The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has won the prestigious Qassim Award for Excellence and Creativity for its innovative artificial intelligence-driven crowd management technology designed to ensure the safety of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims, official government statements confirmed on Saturday. Awarded under the Excellence in Scientific Research category, this recognition marks a significant milestone in Saudi Arabia`s technological progress and its expanding leadership within the global artificial intelligence sector. The accolade was presented during an official ceremony held at the headquarters of the Qassim Governorate.
Prince Dr. Faisal bin Mishal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of the Qassim region, presented the award to Dr. Sattam Al-Subaiee, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Center for Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) at SDAIA. The primary objective of the award-winning research project is to analyze crowd movements during the annual Islamic pilgrimage seasons in Mecca and Medina, enabling early identification of potential safety risks and ensuring swift responses during emergencies. This advanced system plays a crucial role in safeguarding millions of Muslim pilgrims who arrive in the Kingdom annually, aligning closely with the digital transformation goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 infrastructure program.
SDAIA researchers successfully developed cutting-edge mathematical and deep learning models for this initiative, including frameworks named VelocityNet and Attention Inverse. These technologies are capable of monitoring highly dense crowd dynamics and accurately identifying early indicators of hazardous situations or abnormal crowd behaviors. What remains unclear is how extensively this autonomous artificial intelligence infrastructure will reduce human deployment across the holy sites in the coming years. Nevertheless, the successful deployment of these analytical tools has significantly improved accident prevention, enhanced public safety, and boosted the operational efficacy of emergency medical services.
The international academic community has widely recognized the scientific value of this state-backed research initiative. The technological findings of the project have been officially presented and published in leading global artificial intelligence and technology conferences, including ICCV, ICML, and ArabicNLP. The researchers established a comprehensive new database that will contribute significantly to future academic studies focused on global crowd analytics. This international recognition serves as a clear indication of how rapidly Saudi Arabia is advancing toward building a technology-driven, secure environment for international religious tourism.
