Orange Business won a contract to build and run a smart city platform integrating AI and data analytics for a large business district in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a project it indicated would use next level digital urban infrastructure.

The agreement is with the King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company and covers the deployment of the infrastructure, system integration and collaborations to develop fresh use cases for the platform.

Among use cases cited by Orange are a range of AI-based services including geolocation-based analysis of social media, and investigation and distribution of data on urban infrastructure spanning traffic and commercial energy use.

The company added by integrating a digital twin with its smart city platform, architects and engineers would be able to optimise building design.

Orange SVP MEA and Turkey Sahem Azzam said it aimed to build the “next level of smart city evolution” with the project set to use data and AI to improve city operations as well as “provide deeper user insights as a basis for new use cases, revenue streams and innovative services for the city’s population”.

The new platform will be integrated into the district’s existing digital infrastructure.