's). 3. Developing an effective process/methodology for project management to be used by all projects. This process could be customized as necessary by individual projects, but this will provide a standard level of excellence across projects. The unified process will cover all core project functions including scope, time, cost and quality management as well as project facilitating functions such as human resources, risk, communication and vendor management. 4. Training and developing the skills of project managers and supporting them with implementing PM functions. 5. Ensuring that the Knowledge Management function identified among the Program's infrastructure objectives (mentioned above) takes into account learning and building knowledge assets across projects, both sequentially and in parallel, and in both technical and project management domains.
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Operational Plans
6. Providing resource utilization efficiencies, such as pooling human resources, facilities, equipment, labs and automated tools among projects. concerns that will be addressed at the program level through the portfolio management plan, technology transfer plan, quality management plan, human resources plan, communications plan, and risk management plan.
Program Level
At the program level, a fundamental question that will guide decisions and actions is "why is a program level needed?" Areas in which program level management is needed include: Portfolio management provides benefits that cannot be obtained by managing the multiple projects individually. Examples of benefits include: Actions with effects across several projects; positive Decisions that can be exposed and handled only with Risks that can be best addressed at a shared program A Benefits Statement will be compiled for the Program effects to be sought and negative effects to be avoided. a program perspective. level. National programs focused on the development of advanced pilot application projects: these projects involve KACST, government agencies, universities, and industry. Knowledge is transferred to companies in the course of the project. This is a proven method for developing technologies wich fulfill a specific need and can be easily transferred to government or commercial users. Use of university/industry centers as a major research mechanism throughout the plan: industry involvement in these centers (providing advice and funding) will across encourage university research to be focused on user needs, increasing the likelihood of technology transfer. These centers will also transfer knowledge to industry One of the most important aspects of Program stakeholder management will be to facilitate, realize and manage the successful and effective "change" that the Program should produce. The following sections provide specific examples of though the training and graduation of students (who have been trained on problems of interest to industry), who then take jobs in companies or form their own companies. and a Benefits Monitoring and Management scheme will be applied. Governance that will be provided by the Program to the higher national level(s) to ensure program performance and progress monitoring. Stakeholders management, to include: Higher stakeholders that cannot be managed/ Assisting project managers, especially startups, in Covering stakeholder interdependencies coordinated at the individual project level. managing their project stakeholders. projects. Involvement of users in the program design: this occurs through user participation in the planning workshop and user involvement in the water advisory committee. It is well recognized that user involvement in the research design leads to research and outcomes that are more likely to meet the needs of users, and thus are more likely to lead to successful innovation.

The water technology program will follow internationally recognized best practices in technology transfer. Key elements of the program designed to facilitate technology transfer are:
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Operational Plans
Linkage between the water program and technology business incubators and other programs will aid the startup of new water technology companies. need to hire or develop additional program managers with the skills to lead national programs. To do this KACST will need additional flexibility with respect to compensation packages, speed of hiring, and ability to hire international staff. Stakeholders will need additional researchers and software engineers with the skills to develop innovative technologies. This will require broader changes, some Advisory committee review of the overall program design and budget. Competitive, peer-reviewed selection processes for university-based research centers and projects. Annual reviews of technology development projects to ensure that milestones are being met. Periodic (every 5 years) subprogram evaluations conducted by a review committee supported by an experienced evaluator. Procedures will be developed for disclosing and managing potential conflicts of interest among reviewers. In many cases, some international experts will be used on review panels to reduce possible conflicts of interest and to provide an independent external assessment. At the undergraduate and especially graduate level, this plan is designed to help increase the numbers of water researchers through its emphasis on university-industry centers. These centers are designed to train new students with research and innovation skills that are needed by research organizations and industry. of which are outside of the scope of this plan. As part of the activities in this plan, the water technology program will: Work with the other agencies to improve the quality of undergraduate water technology education, especially at regional universities. Work with new universities to develop research and education programs that especially match the Kingdoms water technology research needs. Work to change policies to allow more international hiring, to bring specialized expertise to the Kingdom. Support training for researchers to become R&D managers and leaders.

The water technology program will follow international accepted quality management processes for science and technology programs. Elements of this plan include:

As noted in the SWOT analysis, human resources are a critical barrier to the success of the water technology program. The availability of skilled people, including both researchers and technical managers and leaders, is likely to limit the growth and success of KSA water programs. The plan will require substantial numbers of water professionals, including additional researchers, technical managers, and technical leaders at KACST, at universities and at companies. A central task of the program management function will be to address this issue. To achieve the goals of the program, KACST will

The purpose of the communications management plan is to provide appropriate information to the program participants and stakeholders. One element of the communications plan is to improve communication throughout the KSA water research community and to expand collaboration among members of the community. Aspects of this include:

Operational Plans
There will be a public website with information on program goals, accomplishments, funding opportunities, and other news. Periodic workshops will be held with users and stakeholders to define future program needs. Requests for proposals (for university centers, grants, and pilot application development programs) will be announced to the public. The program advisory board will review and comment on the program, and advisory board reports will be made public on the website. The program will sponsor workshops, conferences, and professional society activities to expand communication and networking throughout the community. Presentations on the program will be made at national and international conferences. Market risk is that projects, while technically successful, Another element of the plan is to define appropriate communications within the management structure of the plan. It is especially important that information about risks or difficulties in the program, such as delays, lack of resources, or non-attainment of goals be rapidly communicated to higher levels of management. A general principle is that management should never be surprised by bad news. do not lead to successful products because of poorly understood or changing market conditions, such as the development of other technical approaches. A way to address this risk is through: Designing programs based on carefully considered market needs. Monitoring international technology and market developments. Continual readjustment of plans in responses to changes in the environment. Financial risk is the risk of funding shortfalls or of cost overruns. The way to address risks in this area is through careful program planning and monitoring, and early identification of possible cost overruns. Another financial risk is due to changes in the plan or funding One source of technical risk to attainment of technical goals is, as described above, the lack of adequate human resources to implement the program. Approaches to managing this risk are: due to political or policy changes. It will be important for the plan management to maintain communication with policy leaders to ensure they are aware of the accomplishments of the program and to get early warning of any policy changes that may affect the program. Another cause of technical risk is overly ambitious goals. To address this risk the program should have an independent review of technical goals to ensure they are feasible, and to adjust technical goals if milestones are not being met. Adopting policies to attract people with the needed skills. This may involve raising salaries and recruiting internationally. Delaying or phasing in some program elements if people cannot be hired. Expanding the pool of people with needed skills through education and training programs, such as university water research centers (see human resources plan).

The program presented here is an ambitious program that will challenge the capabilities of the Kingdom. There are several types of risks that could prevent attainment of program goals, including technical risks, market risks, and financial risks.


Within KACST, the water program manager will be responsible for the overall execution of the plan. Some portions of the plan may be managed by other parts of KACST.
Many aspects of the plan represent new functions, especially in developing and managing national technology programs that include industry and universities and may involve international collaborations. A major task for the first year of the program will be, in addition to detailed program planning, for KACST to acquire or develop the necessary skills through hiring or training. Although it is critical to quickly initiate new research programs, it is essential to build the skills necessary to lead and develop these programs, and to plan them carefully. As part of the initial activities under this plan, KACST staff members will visit programs of a similar nature elsewhere in the world to discuss their management practices and lessons learned. The Water Technology Advisory Committee will oversee the implementation of the plan. It will meet approximately four times a year and review progress in the program, which can be evaluated according to the: Growth or establishment of technology-based businesses due to the water program. Amount of revenue and jobs created. Successful importation of technology resulting in new businesses or applications. Movement of projects to incubators. Water-related patents.
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Private sector funding of university and KACST water research (indicates the value private sector places on university or KACST water R&D). Number and level of presentations in international conferences. Changes in policies (described previously) to improve water innovation Number and impact of publications. Extent of domestic and international R&D collaborations. Number of water advanced degrees awarded. The advisory committee will also sponsor and oversee studies of emerging areas of water technology, to serve as the basis for developing new program areas. This plan is intended to be a dynamic document that will be updated at least annually and more frequently if required. In addition to the advisory committee input, it is expected that workshops with the research community, users, industry and other stakeholders will also contribute to both a continual evolution of the plan as well as a stronger water research and innovation network in the Kingdom.


Stakeholders Participants
The program thanks the following stakeholders participants for their contributions to the development of this plan. They do not, however, bear responsibility for the contents of the final plan.
Table A-1: Stakeholders Participants Stakeholders Representatives Dr. Omar Al-Harbi Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Quizani Dr. Khaled Alam Mr. Abdulah Al-Khaled Mr. Hamad Safiran Mr. Obid Al-Harbi Eng. Yala Al-Aseeri Eng. Munther Al-Sudis Dr. Abdul Malek Al al-Shaikh Eng. Ali Abo-Rishah Dr. Omar Seraj Aburizaiza Eng. Ahmed Al-Arifi Dr. Salh Al-Mogrin Mr. Helal Al-Harthi Mr. Ibrahim Al-Shabibi Eng. Sami Al-Youssef Mr. Abdullah Al-Mouhaethef
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)
Prince Sultan Research Center for Environment, Water and Desert (King Saud University) Water Research Center (King Abdulaziz University) Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC)
Ministry of water and Electricity
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Stakeholders Representatives Dr. Ibrahim Al-Mutaz Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Dakheel Dr. Farj Abdulslam Dr. Mohamed Beirutty Dr. Alaadin Bukhari Eng. Ahmad Al-Rammah
King Saud University
King Abdulaziz University King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Saudi ARAMCO
Planning Development Methodology A strategic planning / strategic management methodology was designed and implemented for developing this program plan. Figure A-1 is a framework that shows the methodology's main stages and components. Major issues taken into consideration in developing this methodology include: Ensuring a comprehensive approach from higher strategy to implementation level with clear strategic alignment. Maximizing the opportunity that the strategic plan represented by this plan finds its way to actual implementation through clarity of "next step" and guidance towards execution. Emphasizing focus and conciseness in representation and avoiding verbose expression to improve understanding among all parties involved with developing and implementing the plan, especially given the program's scientific / engineering setting. Making use of proven methods and concepts in strategic planning as well as project/program management fields, including: Balanced Scorecards for linking the program's vision and mission to its projects, developing a performance-
oriented strategy, and identifying program objectives, performance indicators and projects in a methodical and objective way. Portfolio management for ensuring optimal utilization of available resources and proper selection and balancing of projects as a continuous mechanism throughout the life of the program. Program management to ensure that program-level benefits are identified and effectively captured as projects are implemented. The above approach ensured that not only strategic planning, but also strategic management requirements and concerns are considered and addressed.
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Figure A-1: Program Strategy Map VISION: To be an international pioneering and referential program in locating and developing energy technologies through advanced working systems. Nation
Achieve our MISSION
Support:
National Economy
National Development
National Self-reliance and Security
Beneficiaries
to ensure we Success with our Stakeholders
Utilize National Resources Efficiently
Preserve The Environment
Create New Investment Opportunities
Create New Jobs
Deliver Best Value for Cost
which drive the Strategic Actions
Utilized Incubators TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY LOCALIZED TECHNOLOGY DEVELOP TECHNOLOGY Build Pilot Plants Conduct Applied Research Evaluate Ready Technologies Conduct Localization Research/ Studies Select Appropriate Technologies Select Appropriate Technologies Conduct Fundamental Research
Internal Operations
Build Localization Pilot Plants
that enable us to execute
People and Organizations
Human Capital
Organizational Capital Develop Organizational Culture
allow us to support the Our Resources & Systems
Infrastructure
Develop Capable Human Resources
Information Capital Effeciently Utilize Financial Resources Develop Effective Work Processes Acquire Labs and Equipment Develop / Use Knowledge Management System
VA L U E S : I n t e g r i t y C o l l a b o ra t i o n E x c e l l e n c e I n n ova t i o n D e d i c a t i o n
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Initial Portfolio Formation Water technologies R&D projects were entered into a project portfolio formation process to form an initial portfolio (subset) based on best utilization of available resources to achieve the program's strategic objectives. This included the following phases: Phase 1: Evaluate vs. Strategy In this phase, only projects aligning with the Program's strategic goals were selected. These projects were distributed into strategic groups (buckets), and the total available resources were distributed / allocated initially to the strategic groups based on strategic significance. The program adopted a Project Distribution Matrix technique for defining the strategic groups (buckets). Nine groups resulted from the intersection of two dimensions having three elements each. These are: Strategic Technology Paths: Development. Localization. Transfer. Research & Development Types: Basic Research. Applied Research / Pilot Plants. Product Development / Added Value. for. Achieving satisfactory implementation progress (in terms of scope, schedule, budget and quality). Phase 2: Prioritization for Resources In this phase, projects competing for the same resources within a group (bucket) were prioritized from a resourcerelated viewpoint. The Program adopted a paired comparison technique for this purpose. Accordingly, nine paired comparison tables were developed. These are not shown in this plan but can be provided by the Program/ERI if requested. Projects were selected to the portfolio one-by-one At the same time, strategic objectives may be adjusted and resources may change, which will require portfolio reformation. This portfolio management process ensures that the program is using its resources most efficiently. Without an objective and methodical process, project initiation and resources utilization is usually subject to personal preferences, organizational political pressures and subjective factors. Portfolio Management Process Phase 4: Execute and Review vs. Strategy As indicated, the portfolio formed so far is the initial or start-up portfolio. Projects are then funded and the portfolio is managed over the life of the program through continuous reformation as active projects are evaluated, completed, postponed or cancelled based on their performance in: Achieving the strategic objectives they were selected Phase 3: Select vs. Balancing Factors In this phase, some projects were eliminated and some new ones were added to those selected in Phase 2. The goal of this process is to balance the portfolio in terms of: Research vs. Development. Long-Term vs. Short-Term. High Risk vs. Low Risk. Growth vs. Sustainability. Outsourced vs. In-sourced. Local / National vs. International. starting from the top of the prioritized list in each group down until the initially allocated resource for that group was exhausted. This resulted in formation of a portfolio, but it may be unbalanced.
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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Environment Water Information Technology ECP Nanotechnology

Math and Physics Advanced Materials

Space and Aeronautics Oil and Gas

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Economy and Planning

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology

Ministry of Economy and Planning

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Composite and hybrid materials

Polymers and polymer processing

Metals and alloys

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

the foundation of manufactured

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Alignment with National Science & Technology Policy

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Kingdoms Industry Status

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Materials Research at Selected KSA Research Organizations

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Review of International Advanced Materials Research Institutes

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Advanced Materials R&D Indicators

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

publications produced by countries over this time period.

South Korea 154

Peoples R. China 478 Japan 65

Germany 1,690 USA 4757 Russia

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Table 7: Global Advanced Materials R&D Organizations (2006-2007)

Chinese Acad Sci

Indian Inst Technol

Tsing Hua University 74 7 9 6 19 9

Univ Sci & Technol China 68 10 59 69 44 9 56 14 95 11 56 14 41 1 60 1 17 0 1 68 10 11 9 9 1 56 47 7  8

Russian Acad Sci

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Harbin Inst Technol

Seoul Natl Univ

Natl Univ Singapore

Peoples R. China USA Japan Germany

South Korea India UK France Singapore Israel Malaysia South Africa

Kuwait Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates

Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Kuwait Oman

0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

Average Level of International Collaboration

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Advanced Materials Journals Table 9: presents journals with a significant level of

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

Strategic Priorities for Advanced Materials Technology Program

South Korea 154

Peoples R. China 478 Japan 65

Tsing Hua University 74 7 9 6 19 9

Univ Sci & Technol China 68 10 59 69 44 9 56 14 95 11 56 14 41 1 60 1 17 0 1 68 10 11 9 9 1 56 47 7 8

Smart Materials 49 75 64 46 1 5 14 5 9 0

964 171 6 47 4 9 7 16 1