Case study: KACST technology innovation center in radio frequency and photonics

Abstract The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is an ambitious country that is intensively investing in building a competitive knowledge-based economy toward the achievement of sustainable development. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) is the main government funding institution focusing on national knowledge development. KACST contributes to the setting up and supports the execution of a national program of science and technology (NPST). This paper is concerned with one of the most promising KACST supported NPST initiative referred as Technology Innovation Centers (TICs). The latter is concerned with industry-relevant knowledge development through university–industry collaboration and synergy. This paper introduces the Saudi NPST that initiated TICs. It provides a generic view of TICs using the structured Strategy, Technology, Organization, People, and Environment approach. It emphasizes the TIC on Radio Frequency and Phonetics for the e-Society located at King Saud University, the main higher education institution in the country. It is hoped that the paper would provide a leading example of the development efforts in KSA.