Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – In cooperation with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and Tuwaiq Academy, Misk Schools has officially opened  the Fourth Industrial Revolution Center (Atheer), with the goal of developing a generation of future leaders among its male and female students. 

The Center will  provide quality scientific programmes that equip students with knowledge and skills in emerging modern digital fields such as artificial intelligence, programming, cyber security, robots and drones. This will contribute to the vision of his Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, that Misk Schools will become one of the best ten schools worldwide. 

The inauguration ceremony was held at the SDAIA headquarters in Riyadh and was attended by: His Excellency President of SDAIA, Dr Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi; His Excellency Chairman of the Misk Schools Board, Dr Mohammad Al Hayaza; His Excellency Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Education and Training Evaluation Commission, and Member of Misk Schools Board, Dr Khaled bin Abdullah Al-Sabti; His Excellency Member of Misk Schools Board, Dr Khalid bin Saleh Al-Sultan; Chairman of The Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, Faisal Alkhamisi; Director General of Misk Schools, Dr Steffen Sommer; CEO of Tuwaiq Academy, Eng Abulaziz Al-Hammadi, and a number of top officials from SDAIA and Misk Schools.

The Center seeks to create a generation capable of leading the future and contributing to  the ambition of Saudi Vision 2030 for the Kingdom to become a leading nation in emerging and modern technology, programming and artificial intelligence.

Its educational programmes will augment  the school’s STEM curriculum, enabling students to obtain professional certifications in digital fields, participate in international competitions, and  network with digital communities across the globe. 

Programmes are open to male and female students of all educational levels, blending in-person training courses with distance-based ones, in order to maximise knowledge and skills, introduce modern digital concepts, present inspirational and motivational technologies and provide integrated digital labs that encourage students  to practise their high-tech hobbies.

Courses include:

Robotics: training that uses interactive robot coding, introduces students to computer science, coding concepts and computational thinking, and provides them with basic information on designing and building robots. 

Cyber Security: aims to develop cyber security thinking skills by teaching students to identify social engineering, encryption basics and ethical hacking, as well as engaging them in important challenges  such as Capture the Flag (CTF), to raise their awareness of personal and national data security issues.  

Drones: covers the concepts of drone technology and the engineering and scientific principles related to it. Students are  introduced to drone parts and systems, methods of controlling drones through programming, and the best operational practices. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI): introduces AI and machine learning, shedding light on the effect these will have on our world. Students are equipped with the knowledge required  to build their own projects using mass-based programming and the high-level programming language, Python.

The Center has secured  a number of strategic partnerships with specialised educational institutions and pioneering technology companies  in order to help students obtain professional global qualifications, as well as participate in  intensive camps, international events and competitions. This will build a significant physical and virtual community that shares ideas, exchanges experiences and collaborates to host and learn from the most important people in the sector.

In support of this, the Center will continue to proactively connect with tech communities  and engage talented individuals and organisations. It will also offer guidance to students, helping them to choose the programmes and professional certifications that fit their skills and interests, allowing them to make the most of their abilities and realise their full potential.