Madinah, November 16, 2022, SPA -- Al-Madinah Region Development Authority (MDA) has signed a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding with several national and international agencies from NGOs and private organizations; notably a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), which aims to develop a framework for collaboration and joint work in Global Urban Monitoring, SDG Cities Flagship Program, and Human-Centered Smart Cities Flagship Program, in addition to the collaboration in organizing a number of forums such as the Smart Madinah Forum (2nd edition in 2023), and the World Urban Forum (12th edition, Cairo 2024). MDA has also signed a cooperation agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) aiming to forge a strategic partnership that supports the directions of the Smart Madinah Program. This agreement will establish a framework for cooperation to implement advanced technology projects based on Open-source Technologies, conduct government overload assessment to accelerate government cloud transformation, activate the incubator program for eligible startups in Al-Madinah, and develop the technical capacity of the governmental sector in Al-Madinah through a number of programs on executive education and digital trainings. The signed agreements included a number of national private companies, like Takamol Business Services (Platinum Sponsor), Thiqah Business Services (Platinum Sponsor), in addition to Gotrah Ventures, and Resal for Rewards and Loyalty. The agreements were signed on the sidelines of events organized in Al-Madinah Pavilion at the Smart Cities Expo, Barcelona, Spain, where MDA runs it in collaboration with a number of government and private agencies, including the Saudi Ministry of Interior and the General Presidency of the Prophet's Mosque Affairs, and in a strategic partnership with the Digital Government Authority. --SPA 21:45 LOCAL TIME 18:45 GMT 0045 www.spa.gov.sa/w1814596