RIYADH: The Saudi Information Technology Co., wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund, is aiming to become a global pioneer in the cybersecurity space, according to the firm’s chief product development officer. In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Hesham Altaleb said the company is looking to expand in Saudi Arabia and address many other sectors, as technology becomes an integral and unavoidable component of everyday life. He said: “We have had international customers that are requesting to realize the value proposition that we offer at SITE and requesting our services,” before adding: “There are no specific domains or geographies that we are currently operating with.” Reflecting on the growing need for cybersecurity services, Altaleb noted how reliant people are on technology. “We are requesting medical consultations through our phones, we are doing entertainment, we are playing games, we are monitoring all other aspects of our lives and doing education as well,” he said. This growth requires organizations to help customers get protected against either state-sponsored attacks, cybercriminals, hacktivists, or other types of amateur actions. For that reason, movement between information technology and cybersecurity go hand in hand. “The more we put in the internet and the more we put in the technology, the more (we need) cybersecurity, resilience, and protection,” he explained. Altaleb said that SITE has been partnering with many organizations nationally and internationally to help bridge the offering. In terms of the company’s growth, Altaleb said: “We"ve had actually double-digit growth in the past five years.” SITE now includes around 700 employees, with 30 percent of that female, but Altaleb described it as a “very tough challenge” to bring those talents in domains such as cyber security or cloud architecture and security. On his outlook, Altaleb said: “We’re projecting strong growth.” “The ICT sector is growing, as well we see more adoption of technology and therefore, we see it’s an imperative growth,” he added. Launched in 2017, the wholly-owned PIF company addresses the immediate needs of the cybersecurity challenges that the digital transformation the Kingdom is witnessing. The company works on business lines including cyber security services solutions, cyber security resilience, and cloud services solutions.