South Korean internet giant Naver said Tuesday it has secured a large-scale deal in Saudi Arabia to build a cloud-based digital twin platform for the kingdom’s futuristic smart city project. The deal signing ceremony was held in Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday upon President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit. Naver didn’t reveal the exact size of the deal, but the presidential office hinted that it could amount to $100 million. Under the agreement signed with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, key Naver affiliates including Naver Labs and Naver Cloud will set up and operate a 3D platform for five cities – Riyadh, Medina, Jeddah, Dammam and Mecca – over the next five years. The Saudi government plans to use the platform to advance public services such as urban planning, monitoring and flood forecasting. Naver said it has developed technologies that can replicate the whole city with only a 10-centimeter margin of error, along with mapping robots and data processing infrastructure.
