Saudi Arabia Shifts Focus to Owning Technologies in Innovation Drive

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 15, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Saudi Arabia’s innovation agenda is shifting from manufacturing to ownership, according to Ahmad Saleh, a partner at Al Tamimi & Company, a leading full-service law firm in the UAE and MENA region. Saleh argues that the focus is now on developing and owning homegrown technologies, protecting intellectual property, and transforming these assets into strategic national economic drivers.

Saleh, who heads the Innovation, Patents & Industrial Property department at Al Tamimi & Company, notes that Saudi Arabia’s innovation journey is moving beyond the mere manufacturing of products. The emphasis is now on where the underlying technology, intellectual property (IP), and know-how are developed and owned. He explains, “The distinction between manufacturing localisation and technology localisation will become increasingly important. A product may be manufactured locally, but its underlying technology, software, know-how, and intellectual property may remain controlled elsewhere.”

Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia has developed a structured institutional and regulatory framework to support a more innovation- and knowledge-based economy. Vision 2030, a long-term economic diversification plan, has established private-sector development as a priority. The establishment of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) in 2018 and the Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA) in 2021 has strengthened the institutional infrastructure supporting IP and R&D.

The National Aspirations and Priorities for RDI identified four principal areas of focus: Health and Wellness, Sustainable Environment and Supply of Essential Needs, Energy and Industrial Leadership, and Economies of the Future. The framework includes a target for annual RDI investment equivalent to 2.5% of GDP by 2040. Saudi Arabia’s intellectual-property policy has also developed, with increasing emphasis on the generation, protection, commercialisation, and respect of IP rights.

Ahmad Saleh argues that the next test will be whether this institutional development produces measurable economic value.

For universities and publicly funded research institutions, the success of an innovation ecosystem should increasingly be assessed through outcomes rather than simply the volume of IP generated. This includes licensing revenues, university spin-outs, industry-funded R&D, successful technology transfers, private investment attracted by IP-rich businesses, and the international commercialisation of locally developed technologies.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also creating a new intersection between innovation policy and IP regulation. One of the most significant global copyright questions concerns the use of protected works in the development and training of AI systems. Jurisdictions including the United States, European Union, Japan, China, and the United Kingdom have taken or are considering different approaches to the issue.

Saudi Arabia’s recent copyright reforms are notable for addressing certain uses connected with the development of AI products and algorithms through legislation, subject to specified conditions and safeguards. Ahmad Saleh notes that the reforms do not resolve every question concerning AI training and should not be interpreted as an unrestricted right to use copyrighted material. Their significance lies in demonstrating how IP legislation is increasingly required to mediate between existing rights and emerging technologies.

Localisation and the changing geopolitical environment are also reshaping the innovation landscape. Global supply-chain disruptions, geopolitical tensions, trade restrictions, and strategic competition have encouraged governments worldwide to reassess dependencies in strategically important sectors. For Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern economies, this has added resilience to the traditional objectives of diversification, employment, foreign investment, and domestic industrial development.

Critical areas can include pharmaceuticals and vaccines, medical equipment, food and water technologies, energy infrastructure, cybersecurity, telecommunications, defence technologies, semiconductors, cloud infrastructure, and certain AI capabilities. However, Ahmad Saleh cautions that complete self-sufficiency is neither realistic nor necessarily economically desirable.

The distinction between manufacturing and technological capability is central to the next phase of Saudi Arabia’s localisation strategy. A technology may be manufactured within the Kingdom while its core IP, software, know-how, and critical components remain controlled internationally. Meaningful technology localisation therefore requires consideration of what knowledge and capabilities are actually transferred.

Ahmad Saleh describes the potential progression as: Made locally → Developed locally → Owned locally → Exported internationally.

Intellectual property and technology transfer become increasingly important as international technology providers, local businesses, universities, investors, and governments collaborate more closely. Technology-transfer structures require careful consideration of background IP, newly developed IP, know-how, improvements, licensing rights, territorial restrictions, and future technologies.

The objective will not necessarily be outright transfer of ownership. Depending on the circumstances, licensing rights, access to know-how, local R&D capability, or ownership of locally generated improvements may provide a more commercially workable outcome. Greater collaboration may also increase the potential for disputes concerning jointly developed technologies, improvements, employee inventions, trade secrets, data, patent prosecution, publication rights, and the consequences of terminating collaborations.

The institutional architecture is increasingly in place, but the next challenge is execution, consistently converting research, IP, and investment into technologies and businesses that create economic value. Ahmad Saleh concludes, “Saudi Arabia’s experience will be important not only for the Kingdom itself, but for economies across the Middle East that are considering how IP and technological capabilities can support diversification,