An expected 100,000 global tech innovators and disruptors are set to gather at the Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Centre from February 6-9, 2023.
The multi-sector future technology event will unveil and accelerate a huge platform of breakthrough products and ideas, and forge partnerships that will drive new worldwide collaborations leveraging technology’s limitless potential, the organizers said.
Taking place alongside LEAP, the inaugural DeepFest – in partnership with the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) – will run from February 7-9 and gather drivers of the global Artificial Intelligence eco-system to unveil life-changing, multi-sector initiatives in a thought-leadership conference and sector-specific tracks, trainings, live-demos, start-up pitches and an exhibition featuring companies transforming the world we live and work in.
Support comes from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), which is powering LEAP in conjunction with Tahaluf – a strategic joint venture co-owned by Informa PLC and the SAFCSP.
Global business leaders, technocrats and experts will take to LEAP’s main stage to bring new perspectives to pressing world issues, including climate emergency and sustainable development, health crises, equality, inclusion, belonging and diversity. They will discuss the leadership strategies of tech giants and unicorns, explore web3’s business potential, and look to redefine governance paradigms for privacy, safety, and security.
The event will host over 700 billionaire investors, astronauts, technocrats, and sporting superstars turned tech investors across LEAP’s various stages housing 15 conferences.
With over 900 exhibitors confirmed for 2023, LEAP has drawn a powerful international line-up, some of which will take part in new mega tent displays and include world-leading names from throughout the USA, Middle East, Levant, North Africa, the Sub-continent, Europe, and Scandinavia. They include Saudi Arabian heavyweights STC, NEOM, Saudi Aramco, Mobily and ELM lining up alongside an international cadre of the biggest names in the tech business, including Snapchat, Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Visa, Alibaba cloud, Ericsson, Huawei, Dell, Nokia, SAP, Microsoft, Cisco, and IBM.
Some of LEAP’s speakers this year include football legend and tech investor Thierry Henry; billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper; two-time World Boxing Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua; Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Nokia; Borje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson; Steve Bartlett, the youngest Dragon’s Den investor, podcaster, and founder of Social Chain; Gitanjali Rao, the 17-year-old American inventor and TIME’s first-ever Kid of the Year; Susan Kilrain, NASA astronaut and the second woman and youngest person to pilot the Space Shuttle; and Sian Proctor, an explorer and mission pilot for the Inspiration4 all-civilian orbital mission to space. The scheduled investors control a combined and unprecedented US $1.6 trillion fund pool.
“Our rapidly changing world demands we keep pace with appropriate regulation and governance, and we need the best brains in the business to help us navigate a globally appropriate pathway,” said Faisal Al Khamisi, Chairman of the SAFCSP.
A series of precision-focused Orbital Talks at LEAP will lift the lid off new parameters impacting the creative economy, smart cities, 4IR, energy, sustainability, FinTech, HealthTech, retail, education, NFTs and space tech.
The LEAP Investor Stage, meanwhile, will see the world’s most sought-after tech investors deep-mine emerging opportunities. Among those scouting potential at LEAP’s Investor Stage will be industry titans GV Ravishankar, Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital India; Tim Ringel, Investor & Advisory Board Member of Adit Ventures; and William Bao Bean, General Partner, SOSV, who will witness first-hand the exhilarating Rocket Fuel Start-up Pitch Competition, where 90 incredible start-ups will compete for a prize pool of more than US$1 million.
LEAP has also launched a Mentorship Scheme where up to 30 creative start-ups can connect with globally experienced experts before, during and after the event.
Themed ‘AI Beyond Imagination’, DeepFest will see thought-leaders, change-makers, big tech, data scientists, innovators, enterprises, academia, start-ups, and innovative business entrepreneurs unveil government AI initiatives and multi-sector innovations through a thought-leadership conference and sector-specific tracks, trainings, live-demos, and innovation sessions. The new conference program this year has tracks for clean tech, the Metaverse, , and women in technology, while the DeepFest exhibition will feature the world’s top tech companies and breakthrough stars.
The Future is Here and Now
Mingling with exhibitors and visitors will be robotic humanoids from Japan and Hong Kong, dancing robots from the USA, the American innovators of the ‘Space 4 Girls’ weather balloon, which captures flight and low orbit images from space, and the team behind Roybi, the AI powered companions designed to tutor children.
They will demo alongside Magic Keys augmented reality, which helps budding musicians learn to play instruments without reading music; the Stage11 music experience, which combines gaming, mixed reality and digital collectables; the South Korean haptic suit that has been integrated into VR games; Italy’s ‘Mirror’, which customises PINKO bags and mints them into NFTs; Interstellar Lab advanced farming technologies; and, from Estonia, the world’s first hydrogen-powered autonomous vehicle.
“These are the 21st century inventors who are presenting the world of living and work – but not as we currently know it,” said Michael Champion, Regional EVP, MEA at Informa Markets, which organises LEAP. “This is an unprecedented and universal exhibitor mix which will send technology advancement into a whole new world-living orbit. LEAP is the window to tomorrow’s world, an event which powers the future and empowers those looking to shape it.”
LEAP has garnered support from numerous leading government and private sector organisations. Strategic partners and sponsors for LEAP23 include NEOM, STC, Saudi Aramco, Mobily, IBM, Microsoft, Ericsson, Huawei, and Najm Insurance. The 2023 edition will also host country pavilions from the United Kingdom, Finland, Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Oman and India.