Saudi Arabia ranks 1st in region, 6th in G20 for geospatial infrastructure

24/04/2025 04:03 AST

Saudi Arabia has climbed to ninth place in the 2025 Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure Readiness Index, up from 32nd in 2022, reflecting steady progress in its spatial sciences sector.

Represented by the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information, the Kingdom ranked first in the Middle East and the Arab world, and sixth among G20 nations, in the index, according to a statement.

Created by the Geospatial World and backed by the UN Statistics Division, the GKI Readiness Index serves as a strategic tool to assess how prepared countries are to adopt geospatial knowledge, highlighting its role in driving economic growth, sustainable development, and digital transformation. The index is based on several axes.

The newly released rankings align with Saudi Arabia's ongoing progress in global indices, including a 17.5 percent score increase in the 2025 Global Intellectual Property Index. This places the Kingdom among the fastest-improving economies out of the 55 countries evaluated.

They also align well with Saudi Arabia's strategic objectives for expanding its commercial space operations and advancing innovative satellite solutions locally and globally.

In the newly released statement, GEOSA said: "The Kingdom ranked sixth globally in the Policy Axis, thanks to its pioneering experience in governing the national geospatial data system and developing its policies, standards, and specifications in accordance with international best practices."

"It ranked seventh globally in the Infrastructure Axis, due to its pivotal role in unifying national efforts related to geospatial information, including the development of the National Geospatial Platform, which represents a window into the national geospatial infrastructure available to the public and private sectors, as well as the academic and non-profit sectors and individuals. It ranked eighth globally in the Geospatial Industry Axis, demonstrating its constructive role in establishing strategic partnerships with various sectors," it added.

The statement further indicated that the Kingdom's advancement in the index highlights the continuous support provided by its leadership and the minister of defense, who also chairs the GEOSA Board of Directors for the survey and geospatial information sector.

This support has propelled Saudi Arabia to a prominent position both regionally and internationally, placing it at the forefront of developed nations in the geospatial sector, the statement explained.

This advancement also resulted in Riyadh being selected as the home of the UN Global Geospatial Ecosystem Center of Excellence, thereby reinforcing the Kingdom's status as a global frontrunner in cutting-edge geospatial information management.

In March, Neo Space Group, a satellite and space firm under Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, partnered with Beijing-based SuperMap Software to enhance technological capabilities and support the Kingdom's Vision 2030 goals.

Arab News