Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Study on the Practices in FinTech Patenting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Recommendations for Reform(Wake Forest University, 2025) AlMaki, Rawan Haidar; Robinson, KeithThe rapid evolution of financial technology (FinTech) has transformed the global financial landscape, introducing innovative products and services that leverage advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and big data. These developments have reshaped traditional financial systems and raised significant questions about protecting intellectual property (IP) rights, particularly patents. In the context of FinTech, patents serve as critical tools to protect innovative ideas and maintain competitive advantages. However, the complex interplay between technology and finance presents unique challenges in patenting practices. This research explores the practices of FinTech patenting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), a nation undergoing significant economic transformation under Vision 2030. KSA aims to establish itself as a global leader in innovation, yet the FinTech sector faces hurdles in securing adequate patent protection. The current legal and institutional framework for patenting FinTech innovations in KSA requires enhancements to align with international best practices and foster an innovative-friendly environment. The study examines the requirements and practices for FinTech patents in KSA, comparing them to international standards to identify gaps and opportunities for reform. It delves into patent application filing and examination processes, analyzing case studies from both the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Through this comparative analysis, the research seeks to provide actionable recommendations for improving KSA’s patenting practices to support FinTech innovation and investment better.33 0Item Restricted Addressing risk, challenges, and solutions in Megaprojects: A case study of Neom Smart City in Saudi Arabia(leeds beckett university, 2024) Alluqmani, Waleed Salem; Omotayo, TemitopeNeom Smart City is designed as a high-tech city with sustainable living and renewable energy sources such as solar power and autonomous transportation systems. The City aims to become an attractive destination for talents and investment Mega Projects are more common in the 21st century due to global population growth, urbanisation, and technological innovation that requires the establishment of big projects. The aim of this research is to focus on risks, challenges, and solutions that may occur at the Neom Smart City project in KSA, and provide insights for the effective management of megaprojects. A positivist philosophy and a deductive research approach was used in this research. The overarching methodology was quantitative. The data-gathering procedure involved questionnaire instruments. The sample involved twenty participants including project managers, while the data analysis technique used was descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS and crucial ethical considerations were confidentiality and informed consent. Descriptive analysis of the findings have revealed that the participants perceived financial risks to be the most important concerns, followed by legal and construction risks. The result from the study also shows poor planning, political failures, and the lack of high-performing teams were the most significant contributor to the failure of megaprojects. The inferential statistics have revealed that there is a significant positive correlation between design risks and legal risks, contractual risks, construction risks and operational management risks. Financial risks are linked to construction risks, political risks, and leadership risks. Empirically, financial risks are influenced by contractual risks, poor leadership, and poor planning. The outcomes also suggest that stakeholder collaboration has a statistically significant impact on construction risks.7 0Item Restricted Towards energy benchmarking in residential buildings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia(University of Nottingham, 2024) Aladwani, Abdulaziz Mohammed; Omer, Siddig; Gan, GuohuiCountries worldwide are facing the challenges of improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions to mitigate climate change, conserve resources, achieve energy security, and reap economic benefits. Over recent decades, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has experienced a rapid increase in domestic energy consumption. Notably, residential buildings have emerged as significant consumers, accounting for approximately 50% of the total electricity consumption within the building sector. This sustained expansion in energy demand raises concerns regarding environmental impact. Sustainability has recently become a fundamental issue in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), as one of the cornerstones of Saudi Vision 2030. One of the key initiatives under Vision 2030 is the Saudi Green Initiative, which aims to significantly reduce carbon emissions and achieve net zero emissions by 2060. To support the goals of the Saudi Green Initiative and promote sustainable growth, it is essential to develop effective strategies and tools for improving energy efficiency in residential buildings. One of the key challenges here is the lack of a national benchmark values that may help stakeholders to evaluate the energy consumption of their buildings. In response, this research attempts to develop a benchmarking framework tailored explicitly to the Saudi Arabian context and establish an energy benchmarking for residential buildings. The research is divided into five milestones. The first milestone involves a thorough review of energy consumption in the KSA, identifying factors contributing to energy demand, and reviewing the current energy benchmarking methods for buildings. This review provides a comprehensive insight into the energy consumption of residential buildings and identifies the most appropriate energy benchmarking methods, which can be adapted to the Saudi Arabian building context. The second research milestone involves collecting data from a representative sample of residential buildings in the Saudi Arabia. The third milestone involves improving the specifications of the representative sample buildings to comply with the Saudi Building Code (SBC) requirements. The fourth milestone concerns conducting statistical tests and analyses, which are necessary to ensure that the research is based on sound data and assumptions, contributing to the overall quality of the research. The last milestone involves developing energy benchmarks for villas and apartments in the KSA. The benchmark can contribute to improving building energy performance in the region. The benchmark provides insights into factors influencing energy use, enabling stakeholders to assess the energy efficiency of their buildings. The benchmark also educates the public about energy consumption patterns, influences building asset value, and aids policymakers in setting energy-efficiency standards and implementing incentives. The main findings reveal that applying the SBC-602/2018 requirements to the buildings can improve the energy consumption of villas and apartments by up to 19% and 40%, respectively. Moreover, the findings suggest that the normalised energy use intensity (EUInorm) benchmarks for villas and apartments that meet the SBC requirements in the Riyadh region are 60 kWh/m2/Yr and 98 kWh/m2/Yr, respectively. These benchmarking values were based on normalising the significant variables that affect energy consumption.49 0Item Restricted Regulatory and Social Acceptance Challenges in Using Artificial Intelligence in Genomic Diagnostics in Saudi Arabia: Applying the Responsive Regulation and Innovation Diffusion Model.(University College London (UCL), 2024-08-28) Alderaa, Khalid; Jong, SimchaThis study explores the regulatory and social acceptance challenges of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into genomic diagnostics in Saudi Arabia, using the Responsive Regulation and Innovation Diffusion model as theoretical frameworks. Methodology: The research employs a narrative review methodology, emphasizing regulatory frameworks, public trust, and the cultural perceptions that influence the adoption of AI technologies. Findings: The study identifies that, although AI holds significant promise for advancing genomic diagnostics, its full integration is hindered by regulatory gaps and a low level of social acceptance. The research emphasises the importance of creating a flexible and dynamic regulatory framework that can evolve with AI advancements. It also highlights the crucial role of stakeholder engagement and public education in building trust and ensuring that innovation progresses without compromising public safety. Limitations: Key limitations of the study include the restricted scope of the literature review, which primarily focuses on the European Union and Saudi Arabia, and the fast-paced development of AI technology, which may limit the long-term applicability of the proposed models. Practical Implications: To improve the adoption of AI in healthcare, this study recommends the implementation of regulatory sandboxes, which would allow AI innovations to be tested in controlled environments. Additionally, fostering public trust through transparency and education is critical to ensuring the successful integration of AI technologies in genomic diagnostics.25 0Item Restricted IPO Regulation in Saudi Arabia: A Look into IPO Listing Requirements and their Future Suitability(University of Edinburgh, 2024) Mushaikh, Yousuf; Hood, ParkerThis thesis discusses the KSA capital market in light of the recent rise of private companies pursuing initial public offerings. The thesis discusses the history of KSA's capital market and its continuous growth in light of Vision 2030 and its realization programs. The thesis provides an overview of the listing requirements for IPOs in both Tadawul's main market and NOMU and assesses them in a comparative manner with UK's IPO listing rules. The aim of this thesis is to analyse IPO listing requirements in KSA and their role in enabling private companies going public. The thesis looks into the potential difficulties private companies may face in going public and analyses them while also looking into the potential of introducing SPACs in KSA to further grow the capital market, in line with Vision 2030's goals.27 0Item Restricted Satisfaction, utilization, and willingness to pay for primary care services(Queen's University Belfast, 2023-12) Aljohani, Motab; Donnelly, Michael; O’Neill, CiaranThis thesis investigates the nature of stated and revealed preferences on the part of the public for primary care services. It examines the relationship between satisfaction, willingness-to-pay (WTP), and use of primary care services in Britain and Saudi Arabia. The thesis used three measures to triangulate these concepts: satisfaction, WTP, and utilisation of primary care services. Satisfaction provided an ordinal measure of stated preference, while WTP provided a cardinal measure of stated preference. Use (utilisation) provided a measure of revealed preference. Using these measures across various contexts, the thesis explores how preferences and the relationships between preferences and respondent characteristics vary depending on the context and the measure used. The thesis findings indicate that satisfaction, WTP, and use of primary care services provide distinct but complementary insights into variations in preferences between socio-demographic groups; points in time; regions and; the location in which data are collected. Observed variations are grounded in a variety of factors that include needs and the nature of service provision. The thesis provides an appreciation of the complexity of stated and revealed preferences and the challenges inherent in using such data to inform policy using examples drawn from Britain and Saudi Arabia and identifies a number of avenues for future research in this area.34 0Item Restricted Extreme Urban Heat(Ohio State University, 2024) Alhusaki, Saeed; Boswell, Jake; Cheramie, Kristi; Cruse, Andrew; Best, Kelsea; Ghosh, UjaanExtreme heat events have significant impacts on urban environments and their residents. They can shape the physical form of cities, influence urban planning and design, and even mold the cultural identity of urban communities. This thesis aims to investigate the interplay between extreme heat events, city formation, and cultural identity that happened in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Working methods for this study will be the development of a historical narrative through the lens of extreme heat and its impacts on urban form and patterns of urban behavior. The aim of this work is to understand Jeddah's history of responding to extreme heat over time, comprehend the factors exacerbating urban heat, and assess their impacts on society and the environment in order to design an ideal residential model tailored to Jeddah's climate and meeting housing needs. This model will be derived from lessons learned from literature review and precedent analysis that are tailored to Jeddah's climate with the ambition of producing a model that can mitigate the impact of climate change on the city and other urban areas facing extreme urban heat due to climate change.37 0Item Restricted Dynamics and Geo-Politics Involved in the Formulation of Vision 2030 as KSA National Strategy Post 9/11(Middlesex University London, 2022-09-30) Alsaud, Salman; Hough, PeterThis study investigates the political and academic discourse surrounding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia post 9/11, with the assumption that this discourse was instrumental in the creation of Vision 2030. The specific objective of this study is to prove or disprove this assumption by analyzing official documents, contemporary reporting and academic literature that illuminate the internal and external pressures placed on the Kingdom post 9/11. This study employs qualitative methodologies, relying on Critical Discourse Analysis and Policy Analysis to consider such influential dynamics as geopolitics, the political economy of oil, globalization, and state power. The study concludes by reviewing current Vision 2030 benchmarks against the aforementioned internal and external pressures, thereby drawing a direct line between previous commentaries on the kingdom and the current impact seen by the implementation of Vision 2030.55 0Item Restricted Assessment of Clinical Competence: Implementation of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in Saudi Medical Schools(University of Leeds, 2023-02-08) Almisnid, Khaled; Homer, MatthewAssessment of clinical skills is essential in determining the competency of health professionals. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a performance assessment tool that is widely adopted for this purpose. Despite its widespread use in Saudi medical schools, the implementation and impact of the OSCE in Saudi Arabia (SA) have not been widely investigated. The aim of this research is to provide an in-depth understanding of OSCE usage in Saudi medical schools, the opportunities and challenges offered by its adoption, and to develop recommendations to improve implementation. Using a qualitative constructivist philosophy, this research employs a case study design in two different Saudi medical schools, integrating document review with interviews and focus groups with medical school leaders and their Faculty. Reflexive thematic analysis and codebook methods were applied to interviews/focus groups and documents, respectively. The analysis generated a series of key themes that impacted the OSCE implementation in Saudi medical schools. These themes constitute a conceptual framework that requires careful consideration in order for them to function harmoniously to produce a high-quality OSCE. This research also highlights that each stage of OSCE implementation in the investigated medical schools involves a series of dilemmas and compromises. Analysis suggests that funding sources (public or private schools), accreditation status, faculty experience, and resource availability all influence the quality of OSCE implementation. The research findings are consistent with the international OSCE literature; however, this work brings new insights into the use of the OSCE in SA, a non-western culture, and sheds light on the integrative nature of the factors that contribute to successful implementation. It concludes with a series of recommendations that individual medical schools and organisational networks can employ to improve the OSCE in SA, and beyond.39 0Item Restricted Examining Academics and Students Attitudes to Mobile-learning in a Transformative University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: a study of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University(Saudi Digital Library, 0023-10-27) Alshehri, Eman; Preston, Greg; Buchanan, RachelAlthough there is a growing interest in mobile-learning and its potential benefits in higher education, limited research has investigated cross-contextual mobile-learning issues such as university technology policies, usage levels, and practices in relation to students' gender, contextual, educational, and gender-based mobile-learning attitudes. This study was undertaken as a case study at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), to investigate the attitudes of both academic staff and students towards the adoption of mobile-learning with Smartphones. The first purpose of this study was to explore the current Smartphone policies, level of usage, preferred learning activities by students and academics at IAU. The second purpose of the study was to investigate the student’s and academics’ attitudes and perceptions toward using their Smartphones as learning and teaching tools, with particular regard to the challenges and/or enablers that they may encounter. This study used an adapted version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and a sequential mixed methods design to collect the data using online surveys with students (N=325), and semi-structured interviews with academics (N=21). Regression analysis was used to analyse the online surveys (quantitative data), and a thematic analysis was used to analyse the semi-structured interviews (qualitative data). The study findings revealed that both students and academics generally have a positive attitude toward the use of Smartphones in the learning environment at IAU. Around 98% of students at IAU use Smartphones every day for learning, while the use by the academics was substantially less. From the nine measured variables, only four predictors had a significant influence on students’ attitudes to mobile-learning: self-efficacy, enjoyment, perceived ease of use, and mobile-learning preferences. For academics, the most frequently reported challenge they faced when adopting mobile-learning was the lack of policies and regulations governing their use. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on mobile-learning in higher education and offers useful insights into how Smartphones are currently used by students and academics at IAU and the best practices for implementing Smartphones as learning and teaching tools.74 0