سمو أمير المنطقة الشرقية يفتتح مركز الصورة التشغيلية (COP) بالخبر ويطّلع على مشاريع المدن الذكية والتحول الرقمي

His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Eastern Province, inaugurated today in Al-Khobar the City Operational Picture (COP) Center, affiliated with the Digital Transformation and Smart Cities Agency at the Eastern Province Municipality. The inauguration was attended by His Excellency, the Mayor of the Eastern Province, many deputy mayors, municipal heads, officials, and representatives of relevant entities.

His Royal Highness commended the great support extended by the wise leadership, may Allah support it, for harnessing modern technologies and artificial intelligence to advance the operational systems of government sectors. He emphasized that such initiatives contribute to improving municipal performance and promoting the transformation toward sustainable smart cities, in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 to enhance the quality of life.

His Excellency, the Mayor of the Eastern Province, presented to His Royal Highness a detailed briefing on the center’s components, operational mechanisms for managing and monitoring smart cities, and the technological projects it encompasses. His Royal Highness also toured the center’s departments and viewed an overview of its key projects and initiatives in digital transformation and smart city development.

His Excellency explained that the City Operational Picture Center represents one of the Municipality’s pioneering initiatives, reflecting its commitment to leveraging modern technologies in urban management. The Center is built on an integrated operational system that utilizes artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor urban performance indicators, analyze spatial and operational data, and support real-time decision-making efficiently and effectively.

He added that the Center includes a range of advanced technological projects, most notably the Smart Cameras Project, which enhances public safety through a network of cameras equipped with automated analytics; the Smart Lighting Project, which enables automated control of streetlights to optimize energy consumption and improve maintenance efficiency; in addition to projects for detecting and addressing visual pollution, and the Unified Smart Platform, which integrates the city’s data and systems into a single operational interface to accelerate response and enhance operational performance.
The Mayor further noted that the Center constitutes a core component of the smart transformation ecosystem in the Eastern Province’s cities. It embodies the Municipality’s strategic direction toward developing an innovative and sustainable urban environment based on open data, thereby improving municipal services, enhancing operational efficiency, and strengthening the technological infrastructure that supports the urban landscape, all in line with the ambitious goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and its digital transformation programs.

His Excellency also presented to His Royal Highness an overview of the international awards achieved by the Municipality, including the Gold Award at the 2025 Stevie Awards in the category of “Best Use of Advanced Technologies in the Public Sector” for its Artificial Intelligence Smart Cameras Analysis Project, and the Silver Award at the Gulf Sustainability Awards 2025 in the category of “Best Use of Artificial Intelligence” for its Smart Monitoring System Initiative.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, His Royal Highness, the Governor of the Eastern Province, received a commemorative shield on this occasion. His Excellency the Mayor, expressed his appreciation, emphasizing that this continuous support serves as a key motivation to further advance excellence and innovation across the Eastern Province.