Saudi National Day celebrates the values that define the Kingdom: its identity, ambition and determination to build a better future for generations to come.
This year’s theme, “Our Pride Lies in Our Nature,” reflected qualities that are also central to Saudi Vision 2030: confidence in what is possible, a willingness to embrace transformation and the determination to turn ambition into reality.
Saudi Arabia is now living through one of the most significant periods of urban transformation in the world. Across the Kingdom, new cities, destinations and infrastructure are reshaping how people live, work and move. From large-scale urban developments to next-generation mobility networks, the foundations of future-ready communities are being built at an unprecedented pace.
But building the physical foundations of a city is only the beginning. The next challenge is ensuring that these environments continue to perform, adapt and deliver value long after construction is complete. As the built environment evolves, so too must the way buildings and infrastructure are operated, managed and maintained.
This is where digitization has an increasingly important role to play.
The buildings of tomorrow cannot simply be larger or more complex. They need to be more connected, responsive and efficient, using technology to help customers make better decisions, manage assets more effectively and deliver reliable experiences for the people who use them.
For the elevator and escalator industry, this means moving beyond traditional, reactive approaches. Connected technologies and digital services can provide greater visibility into equipment performance, enable more proactive maintenance and help improve availability, reduce disruption and support the smooth movement of people throughout buildings.
As Saudi Arabia develops some of the world’s most ambitious urban projects, the focus is increasingly shifting toward how these environments perform over time and how effectively they respond to the needs of the people who use them. This makes operational excellence and user experience increasingly important to the success of future cities.
The shift is from reacting to problems to anticipating needs.
In environments where millions of people may live, work, visit or move through a space, operational performance is not simply a technical consideration. It directly contributes to the experience of the city itself.
At KONE, we see our role evolving alongside this transformation. Our solutions combine connectivity, digital services and our expertise to help customers manage their equipment throughout its lifecycle, while supporting the safety, reliability and efficiency that modern urban environments demand.
But technology alone is not the answer. Creating future-ready cities also requires close collaboration between developers, operators, technology providers and other partners to understand how people will interact with these environments and how their needs will evolve over time.
This is why the next phase of Saudi Arabia’s urban transformation is not only about what we build, but about how well those places serve people once they are built. The cities of the future will need to be adaptable, connected and designed around the experiences of residents, visitors and businesses.
For KONE, being part of this journey is about more than delivering technology. It is about bringing global experience and local understanding together to support the Kingdom’s ambitions and contribute to places that are built to perform for generations.
Saudi Arabia’s transformation is changing more than its skylines. It is creating a new model for how cities can connect people, support communities and respond to the needs of a rapidly evolving society.
This National Day, we celebrated that progress and the ambition behind the next chapter. At KONE, we are proud to contribute to that journey, helping create places where people can move safely, smoothly and reliably today, while supporting the connected, people-centric environments of tomorrow.
The writer is managing director of KONE Saudi Arabia.