WISeKey announces at the Blockchain Revolution Global in Toronto a new Blockchain Center of Excellence in Saudi Arabia and a JV with Saudi Advanced Technologies “SAT” (a company of E.A. Juffali & Brothers) with the name WISeKey Arabia

WISeKey announces at the Blockchain Revolution Global in Toronto a new Blockchain Center of Excellence in Saudi Arabia and a JV with Saudi Advanced Technologies “SAT” (a company of E.A. Juffali & Brothers) with the name WISeKey Arabia

WISeKey and SAT partner to expand cybersecurity, blockchain and IoT offerings in the Middle East

WISeKey Arabia, is a Joint Venture in Saudi Arabia in the form of a Limited Liability Company, according to the Saudi Foreign Investment Laws and Regulations

ZUG, Switzerland & GENEVA & Saudi Arabia – WISeKey International Holding (“WISeKey“, SIX: WIHN), a leading cybersecurity, IoT and Blockchain Group of Companies and company and Saudi Advanced Technologies “SAT”, a wholly owned company of E.A Juffali & Brothers, are establishing WISeKey Arabia, a joint venture in the form of a Limited Liability Company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

WISeKey Arabia will implement the strategy for the development of cybersecurity and IoT market in Saudi Arabia, with the objective of expanding WISeKey’s presence in the Middle East. WISeKey and SAT share the common objective of studying the potential establishment of the WISeKey Arabia as one of the country’s leading providers of cybersecurity, Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain services for the growing Middle East market.

The overarching objective of the new company is to establish a market foothold with credible in-country leaders to maximize near-term revenue, while at the same time create significant market opportunities in sectors such as: retail, financial transaction, automotive, smart cities, consumer products, healthcare, smart cards, industrial, transportation, and IT infrastructure.

WISeKey Arabia will also operate a Blockchain Centers of Excellence connected to a network of Blockchain Centers of Excellence in India, Canada, China, Buenos Aires, Malaysia, Mauritius and Rwanda, the agreement foresees the creation of additional centers in the MEA region, including two in Saudi Arabia. All these centers will be interconnected via 3 Hubs: Geneva, Toronto and Beijing, a Trust Triangle operating under a Common Trust Protocol, using WISeKey’s PKI hardened Blockchain technology, bringing trust and security, while maintaining the core Blockchain values of transparency, auditability, and traceability.  WISeKey’s implemented and integrated PKI solution is complementary to any Blockchain platform, where it can assist with developing a better trust model for use within a distributed system and create a universal Trust Protocol for the Internet 2.

The business model of the Geneva Blockchain Center of Excellence is to assist local Blockchain startups and research to promote their technologies internationally, facilitate the rapid adaptation and on-boarding of Blockchain-based solutions, foster stronger collaboration between the public, private and academic sectors and cooperate to ensure that the latest technological standards are made available in a safe and trusted manner.

The Saudi Blockchain Center of Excellence will coordinate with other centers and Blockchain ecosystems around the world, allowing all partners to fully benefit from shared experiences and resources. Each Blockchain Center of Excellence is expected to develop a particular expertise that can be shared among all centers. For example, the Blockchain Center of Excellence in Buenos Aires will spearhead the development of particular platforms and applications to fight counterfeiting, illicit trade and corruption, while the Geneva Blockchain Center of Excellence will focus on Fintech, particularly digital private banking and commodity trading applications.

WISeKey’s global expansion strategy has been focused on the development of joint ventures with strategic partners on a national level.  Through the strategic partnership with SAT, WISeKey will be deploying its cybersecurity services and IoT infrastructure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in other high growth economies in the Middle East, which provides substantial opportunities for WISeKey to expand its presence and offerings to local organizations. The Kingdom’s IoT and M2M Communication market, currently encompasses 65% of the cybersecurity and IoT market of the Gulf region, is estimated to reach $16 billion in 2019 (from ~$4.9 billion in 2014) and is expected to continue its fast growth over the next decade supported by Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic reform plan, the Kingdom’s vision for the future.

As per the Vision 2030 economic reform plan, sophisticated digital infrastructure is integral to Kingdom’s advanced industrial activities, attracts investors and enhances the competitiveness of the economy. For this reason, the government will partner with the private sector (including telecom operators) and it will support local investments to further develop telecommunications and information technology sectors which will ultimately lead the development of a sophisticated digital economy. Improving the quality and expanding the coverage of high-speed broadband to 90 percent of housing in densely populated cities and 66 percent in other urban zones remains a high priority of this plan.

WISeKey’s strategy to enter new regions via long-lasting relationships with a strategic partner, brings a stream of high-profile clients that are in high demand for cybersecurity solutions, such as digital identity and privacy, secure mobile communication, secure cloud computing, IoT, secure semi-conductors, Blockchain and other innovative technologies offered by WISeKey.

The WISeKey Arabia joint venture will allow WISeKey to expand its current operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, having as a goal the expansion into other Middle Eastern countries. Through its alliance with SAT, WISeKey has explored and secured additional synergies with leading companies in the region whose values and product portfolio align well with its mission to provide state-of-the-art technology and cybersecurity services, using a highly secure data center located in the region.

WISeKey, in cooperation with SAT is currently developing a Root of Trust (RoT) and a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including a globally trusted Certification Authority within a security strategy framework. PKI provides the necessary security (encrypted and digital signatures) for electronic transactions.

WISeKey already secures many banks in the Gulf region, including the National Bank of Kuwait and regional Middle East branch offices by providing S/MIME digital certificates for secure e-mail to more than 200 savings banks.

Carlos Moreira, Founder and CEO of WISeKey International Holding, said: “The opportunity for WISeKey Arabia joint venture is unequaled in the market. WISeKey is the only company in the world that delivers a vertical cybersecurity service platform from Root of Trust to Chip. The joint venture will deliver an end-to-end solution to the Juffali ecosystem of companies across the country. I am very much looking forward to collaborating with Khaled Juffali, the Chairman of E.A. Juffali & Brothers, and I am confident that we will continue to experience significant technological accomplishments in the region.”

About E. A Juffali & Brothers. Juffali group

E. A. Juffali & Brothers was established in 1946.

Over the last seven decades, Juffali has been a key contributor for Saudi Arabia’s modern economy, setting up the electric power supply and telecommunications to some of Saudi Arabia’s major cities, during the initial development of the Kingdom.

Over the years Juffali has, developed partnerships with world-leading companies across many sectors.

About WISeKey:

WISeKey (SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI and IoT respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey Semiconductors secure the pervasive computing shaping today’s Internet of Everything. WISeKey has an installed base of over 1 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens etc.).  WISeKey is uniquely positioned to be at the edge of IoT as our semiconductors secure a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications to predict the failure of their equipment before it happens.

Our technology, trusted by the OISTE/WISeKey’s Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust (“RoT”) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.

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