In line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives, Deloitte has launched a first-of-its-kind e-commerce bootcamp program to upskill Saudi youth’s digital capabilities and enable them to connect, grow, and learn about the latest trends in the e-commerce landscape. This initiative seeks to compound the efforts already in place by KSA to prepare its young citizens for the digital revolution and the future of work, by creating a springboard for participants into exciting e-commerce careers and increasing their employment opportunities in the field.

The Deloitte ecommerce bootcamp was officially launched by the visit of the Minister of Commerce and acting Minister of Media of Saudi Arabia, His Excellency Dr. Majid Al Qasabi and Her Excellency Deputy Minister of Commerce Dr. Eman Al-Mutairi, along with His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi, President of the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), His Excellency Dr. Esam Abdullah Al-Wagait, Head of NIC, Dr. Mishari Al-Mishari, Deputy Director of NIC, and Eng. Saad Al Qarni, CEO of the SDAIA Academy.

The program was launched and conducted at the Deloitte Digital Center in Riyadh which provided participants with state of the art digitization tools as well as hands-on real-life experiences on Deloitte’s method of work.

To deliver the program, Deloitte collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s leading cloud provider, and SAP, and developed a rich and diverse program curriculum. The curriculum is delivered in hybrid format, in which training sessions focus on digital, STEM and analytical, and entrepreneurial skills. The sessions address the most relevant e-commerce topics in today’s business landscape such as data analytics, digital marketing, cloud storage and software development, among others.

“Saudi Arabia conducts the largest number of electronic purchases in the GCC and the shift to e-commerce is mainly driven by the kingdom’s young population, increasing broadband and smartphone penetration rates, and the government’s growing focus on e-commerce,” said Rashid Bashir, Government & Public Services Leader, Deloitte Middle East. “The Kingdom is in a strong position to capitalize on these trends to increase youth employment opportunities, spark a local startup and entrepreneurship mindset in the field, and attract global and regional players to operate in the kingdom, all of which are hinged on the supply of skilled Saudi youth which provides the necessary workforce to enable such transformation.”

Program participants were hand-picked by Deloitte, AWS, and SAP following meticulous selection criteria. From a pool of more than seven thousand applications, the top performing 25 applicants were selected to be the first batch of the initial pilot version of the program.

Omar Haj Saleh, Public Sector Lead, AWS, Saudi Arabia, said, “It was a great pleasure to contribute to this boot camp by providing essential cloud skills learning to support Saudi Arabia’s youth in driving successful e-commerce businesses. The trainees benefitted from learning easy-to-use AWS cloud solutions that can support their e-commerce capabilities. The participants were given hands-on workshops covering customer engagement services, as well as advanced technologies like machine learning and data analytics to enable them to forecast, analyze marketing campaigns, and build personalized shopping experiences. We look forward to continuing to support important initiatives in Saudi Arabia that empower the youth with technology skills.”

“Developing in-demand digital skills in Saudi Arabia is a key focus area for SAP through our SAP Digital Skills Training program. SAP and Deloitte, collaboratively deliver this eCommerce Bootcamp which equips participants with the skills needed to accelerate digital and e-commerce transformations in Saudi Arabia and empowers them to become SAP Certified Application Associates – SAP Commerce Cloud Business User,” said Ahmed Al-Faifi, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, SAP Middle East North. “In addition to delivering the technical training, we also engaged Saudi’s next generation of decision-makers with a unique workshop to develop their innovation mindset and capabilities through the SAP Innovate to Win program.”