Saudi city Diriyah has selected IBM to provide smart city asset management. The city, which was the founding emirate of the Saudi Kingdom, has embarked on a $63.2 billion transformation into a smart city.

The Diriyah City of Earth smart city development will cover 14 square kilometres. The city is close to Saudi capital Riyadh. IBM will provide city developer, the Diriyah Company, with its IBM Maximo Application Suite to monitor to monitor and manage assets across the project.

The IBM suite will enable Diriyah to improve asset performance, predictive maintenance, and operational optimisation for the mixed-use urban development.

Implementation of the IBM suite is already underway. Diriyah employs the suite’s AI for real-time asset monitoring, predictive analytics, and condition-based maintenance.

The city is faced with challenges from rapid urbanisation and population growth. It also wants to ensure greater sustainable resource management, operational efficiency, and resilience.

The suite will help Diriyah to address ageing infrastructure, rising energy demands, and growing public expectations for smart urban environments.

Diriyah Company Group CEO, Jerry Inzerillo said: “The exciting new collaboration with IBM marks a pivotal step towards our vision, enabling us to construct sustainable, technology-driven infrastructure that enables our ultimate goal of becoming one of the world’s most advanced smart cities. This exemplifies the vital role that efficient asset management plays in striking the right balance to achieve rapid urbanisation, sustainable operations, and superior operational standards. It is another important milestone in our accelerating development programme in building our vibrant new city on the outskirts of Riyadh.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Diriyah Company at the forefront of this transformative initiative, harnessing the power of technology and AI to reach operational excellence powered by intelligent assets,” said Fahad Alanazi, General Manager, IBM Saudi Arabia. “Through the integration of predictive maintenance and real-time monitoring capabilities within IBM Maximo Application Suite, Diriyah Company stands poised to catapult its asset management practices into unprecedented heights, aiming to achieve not only uninterrupted operations as the project expands but also pioneering a new paradigm of smart, efficient infrastructure development.”